201 Athletics Hall of Honor inductees: Al Dorenkamp '75, Candace Wilson DuRegger '01, Rick Perry '89.
Rick Perry '89
Football, basketball
Perry’s athleticism and versatility were keys to Central’s 1988 Stagg Bowl run, and to his ability to quickly transition to the basketball floor after playoff-extended football campaigns. Yet Perry shined in the classroom as well, winning an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship while also gaining CoSIDA Academic All-America honors in football. He’s also the only student-athlete in school history to receive the Mentink Award for leadership, sportsmanship and inspiration in both football and basketball.
In the 1988 NCAA Division III football playoff opener, on an icy early-winter afternoon at Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.), Central advanced in a 7-0 defensive struggle thanks to Perry’s 46-yard punt return for the game’s only touchdown. And, two weeks later, in a memorable national semifinal with perennial power Augustana (Ill.), on the first play of the second overtime, Perry streaked 25 yards down the sideline for the winning touchdown in a 23-17 thriller that sent the Dutch to the final at Phenix City, Ala.
Perry still ranks sixth in career receiving yards at Central (1,673), ninth in career pass receptions (101) and sixth in career touchdown receptions (16). In 1988 he had 51 catches for 806 yards and nine scores. He also had an 86-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, averaged 7.5 yards on 31 punt returns and rushed for 93 yards on eight carries.
He was a member of four league championship football squads and four-time playoff participant.
Perry was a football team co-captain and three-time letterwinner while also earning two letters in basketball. After reporting late for basketball in 1988-89, he still started 16 of 18 games, averaging 7.6 points and 2.3 assists as an off guard.
Perry, who graduated magna cum laude with majors in accounting and business management, joined the McGladrey & Pullen accounting firm in Moline, Ill. in 1989, then passed his Certified Public Accountant exam in 1991. He earned a master’s of business administration degree at the University of Iowa in 1992 and also received Chartered Financial Analyst certification. He worked with Equitable Investment Services in Des Moines as associate portfolio manager for high yield, equities and alternative investments until 1997. He moved to Atlanta to serve as portfolio manager in high yield bonds with ING Investment Management until 2000, when he returned to Iowa to work at Aegon USA Investment Management in Cedar Rapids. He held a series of positions there and was promoted to head of investment grade credit in 2006. While in Cedar Rapids, Perry also was an adjunct instructor in the finance department at the University of Iowa for 12 years.
Perry later served in Overland Park, Kan. as senior vice president with Waddell and Reed, a financial services firm. After retirement, he moved to Georgia.
Perry and his wife Michelle ’89 have four children.
