Perry to Leave Bursar's Office After Sixteen Years in Lehman

Roy V. Perry, Bursar of the University, will retire this June, after he has collected the last few million dollars owed on final term bills.

Lehman friends and colleagues gave Perry a farewell party last Tuesday at the Faculty Club, where, in addition to his other functions, he has served as Treasurer since 1941.

To most students, Perry's name means nothing more than a printed announcement on term bills, warning that the student has 20 days to pay up, or else. To those who have neglected to pay up, Perry has been more familiar.

"It's never easy to press someone for payment, but if it's your job, you do it," Perry observes. University officials, noting the dearth of unpaid bills, have said that he did the job well.

When Perry came to Harvard, 16 years ago, the Bursar's office consisted of a few bookkeepers, housed in a single room. Now, the department has a staff of 110, entirely occupies Lehman Hall, and keeps several banks of IBM machines continually occupied.

In addition to his job of obtaining payment from reluctant students, Perry has been in charge of general relations between the finance department and other parts of the University.

$150,000,000 Collected

Perry estimates that he has collected some $150,000,000 from students while in office.

Although he has served as a major spokesman for University policy during the past few years, Perry never graduated from college.

The Bursar has also served for many years as Treasurer of the New England Deposit Library and a member of the Employee's Pension Committee.