FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, Nov. 19, 2009
Contact: Dave Wellman, Director of Communications, 304-696-7153
Dr. Simon Perry to deliver
keynote address
at Marshall University’s
2009 Winter Commencement
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. – Dr. Simon Perry, a professor of political science and member of Marshall University’s faculty for 48 years, will deliver the keynote address at Marshall’s 2009 Winter Commencement.
Commencement is set to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5 at Cam Henderson Center on Marshall’s Huntington campus. Perry, a native of Gilbert, W.Va., said he plans to speak on “Going Out Into The World.”
“I am, of course, very honored to be speaking at Winter Commencement and I am looking forward to it,” Perry said. “I’ve got to really try to develop some words of interest for the audience that will be there.”
Perry is the longest serving member of the Marshall faculty. He received his Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University in 1961 and came to Marshall from the University of Michigan in 1962. He currently is a full professor in the department after having been chair for many years.
Perry has received many awards in his long and distinguished career, beginning with the Leonard D. White Award for the Best Dissertation in Public Administration (presented by the American Political Science Association) in 1962.
He also has received the Marshall Distinguished Service Award (1989-90), was the first Drinko Fellow (1994-95) and was the John Deaver Drinko Distinguished Fellow (1998). He won the College of Liberal Arts Outstanding Teacher Award (2001, 2004) and was named a Distinguished West Virginian (presented by Gov. Arch Moore in 1988 and Gov. Joe Manchin in 2007).
In spring 2007, Perry was selected as one of five “Living Legends” (by alumni, colleagues and current students) in Marshall Magazine.
Perry’s interests lie at the intersection of theory, history, and the empirical in American politics. He is especially interested in pivotal moments in American history, such as the founding, the tenure of John Marshall, and the Civil War. His book, Morality, Self-Interest, and the Cities, was published in 1997 by the John Deaver Drinko Academy.
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