82R27485 MMS-D
By: Branch H.C.R. No. 155
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Shirley Bird Perry, whose association with The
University of Texas at Austin spanned six decades and who made an
incalculable contribution both to the university and to the UT
System, passed away on May 4, 2011, at the age of 74; and
WHEREAS, A fifth-generation Texan, Mrs. Perry was born to
Homer and Laura Stevenson Bird near Stockdale in 1936; she arrived
at UT as a freshman in 1954, and though the campus was vastly larger
than the small-town high school she had attended, she thrived on the
Forty Acres; while an undergraduate, she served on the Texas Union
Board of Directors and was tapped for membership in the Orange
Jackets and Mortar Board; her senior year, she was named Most
Outstanding Woman Student by the Dads' Association; and
WHEREAS, After graduating with a degree in education in 1958,
Mrs. Perry worked as program director for the Texas Union before
moving to California, where she found a teaching position; a year in
the classroom with seventh-graders quickly persuaded her that her
future lay elsewhere, and she returned as program director of the
Texas Union in 1960; over the next decade, she focused on providing
a diverse array of programs for UT students and organized
appearances by such figures as Martin Luther King, Jr., Robert
Kennedy, and Marianne Moore, while also earning a master's degree
in educational psychology from UT in 1967; she became director of
the union in 1972; and
WHEREAS, During her time there, Mrs. Perry played an active
role in the Association of College Unions--International, becoming
the first woman to be elected to the group's executive committee and
the first woman to serve as ACUI president; in 1976 she left the
university for a brief period to serve as coordinator for ACUI
educational programs and services; and
WHEREAS, Shirley Bird Perry returned to The University of
Texas in 1979, when Dr. Peter Flawn named her assistant to the
president and coordinator of the university's centennial
observance; her new responsibilities included overseeing the
activities of the Centennial Commission, a series of commemorative
events, and a capital campaign that substantially augmented faculty
endowments and the funds for lectureships and scholarships; in 1981
she was promoted to vice president, and in 1983, the culminating
year of the centennial celebration, she became vice president for
development and community relations; and
WHEREAS, Mrs. Perry continued to serve in that capacity under
Dr. William Cunningham, who followed Dr. Flawn as university
president in 1985; when Dr. Cunningham stepped down in 1992 to
become chancellor of the UT System, he was loathe to lose such a
priceless asset and persuaded Mrs. Perry to accompany him, naming
her vice chancellor for development and external relations; her
duties with the UT System included directing fund-raising
operations, public affairs programs, the management of estates and
trusts, and event planning, among other activities; and
WHEREAS, In 2004, Mrs. Perry resigned her office as vice
chancellor to rejoin the administration at the university,
accepting a position as senior vice president; in addition to
overseeing the fund-raising efforts of the UT president and
coordinating his visits to communities around the state, she worked
with the Dolph Briscoe Center for American History to more fully
document the history of the university she loved so well; and
WHEREAS, Honored repeatedly throughout her career, Shirley
Bird Perry received a Top Hand Award and a Distinguished Alumnus
Award from the Texas Exes in 1984 and 2005, respectively, an Award
of Distinction from the UT Parents' Association in 1992, and a
Presidential Citation, the highest recognition conferred by The
University of Texas, for 2010; in addition, the Texas Union has
created the Shirley Bird Perry Leadership Award to salute
outstanding students, and the UT presidents with whom she served
have established the Shirley Bird Perry Endowment Fund for
University History; Mrs. Perry also received accolades for her work
from the Association of College Unions--International, the Council
for the Advancement and Support of Education, and the National
Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges; and
WHEREAS, Shirley Bird was married to Sam R. Perry, an equally
fervent UT alum and an Austin attorney, in 1963, and they shared a
devoted union until her passing; and
WHEREAS, To her consummate skills as an administrator, Mrs.
Perry added unfailing kindness, unerring instincts, inexhaustible
energy, and a matchless knowledge of the university, its history,
and its inner workings; over the years, her endeavors helped to
build the foundation on which the reputation of the university
rests, and her wise counsel informed myriad decisions by university
and system leaders; she was, in the words of one, "the caretaker for
UT's soul," and she will be deeply and sorely missed; now,
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby pay tribute to the life of Shirley Bird Perry and extend
sincere sympathy to the members of her family: to her husband, Sam
R. Perry; to her sisters and brother-in-law, Mary Jane and Errol
Jonsson, Virginia Bird Davis, and Patsy Bird Weber; to her nephew,
Charles Cotter; to her great-nephews, Jake and Trevor Cotter; to
her cousin, Betty Bird; to her sisters-in-law, Polly Perry-Vincent
and her sons, Blair and Scott Franklin, and their families, and
Jenny Kay Kubiak and her husband, L. B. Kubiak, and their children,
Lindsay and Logan; and to her other relatives and many friends; and,
be it further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for her family and that when the Texas House of
Representatives and Senate adjourn this day, they do so in memory of
Shirley Bird Perry.