By Devi Shastri
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
December 18, 2020
Ron Perez loved his work.
In three decades working for the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and its students, Perez held an array of roles: teaching engineering classes; overseeing the unification of campuses in Milwaukee, Waukesha and Washington County; serving in the chancellor’s cabinet; and — the job that brought him the most pride — working as dean of the Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health.
“The work was his life,” said UWM Provost Johannes Britz. “He was absolutely, passionately dedicated to being an educator. Not just work — there’s a difference — for him it was a calling.”
Perez died Wednesday after a several months battling a terminal brain illness. He was 59.
Perez’s career saw him champion and achieve major milestones for UWM. He worked tirelessly to make UWM the first in the state to have an accredited school of public health, and more recently to add an undergraduate program. He co-chaired the team that oversaw UWM’s merger with its satellite campuses. He served in Chancellor Mark Mone’s cabinet in a first-ever role aimed at improving campus culture.
“One of my first thoughts when I heard that Ron had passed away was, ‘I can’t even imagine UWM without Ron Perez,’” said Paula Rhyner, who led UWM’s merger alongside Perez. “Because he was in so many places.”
When UWM’s school of public health finally gained accreditation — a designation that verifies the quality of the school’s education — Mayor Tom Barrett called to congratulate Perez and the school was featured on John McGivern’s show on public television.
“It’s a huge effort,” Rhyner said. “A lot of us wondered if Ron ever slept.”
Perez was well-known for his dedication and work ethic from early in his career, when he taught in UWM’s engineering college.
Anoop Dhingra, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, met Perez when they were in graduate school at Purdue University. The two took teaching jobs at UWM in 1990, and remained close friends since.
“He would be in bright and early at 8 o’clock and when I would be leaving around 5:30, 6 o’clock, he still would be sitting there, helping out students,” Dhingra said.
Even when he took the helm at UWM’s school of public health, he went out of his way — in true engineering fashion — to find solutions to the problems they faced.
He found funding so students in his college could take a required statistics preparation course for free, rather than pay out of pocket, wrangled scholarships for anyone who needed one and personally encouraged students to pursue their dreams.
Shabnam Nikravan, a doctoral student in the Zilber School of Public Health, said she didn’t even know Perez very well when he walked up to her one day and told her he thought she should pursue her doctorate.
“What would convince you?” she remembered Perez asking. “Because you’re capable. What do you need?”
He helped her get a job as the school’s admissions coordinator, to help fund her degree. He found her scholarships.
“He was such a champion for me,” Nikravan said. “But he was like that for everyone.”
When the campuses in Washington County and Waukesha began the uncertain and stressful work of merging with UWM, Perez was an approachable and caring leader for all involved, said Jackie Joseph-Silverstein, former dean and executive director of the southeast region of UW Colleges.
“He really wanted to understand the campuses, the people, how they were feeling about the transition,” Joseph-Silverstein said. “He was a great leader. He understood the importance of listening to people.”
Perez was known for his ability to get along with anyone and his sense of humor and excitement.
Nikravan remembers him showing up to an ’80s-themed party at the school of public health where the only real sign of a theme was the music and Perez — who came dressed in a Wayne’s World wig, fake tattoo sleeves, and a metal band T-shirt carefully tucked into his pleated khakis.
Britz, who counts Perez among his best friends, would prank him by calling Perez during meetings, and Perez would panic and then laugh.
Dhingra’s kids still call him “Officer Ron,” from when Perez worked as a volunteer patrol officer in Cedarburg for the excitement of riding in a squad car.
Perez met his wife, Christine, in the UWM library in the early ’90s. The two fell in love and got married, never celebrating an anniversary because every day was special. He was a picky eater, but loved Jimmy John’s and — after Christine finally got him to try it — Kopps custard.
He was an avid traveler and wanted his family to experience the world, Christine said. He loved his 18-year-old daughter, Kennedy, deeply. He was in the stands at every one of her sporting events and wanted her to get the best possible education.
Perez was born in the Dominican Republic and visited his family there multiple times a year. He also created international partnerships that brought students to Milwaukee to study, including a longstanding exchange program in Colombia.
“I was so proud of him. He was a very humble person. When somebody would ask him, where do you work, he would just say UWM,” Christine Perez said. “He would never say, ‘Oh, I’m the dean of the (school of public health).’ I loved that about him.”
Perez is survived by his wife, Christine; daughter, Kennedy; mother; Lourdes; brothers Mario and Arnold; and sister, Audrey. Planning for a memorial fund is underway.
Contact Devi Shastri at 414-224-2193 or DAShastri@jrn.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DeviShastri.