President of Franklin & Marshall:
John Fry

Executive Vice President John Fry has been named the 14th president of Franklin & Marshall College, a co-ed liberal arts college in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Mr. Fry came to Penn as EVP in 1995 from Coopers & Lybrand in New York where he had been a partner-in-charge of national higher education and not-for-profit consulting.

"He has been a key part of the leadership team that implemented significant and wide-ranging change at Penn. John's energy and drive helped propel the realization of the strategic plan, and he recruited a highly talented team to work with him on these efforts. John leaves the University a dramatically changed and vastly improved institution," said President Judith Rodin.

"John has much to be proud of, and we have many reasons to be grateful to him. His accomplishments are numerous and varied, and include a leadership role in the development and implementation of Penn's neighborhood revitalization initiative, featuring Sansom Common, Penn's hotel, bookstore and retail complex; a new community-led business improvement district; a new K-8 public school; a fresh food market, retail stores, and restaurants; an expanded home mortgage incentive program; and the Left Bank apartment complex, University City's first new rental complex in decades. John is the key architect of the University's vision for the development of the eastern end of campus, and has led the University forward in its development of the knowledge industry through the creation of P2B, a University subsidiary designed to support business ventures generated by Penn people and others in the region," President Rodin added.

As he leaves Penn this summer to assume his new post at Franklin & Marshall he will be joining one of the oldest institutions in higher learning in the U.S. Founded in 1787, Franklin College was named for benefactor Benjamin Franklin. In 1853, Franklin College merged with Marshall College which was named to honor Chief Justice John Marshall whose name is in one of the medallions (on the 34th Street side of the building) that encircle Penn's Silverman Hall, home of the Law School.

Mr. Fry is a trustee of Lafayette College, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the Morris Arboretum, and Delaware Investments. He is a member of the board of directors of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, founding member and chairman of the board of directors of the University City District, member of the board of directors and vice chairman of the University City Science Center, member of the board of the Ben Franklin Technology Partners, The Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation, Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, and Sovereign Bancorp.

In 1982 he took his B.A. in American civilization at Lafayette, where he received the George Wharton Pepper Prize, the highest honor awarded to a graduating senior. Mr. Fry then earned his M.B.A. at NYU's Stern School of Business in 1986.

Doreen Boyce, chair of the F & M board of trustees, praised Mr. Fry as "an experienced leader with a strong background in helping institutions of higher education realize their full potential."