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From best band to current read, John Fry answers some personal questions

Temple’s next president shares some of his favorite things.

John A. Fry was named the next president of Temple University Wednesday by unanimous vote of the trustees.
John A. Fry was named the next president of Temple University Wednesday by unanimous vote of the trustees.Read moreJessica Griffin / Staff Photographer

John A. Fry, who was named Temple University’s next president on Wednesday, was born in Brooklyn and got his bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College.

Fry, 64, also has an MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and started his career not in academia, but in the auditing division of what is now KPMG, and then moved to Coopers & Lybrand to run a Philadelphia consulting operation dealing with colleges.

» READ MORE: Drexel University’s John Fry expected to become Temple’s next president, sources say

He moved to the University of Pennsylvania in 1995 where he became executive vice president, then president of Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster in 2002 and president of Drexel University in West Philadelphia in 2010. He’s a resident of Newtown Square, where he lives with his wife, Cara, an art historian. They have been married for 37 years and have three children: Mia, 33, an attorney and Penn law grad; Nat, 29, a Drexel grad who owns a woodworking business and lives in Philadelphia; and Phoebe, 23, also a Drexel grad who is a videographer and musician and lives in Manhattan.

Here’s a look at some of his favorite things.

Favorite movie: Chariots of Fire

Favorite performing artist or band: Jackson Browne

Favorite kind of music: Classical music by the Philadelphia Orchestra

Favorite foods: Sashimi and pumpkin pie in season

Favorite vacation spot: Amagansett, Long Island

Book currently reading or most recently read: From Strength to Strength: Finding Success, Happiness, and Deep Purpose in the Second Half of Life by Arthur Brooks

Favorite book: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner

Exercise of choice: The gym

Motto to live by: ”The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

How you feel about walking into this next chapter of your life: ”Humbled, very humbled.”