Shirley Bird Perry, a senior vice president at the University of Texas, has died after a long battle with cancer. She was 74 years old and had been an administrator at the university for nearly a half century.
A native of Stockdale, Texas, Perry graduated from the University of Texas in 1958 and took a position as program director for the Texas Union on the Austin campus. She later served as director of the campus facility and earned a master’s degree in educational psychology. After a three-year stint working for the Association of College Unions-International, she returned to the University of Texas to manage the university’s centennial celebration in 1983. Then, Perry was named vice president of development and university relations. She later served as vice chancellor for development and university relations for the University of Texas system. She returned to the Austin campus in 2004 to serve as senior vice president.