John Fry
John Fry has won accolades for his work in transforming campuses and struggling college-town neighborhoods into thriving, vibrant communities.
He did it at the University of Pennsylvania.
He's doing it at Franklin & Marshall College.
Now, Drexel University wants a piece of the action.
F&M's 49-year-old president is one of two finalists for the top job at the downtown Philadelphia university of about 22,000 students. The identity of the other finalist is not known.
Fry's candidacy was first publicly disclosed Wednesday by The Philadelphia Inquirer, but it had been widely known on the F&M campus for some time.
Dale F. Frey, the chairman of F&M's board of trustees, confirmed in a phone interview that Fry had been sought out by Drexel.
"We certainly don't want to lose him, but he's an outstanding individual," said Frey, of Weston, Conn. "If a better opportunity comes along, he would go with our blessing."
"There's never been any secrecy about it," said Frey, a 1954 F&M graduate who is the retired chairman and chief executive officer of General Electric Asset Management. "John has been totally open with the board and we with him."
Few on campus believed Fry, who has been actively sought by other universities in recent years, would remain at F&M for more than a decade. At age 49, many there believe, he has at least one or two more careers ahead of him.
Drexel's trustees are expected to pick their next president as soon as mid-March.
The vacancy was created in April when then-president Constantine N. Papadakis died of pulmonary complications stemming from lung cancer three days after taking medical leave. He was 63.
Neither Fry nor Richard Greenawalt, the chairman of Drexel's search committee, returned messages Wednesday.
In addition, messages left with members of the executive search firm Witt/Kieffer in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, who helped to identify candidates for the Drexel job, were not returned.
John Burness, the chairman of the F&M board of trustees' external relations committee, said in a statement that, given Fry's "exceptional record at Franklin & Marshall, it is understandable that he would be sought for the presidency of other institutions. We very much hope he will stay at F&M."
In 2006, Fry had been one of three finalists for the presidency at Temple University, but he withdrew from the running because, he told a newspaper reporter at the time, his work at F&M "is not complete."
Since then, he has overseen the transformation of the once-blighted industrial properties along Harrisburg Pike into the $35 million mix of student apartments and retail stores that has become College Row.
And he has been instrumental in the Northwest Gateway Project, the rehabilitation of the former Armstrong World Industries' Liberty Street flooring plant site, as well as the relocation of the Dillerville rail yard and the establishment of the James Street Improvement District.
"He's done an awful lot of good for the city," said Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray, who said he had heard rumors about Fry's candidacy for the Drexel job.
Gray said Fry has restored the college's connection to Lancaster.
"F&M, 50 years ago, used to be the Lancaster school. But really I think it got away from the community to the extent that it really was just a school that happened to be located in the city," Gray said.
"I think, to a very large degree, John really involved the college in the city, in the affairs of the city, and certainly worked to improve the college," the mayor said, "and in doing so, improved the city."
Burness, in his statement, said Fry "continues to work as energetically as ever on behalf of Franklin & Marshall, investing in the academic program, including the faculty, raising funds for students' financial aid, knitting together the northwest quadrant of Lancaster, and developing the signature College House system."
Fry was chosen by F&M in 2002 to succeed outgoing college president Richard Kneedler. He had worked as executive vice president and chief operating officer of the University of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2002. There, he played a leading role in the downtown university's successful neighborhood revitalization — a role he continued in Lancaster.
Frey said Drexel approached Fry about the job.
"He hasn't been seeking any job; they come after him," Frey said.
The Inquirer reported Wednesday that Fry's development experience could be of interest to Drexel trustees as they look north of their Market Street location in University City.
Don Ziegler, vice chairman of the F&M trustees, told the Inquirer he hoped Fry would remain at the college. His contract runs until the summer of 2012.
"We obviously think he's one of the best there is. Quite frankly, if we lose him, we'll feel pretty bad about that," Ziegler, of Delaware, told the Inquirer. "He's continuing to work as if he's going to be here for the next 20 years."
Frey declined to speculate on whether Fry would leave the college, but said he would be missed if Drexel recruits him away from F&M.
"John has totally transformed the college as well as the western part of Lancaster," he said. "He is an outstanding strategic thinker. He's repositioned the institution again to be among the better liberal-arts schools, and he's transformed the city along with it."