Champlain College announced today that retiring president Dr. Roger H. Perry will deliver the commencement address to graduates of the career-oriented college on Saturday, May 7. The Class of 2005 will hear from this educator and administrator with national and international experience who steered the private institution through a host of changes, leaving it well-positioned for the future.
Dr. Perry became the sixth president of the College in 1992. During the prior ten years, he served as Champlains vice president for academic affairs and then provost. After retiring from the College, Perry and his wife, Heather, plan to travel and then teach abroad.
Dr. David F. Finney of New York University has been selected by Champlain Colleges Board of Trustees to become the colleges seventh president. He will succeed Perry on July 1, 2005.
The word visionary is tossed around too often these days; however, I think it is appropriate to use it here: Roger Perry truly defines visionary leadership, said Bill Post, chair of the Champlain College Board of Trustees.
Perry has served the Burlington and Vermont communities through his involvement with organizations such as the Vermont Business Roundtable, Vermont Technology Council, Workforce Investment Board, Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, Vermont Higher Education Council and the Association of Vermont Independent Colleges.
Perrys reputation for innovation and entrepreneurial skills in the collegiate world led to his election as commissioner for the Higher Education Commission of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. He also served on the executive committee of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.
During his time as president of Champlain College, Perry initiated 16 new bachelors degree programs, established the Colleges first masters degree, and elevated several other two-year programs to four-year degrees. He established an online learning division, initiated international programs and brought industry-related organizations on campus, including the Vermont Information Technology Center, Putnam Investments, and the State of Vermonts Global Trade Partnership. Champlain College has also provided training for corporations such as IBM, IDX Systems Corp., and Qwest and groups such as Vermont teachers and law enforcement professionals.
Prior to arriving at Champlain, Perry was a member of the graduate faculty at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and an associate superintendent of the St. Louis School system. In St. Louis, he received national recognition for establishing partnership programs that linked schools, businesses, cultural institutions and universities. He was also a management extension specialist at Cornell Universitys School of Industrial and Labor Relations and he taught at Cardigan Mountain School in New Hampshire.
Perry received his undergraduate degree in economics from Dartmouth College and his Ph.D. in administration from Syracuse University. He and his wife, Heather, also served as Peace Corps volunteers in the Marshall Islands.
Post, chair of the Board of Trustees, chronicled several Champlain College highlights during the Perry years: Champlain has been transformed from a two-year to a four-year college that offers traditional classroom instruction, online distance learning and satellite campuses abroad. Who would have guessed a decade ago that we would also offer graduate programs?
Our influence has grown from our Vermont roots to New England, then to the nation, then to Israel, India and Dubai, Post said. There has been a dramatic increase in new sports and recreation activities, community service involvement, leadership opportunities and special interest programs. The completion in Fall 2005 of the Student Life Complex is part of Champlains commitment to provide co-curricular and extracurricular activities to all students.
Founded in 1878, Champlain College is a private, career-oriented institution offering professional certificates, associates, bachelors and masters degrees in 27 fields of study in business, technology and human services. Champlain College educates 1,700 full-time students and 850 part-time students, and employs 400 faculty and staff in Burlington, Vermont.