On July 1, 2010, John A. Fry officially joined the U.S. SQUASH Board of Directors as a Class 3 Director. Fry takes the place of outgoing Board member Eric C. Fast, whose term expired in June.
Fry’s career in education started at KPMG Peat Marwick and then with Coopers & Lybrand’s National Higher Education Consulting Practice, where he was elected a partner. In 1995, he became the executive vice president of the University of Pennsylvania and later chief operating officer of the university. Fry became the 14th president of Franklin & Marshall College in 2002, serving until June 2010. On August 1, 2010, Fry started as the 14th president of Drexel University in Philadelphia.
Fry has chaired the NCAA Division III Presidents Council and also served for three years on the Executive Committee of the NCAA. His civic activities include membership on the boards of the Haverford School, Lancaster General Health, Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and the Lancaster Country Day School, where he serves as the President of the Board of Trustees. He is also a Director of Community Health Systems, Delaware Investments, and Ecore International.
An avid squash player since working at Penn, Fry plays singles and doubles regularly. His children have been avid junior squash participants. Mia plays at Williams, and Nathaniel and Phoebe are emerging junior players. Fry was the founder of the Lancaster Country Day School squash program, which has over 40 upper and middle school players. In 2008, Fry recruited John White to be the head squash coach of the men’s and women’s teams at Franklin & Marshall. Fry was instrumental in helping Franklin & Marshall initiate the founding of Squash ACES, an urban squash outreach program that promotes academic achievement for deserving public school students.
Leaving the Board after six years of service is Eric Fast. Fast’s service to the Association has been exemplary. Prior to serving on the Board, Fast contributed extensively to the Junior Development Endowment Fund started in 1996. Fast and a core group of squash parents initiated the role of Director of Junior Development which was started in 2000. In the 10 year period since then, participation in junior squash has increased 200%. On the Board, Fast chaired the Junior Development Campaign, U.S. SQUASH’s most successful campaign ever, raising more than $1.3 million for junior development and the endowment fund. Fast and his wife Patti were the lead donors of the campaign, and they are Kingsley-Knox Founders Club members, having donated more than $50,000 to the Association’s Annual Fund within a five year period. In addition to serving on the Board since 2004, Fast served on two Standing Committees, the Finance, Audit and Compensation Committee and the Nominating and Governance Committee.
