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J. Warren Perry, founding dean of the School of Health Related Professions (now the School of Public Health and Health Professions), who devoted much of his life to the support of the arts in Western New York, died Aug. 5 in Canterbury Woods, Williamsville, where he had resided since 2005. He was 88.
A prolific and accomplished scholar, administrator, author and lecturer, Perry was a national figure in his field and his work had an impact on health care delivery systems throughout the country.
He came to UB in 1966 to found the School of Health Related Professions, a model for similar schools throughout the SUNY system, and was the first allied health professional ever elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
He was particularly proud of 14 of his former UB students who went on to become deans and presidents of colleges and universities throughout the country. He, himself, received four honorary doctorates, the first from D’Youville College, where helped to establish an allied health professions program.
He was recognized for his professional accomplishments by the American Medical Association; the Veterans Administration; the Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions; the US Department of Health, Education and Welfare and the American Orthotics-Prosthetics Association.
In addition to his impact on health care delivery, Perry had a long commitment to fostering an understanding of local and national history and heritage and an exceptional love of music. The latter led him to co-found Chicago’s Lyric Opera Company and offer significant service to the Buffalo Opera Foundation and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
A native of Richmond, Ind., Perry earned a BA from DePauw University in 1944 and completed a year of graduate school at Harvard University before earning an MA in counseling and a PhD in clinical psychology and college personnel studies from Northwestern University in 1952 and 1955, respectively.
He served on the faculties of the University of Illinois-Chicago, Northwestern Medical School and the University of Chicago, and was deputy assistant commissioner for research and training in the Vocational Rehabilitation Administration at the Department of Health, Education and Welfare in Washington.
In Buffalo, Perry served as chair or board member for several local organizations, including the BPO, the Community Music School, Artpark, Friends of the Kavinoky Theatre (at D’Youville College), Friends of the Center for the Arts and the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, where he established prizes for writing and speaking contests to encourage young people to articulate values grounded in our heritage.
Perry’s contributions to local historical and arts groups were recognized with the Buffalo Arts Council Supporter of the Arts Award, the Buffalo Distinguished Citizen Award and nationally, by his receipt of the Outstanding Philanthropist Award.
In 1980 Perry established the J. Warren Perry and Charles Donald Perry Memorial Fund—named also for his brother Charles, professor and chair of the Department of Classical Languages and Literature at the University of Alabama-Tuscaloosa—to help establish the Western New York Wellness Works Regional Resource Center to assess, direct and research work-site health initiatives with scientific rigor and community sensitivity.
He also founded the J. Warren Perry Lecture Fund at UB to support an annual lecture by a figure of national stature or distinction in areas of interest to the allied health professions.
Perry later presented his remarkable collection of music photographs and memorabilia to the UB Music Library. The J. Warren Perry Collection reflects his abiding love of music and of opera in particular, and provides a striking visual record of many of the most significant musicians of the 20th century.
A memorial service will take place at 10 a.m. Oct. 2 in the Madonna Lounge of Madonna Hall at D’Youville College.
Memorial donations may be made to the Community Foundation, the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, or the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.
J. Fred Bennes, a pharmacist and clinical faculty member in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, died Aug. 4 in Erie County Medical Center after a brief illness. He was 60.
Born in Asheville, N. C., Bennes graduated from the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy with a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy in 1973, and from Duke University School of Health Sciences with a physician assistant degree in 1974.
He was clinical associate professor in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, where he had taught clinical pharmacy and mentored hundreds of pharmacy students since 1974.
He also was director of pharmacy for Health Care Plan for 16 years, and practice administrator for Medical Partners of WNY and Promedicus Health Group.
He was vice president of the Barker Central School Board and a member of the Town of Hartland Zoning Board.
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