Ron Harper is a 27-year veteran of the Hoffman Estates Police Department and retired at the rank of lieutenant in 2001. Ron served as Watch Commander, Training Coordinator, Public Relations Liaison to the Media, and department coordinator for the Northern Illinois Police Alarm System (NIPAS), the emergency response team for 96 cities and villages and five counties in northern
Illinois
.
Ron received his B.A. in Liberal Arts and M.S. in Public Administration from
DePaul
University
. He is also a graduate of
Northwestern
University
’s
School
of
Police Staff
and Command. His thesis work focused on a study of the 1990’s crime reduction in the Chicago area and the impact of community policing in
Chicago
. Ron is on staff full time with Rasmussen. Prior to coming onboard with Rasmussen he was an adjunct professor at
Judson
University
for four years teaching seven of the thirteen courses in the Division of Adult and Continuing Education Criminal Justice Management Program. He was also an Internship/Practicum Coordinator, Master Course Writer, and Program Evaluator for Judson's accreditation renewal with North Central.
Outside the academic realm he holds a commercial pilot’s license with an instrument rating, instrument ground instructor rating, and an advanced airplane ground instructor rating. For three years he was a student and performer at The Second City and Improv Olympic in
Chicago
. He is presently training to run the Chicago Marathon for the fifth time and his ninth marathon overall.