Interview with a provost

As dean of the School of Health and Human Performance, Dr. David H. Perrin would often change into exercise clothes at lunchtime and go for a run. He hasn't had that luxury since becoming provost July 1.

For one thing, the Mossman Building, site of his new digs, doesn't have a locker room, as the HHP Building does. Then there are the frequent lunch meetings that come with being a provost. So he gets up a little earlier and runs before coming to campus.

He has identified several top priorities: remaining a student-centered university, increasing faculty diversity, expanding externally funded research and creative activity, promoting local economic development, and collaborating with NC A&T on the Joint School of Nanoscience and Nanoengineering.

Although much is different in his new job, some things are the same. He still has a row of almost 50 black-bound books in his office. Each volume contains a doctoral dissertation by a student he mentored while a professor at the University of Virginia.

Perrin took a few minutes from his busy schedule to talk about working with Chancellor Sullivan, how he became a fan of the Dave Matthews Band and his favorite places in the world.

Q: In some of your speeches, including the faculty convocation in August, you've talked about a personal connection to each of the university's schools and the College of Arts & Sciences. Tell me about that.

A: I was trying to think of a lighthearted way to begin my convocation speech. I think faculty worry about whether a provost understands the breadth of the academy. Certainly no one is going to have an intimate understanding of everything that happens on a campus of this complexity.

So I was thinking of a way to connect to each of the schools with a little bit of humor. My first example, for the School of Nursing, was that my mother was a nurse. The nursing faculty were fabulous. They cheered, and that set the stage for the rest.

I mentioned that I played the trumpet earlier in my life for the School of Music. I earned a teaching certificate as an undergraduate for the School of Education. I mentioned that I had a small college, liberal arts education for the College of Arts and Sciences. I mentioned that I designed a renovation project for the interior of my house for the School of Human Environmental Science. I finished by saying, to show that I'm certainly not perfect, that I'd rather outsource my taxes to India than do them myself for the Bryan School of Business and Economics.

My basic philosophy is you've got to have a little fun in your work or it isn't worth being there.

Q: Much of this magazine is devoted to Chancellor Sullivan. How would you describe her leadership style?

A: She's a very careful listener. She solicits the advice and input of her executive staff, and she listens very carefully. I've seen her change her mind based on the information she receives from her staff. With that said, she's decisive. When she makes her mind up, she's confident about her decisions.

For me the most important characteristics one looks for in a boss are honesty and integrity. She is very honest and operates with great integrity. I can work for anybody who has those two qualities. There's no hidden agenda. We occasionally disagree and that's just fine, because I know exactly where she's coming from.

Q: Any surprises as you’ve gotten to know her better?

A: I know her in a different way now. She's able to be more open with me. The relationship between a chancellor and a provost is a very important one, and it needs to be a very close relationship. I feel that she and I can say anything to each other and know that it will go nowhere else. …

I think the thing that's been reinforced to me is her love and her passion for this place. It is not artificial. It is from her heart. She just loves the students and the faculty and the staff and the alumni.

Q: What will be her legacy at the university?

A: To me the most impressive thing she's been able to do is she has transformed the university into a major research university while not sacrificing the institution's rich heritage as a student-centered university. And that's a very difficult thing to do.

Often universities that transition into higher-level research universities lose sight of students. She's been able to accomplish that transition in a masterful fashion.

She's also transformed the university physically through her work with the bond referendum and all the resources that she's been able to bring to campus. One needs only walk across this campus to see a remarkable physical transformation.

Those are probably, in my view, her two greatest legacies.

Q: You've been an administrator for many years now. Do you miss being in the classroom?

A: My passion over my career has been working with students. The higher up you get in administration, the more you get removed from what you love the most. I got to a point in my career where I wanted to try to support faculty in ways I was supported so my career could thrive in teaching and research and service. That's what I tried to do as a dean and what I'm trying to do as provost.

Q: What attracted you to sports medicine originally?

A: I was an undergraduate physical education major and a small college basketball player. I loved athletics. I took two courses as an undergraduate that just pushed a button for me. They were exercise physiology and kinesiology.

Then I took a course in care and prevention of athletic injuries. I was just fascinated by the field of athletic training. I went and did my master's degree in athletic training at Indiana State University.

Q: I understand you're a fan of Dave Matthews Band, which was based for many years in Charlottesville, the home of UVa.

A: Dave Matthews actually used to frequent the same tavern that I did, the Court Square Tavern in Charlottesville. When I was first in Charlottesville, someone told me there's this great band that plays every Tuesday night. I used to go listen to them quite frequently when they were just a local band.

Lo and behold, you hear a lot of really good local bands, but this is one that made it. It was really fascinating to watch. It was fun to see a small-town band that you used to listen to on Tuesday nights become the huge success they've become.

Q: You mentioned playing basketball. Do you still play? Also, you've said in speeches that you try to exercise every day. Have you managed to do that?

A: I don't play basketball. I haven't played basketball for years. You know, I study anterior cruciate ligament injuries, and I decided I wasn't going to be one of those noontime casualties.

I've continued to run. I've run all my life. I bike. I enjoy getting out on the bike. When I go to Vermont, I do some kayaking.

When I run, I think. And it's my stress release. If I lose the ability to do that, that would be a real problem for me. So I've been able to pretty much maintain the volume of running I was doing.

Q: Do you have a favorite place?

A: Paris is probably my favorite place to travel abroad. My dad was a French immigrant, so I feel a special connection to France and to the French. I enjoy going to Paris and sitting at a café and reading.

In terms of the United States, I have this special little place on a lake in Vermont that my parents built the year I was born, 1954. My parents are both deceased and my siblings are kind of spread all over the continent, so I've assumed responsibility for keeping the place up. I just love going there. It's one of those special places we all should have where stress just drips from your body.