Jack Harper is a general assignment reporter for WCVB-TV's NewsCenter 5. Since joining the station as a freelance reporter in 1981, he has also served as a weekend news anchor.

During his tenure at NewsCenter 5, Harper has covered numerous aviation disasters in Florida, Long Island, Nova Scotia, Queens and at the World Trade Center site in New York. In May 2000, he traveled to New Mexico to report on that region's devastating wildfires.

Harper has been reporting news in Boston for 26 years. Before coming to Channel 5, he worked as a reporter at WEEI Radio in Boston. While there, Harper's coverage of a World Airways plane crash at Logan Airport received a 1982 Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists. Additionally, his coverage of the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing contributed to another major station award.

He has also won many individual citations for his reporting excellence, including awards from the Associated Press, United Press International, and the prestigious 1989 Dennis Kauff Award at Boston's most outstanding broadcast journalist.

Before coming to Boston in 1975, Harper worked at other New England radio stations, including WICE in Providence, R.I., and WCNL in Exeter, N.H., where he served as News Director.

A native of Frederick, Md., Harper graduated from the Northeast Broadcasting School in 1970. He served four years in the Air Force, retiring with the rank of sergeant.

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