Proud - Youngstown State University

Dr. Earnest Perry was just eight years old when he started
working alongside his father in what he likes to call the family’s
“recycling business,” picking up other people’s discards
and finding ways to reuse them. It was a
simple, honest living, and it paid Perry’s
way through college and medical school.
Now chief of surgery at Forum
Health Northside Medical Center in
Youngstown and a YSU alumnus, Perry
hasn’t forgotten the sacrifices his father
made to help him reach his goals. He’s
determined to do the same for aspiring
YSU students who can’t afford college.
Perry and his wife Doris, a longtime
teacher in the Youngstown City
Schools, have established a scholarship
endowment to benefit minority students
attending YSU. It’s the second endowment
for the Perrys – they created their
first in 1997.
“We decided to do it again for the
university’s 100th year,” Perry said. “To
whom much is given, much is required,
so you do what you can to help.”
The Liberty Township couple contributed $25,000,
and the YSU Foundation matched their donation to create the
Dr. Earnest Perry and Doris Perry Diversity Scholarship
endowment.
Paul McFadden, YSU’s chief development officer, said
the first scholarship will be awarded this fall. To qualify, an
applicant must be a minority student attending YSU full- or
part-time and maintain a 2.7 or better GPA. Preference will be
Development
Dr. and Mrs. Perry Create Diversity Scholarship Endowment
Dr. Earnest and Doris Perry
The William B. and Kathryn C. Pollock Foundation and
the Pollock Company Foundation have together pledged
$500,000 to Youngstown State University’s Centennial Capital
Campaign and earmarked the funds for the Williamson
College of Business Administration.
The Executive Board Room in the new building will be
named for the Foundations in recognition of the gift.
“Having the Pollock Foundations join YSU in the construction
of our new business school building is just another
example of their commitment to the professional and intellectual
renaissance currently taking place in Youngstown,” YSU
President David C. Sweet said.
The Pollock gift is part of YSU’s $43 million Centennial
Capital Campaign, the largest fund-raising campaign in the
university’s 100-year history, and brings the campaign total to
$42 million.
“The Trustees of the Pollock Foundations recognize
Youngstown State University’s importance to the Mahoning
Valley,” said Franklin S. Bennett Jr., co-trustee of the Foundations.
“The Foundations’ trustees are pleased to continue the
given to students who live in the Mahoning Valley.
“We’re not going to sit here and say the students have to
have a 4.0 GPA,” Mrs. Perry said. “We want the scholarships
to go to students who are really committed
to getting their education, and
they’re struggling hard, but the finances
aren’t there.”
Perry earned his baccalaureate in
pre-med in 1959 from Youngstown
University and his medical degree from
Meharry Medical College in Nashville.
“It was very gratifying to see my dad in
the audience the day I graduated from
medical school,” Perry recalled. “He
always wanted me to have better opportunities
than he had.”
A general surgeon, Perry has a private
medical practice on Youngstown’s
North Side and is an associate professor
at the Northeastern Ohio Universities
College of Medicine.
Doris Perry retired in 1988 after
30 years as a first grade teacher in the
Youngstown Schools, but she’s back in the classroom, teaching
and mentoring other teachers. The couple has been married
44 years.
A philanthropist in her own right, Mrs. Perry established
a nonprofit organization called Women Hand in Hand in 1986
which awards YSU scholarships to young mothers in financial
need. The program paid the tuition for three women attending
classes in the 2007-08 academic year and she expects to
double that number this fall.
Pollock Foundations Pledge $500K to Capital Campaign
Pollock family’s legacy of support to
this most important institution.”
A native of Youngstown and a
graduate of Yale University, William B.
Pollock II became president and chief
executive in 1931 of the Pollock Co.,
an iron and steel equipment production
company his grandfather founded in
1863. Pollock was active in the region’s
business and civic communities and
served on the boards of several institutions,
including YSU. He died in 1990
at the age of 84.
The Pollock Foundations are longtime
YSU supporters and have contributed
to the Andrews Student Recreation
and Wellness Center, McDonough
Museum of Art, Mad About the Arts
and the Beeghly College of Education.
Kathryn C. Pollock
William B. Pollock
Summer 2008 43