| "Chuck"
Perry | In Brief News | PEP
Award | Faculty Profile |
| Coffee | School of
Architecture | Drive to Research |
| Campaign for FIU | Chef
Allen | Alumni Relations |
FIU mourns the loss of founding President `Chuck' Perry
Charles "Chuck" Perry, Florida International University's first president - the man who led the transformation of an abandoned airport into a state university - died on August 30 at his home in Rockwall, Texas. He was 62 and had battled cancer for nearly five years.
"The founding of a great public or private university is an achievement only a handful of contemporary Americans can lay claim to," said FIU President Modesto A. Maidique, noting that U.S. President Thomas Jefferson wanted to be remembered for founding the University of Virginia. "Whatever other great distinctions President Perry had in his career, he is our founder. He is our Jefferson."
Perry was just 31 years old when the Florida Board of Regents hired him as FIU's first president in 1969, making him the country's youngest state university president.
In the summer of 1969, he and three colleagues (the first staff) came to a deserted, old airport in southwest Miami-Dade County. Their task: to build a state university in the country's largest urban area without a public baccalaureate-granting institution.
Despite scarce resources and a political climate that was not favorable to South Florida, FIU opened its doors to 5,667 students three years later in September 1972. Over the next quarter-century it would develop into one of the country's most dynamic and outstanding young universities.
When the University first opened, it had just one major building - Primera Casa, (which was renamed the Charles Perry Building in 1994) - upper-division programs and a handful of master's programs. Today, FIU offers a wide range of baccalaureate, master's and doctoral programs in 16 colleges and schools, and has more than 31,000 students.
From the very beginning, Perry - FIU's first visionary and architect - could foresee what the future would hold for the University. In 1997, when FIU was celebrating its silver anniversary, Perry was asked whether he was surprised by the tremendous growth of FIU.
"No, I'm not surprised, because it's exactly what it was envisioned to be," Perry said. "I knew then (in the early 1970s) what Florida International University would be in 25 or 30 years. When I was privileged enough to be given the orders to create a university on the runways on an abandoned airstrip, I was too young to think that it was an impossibility and too old and stubborn to think it couldn't be done."
Prior to becoming FIU president, Perry was director of admissions at Bowling Green University (his alma mater), and was then hired as special assistant for education to Florida Gov. Claude Kirk. He resigned from FIU in October 1975 to become president and publisher of Family Weekly, then the nation's fourth largest magazine. He held several subsequent executive corporate positions until 1993, when he returned to academic life as dean of the Graduate School of Management at the University of Dallas.
Perry is survived by his wife, Betty Laird Perry, of Rockwall; a son, Tom Perry of Dallas; a daughter, Lynnette Perry McCollum of New York City; his mother, Ethel Perry of Tequesta; a brother, Jim Perry of Miami; a granddaughter, three nephews and two nieces.
The family requests that donations be made in his memory to the FIU Foundation or the Charles E. Perry Scholarship Fund at Bowling Green State University Foundation. In October, the University held a memorial service celebrating President Perry's life and his achievements.
|
Memories of Chuck Perry "I first met Chuck about 30 years ago in San Diego, California. We were both attending a meeting of presidents of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. One of the sessions was devoted to hearing from America's then youngest university president who was presiding over Florida's then newborn institution: Florida International University. "Onto the stage sauntered Chuck Perry, who was just a head taller than the lectern he spoke from. Unimposing as he was, he almost immediately captured his audience of several hundred of his peers with a combination of cocksureness, sparkling sincerity and what I can only describe as an improbable marriage of ebullience, engaging innocence and disguised sophistication. "In the 30 or so intervening years since that San Diego meeting, the Perry Vision has begun to magnificently materialize. Much of what has happened, happened because he passionately cared for and nurtured the people on whom any learning center depends." -Gregory B. Wolfe, FIU's Third President
"Chuck Perry was a man with vision, hope and limitless energy. He was extremely optimistic and would not accept no for an answer. As our first president, he laid the foundation for the great university that we are today. " As an individual, Chuck was one of the nicest guys you would ever want to meet. He would walk across campus and through the hallways with his hand outstretched ready to shake with everyone - `Hi, I'm Chuck Perry.' He was an individual who treated every employee the same. Regardless of your rank, title or position, Chuck recognized you as an equal partner at FIU. "Finally, what I appreciate about Chuck most was his growing love for FIU over the years. Regardless of where he was or what he was doing, he watched and remained interested in FIU. I believe that right now he remains as a guardian watching down over his second love - FIU." -Paul Gallagher, Senior Vice President, Business and Finance
"One story comes to mind which captures the dynamic Chuck Perry. It was at the graduation of the Class of 1975. President Perry was to address the crowd as one would expect. Instead of giving a traditional presidential address, Chuck had someone provide him with a microphone with a very long cord because he said he wanted to walk around on stage when he spoke rather than being confined behind the podium. But what he did was leap off the stage and into the crowd of graduates. He began a discussion with the students, asking the question, "What did you like best about FIU?" The script went out the window and the commencement ceremonies took on a life of their own. "It seems to me that the spirit of Chuck Perry has somehow remained at FIU. His dynamic presence is felt by vast numbers of faculty, students, employees and visitors who walk on campus." -Steve Fain, Professor, College of Education
"Chuck Perry's effervescent spirit established a tone of optimism for FIU - a new university in an emerging city. Chuck encouraged the business community of Greater Miami to become his partner in building FIU into a great university." -Alvah Chapman, Former Knight-Ridder Chairman
"I began working at FIU 26 years ago. Fortunately, on my first day I arrived early. The first person in my office was Chuck Perry (at the time I did not know who he was). He had a policy in those early days of meeting every new employee on their first day of work. We talked for over an hour. When he got up to leave, I asked him who he was. He said he was the president of FIU. It was a great way to meet the president. "The story of Chuck Perry is the story of Betty Perry. He often said that if it weren't for Betty, what was accomplished at the young university would never had happened. Betty would entertain everyone from the governor to the chancellor to the mayor in their small home. There was no president's home or president's staff, there was Betty. "Whenever Chuck Perry talked about FIU, his first concern was always the people who made the University. As he said repeatedly, it wasn't the buildings, the programs or the money raised, it was the people who devoted so much of their time and life to this institution. He loved the people." -Tom Riley,
Associate Director, Broward Programs |