John Fry is likely to become Temple’s next president. Here’s what to know about him.

Drexel University President John A. Fry is likely to become Temple University’s next president, sources say.

Here’s what to know about the 64-year-old Brooklyn native who has spent 14 years at Drexel’s helm and has been a college president for more than two decades.

Fry is as much an urban planner as he is a college president, focusing on building and renovation in every college community he has worked in.

At Drexel, he partnered with Brandywine Realty Trust to launch a multibillion-dollar project to turn parking lots and industrial buildings between Drexel’s campus and 30th Street Station into Schuylkill Yards. He launched a center for neighborhood partnerships and a school of entrepreneurship.

Also under his leadership, he upgraded Drexel’s campus, once named the nation’s ugliest, and in partnership with the Philadelphia School District, opened a new building near campus to house two public schools. He has been credited with boosting fundraising, including bringing in $50 million from Thomas R. Kline for the Kline School of Law, and $45 million from Dana and David Dornsife for the Dornsife School of Public Health.

Fry negotiated Drexel’s merger affiliation with the Academy of Natural Sciences, and last year, Drexel announced it would proceed with a merger with Salus University, a small, private health sciences university based in Elkins Park.

» READ MORE: Five years in, a look at Drexel’s high-flying Fry

It was just a couple years ago that Fry received a five-year contract extension from Drexel, which would have given him 18 years at the helm, making him one of the longest-serving college presidents in the region and matching former Penn president Amy Gutmann’s tenure there.

» READ MORE: John A. Fry’s contract extended to lead Drexel another five years

Fry has been one of the highest-paid private college presidents in the nation, placing ninth in the most recent survey by The Chronicle of Higher Education. He earned $2.6 million in total compensation in 2021, including $765,000 in base pay and the rest in bonuses, benefits, and deferred compensation, which he received after he completed a five-year contract.

That’s not known. Former Temple President Jason Wingard earned nearly $1.4 million in 2021-22, according to the university’s most recent 990 tax form.

Fry is not the typical college president. He does not have a doctoral degree, has never been a dean or provost, and has not conducted research. With a bachelor’s from Lafayette College and an M.B.A. from New York University’s Stern School of Business, he started his career in the auditing division of what is now KPMG, and then moved to Coopers & Lybrand to run a Philadelphia consulting operation dealing with colleges.

Fry was named executive vice president at the University of Pennsylvania under former Penn President Judith Rodin. From 1995 to 2002, he helped to bring a movie theater and grocer to the Penn neighborhood, create the public Penn Alexander School, and launch the University City District, fostering relationships among colleges, retailers, and residents.

When Fry arrived at F&M, a liberal arts college deep in Amish country, in 2002, he continued his work as an urban planner. He soon launched a $75 million redevelopment project, one of the largest in Lancaster’s history. It involved demolishing a factory and moving half of a railroad yard on the college’s rim to a site less than a mile away, freeing dozens of acres for development.

» READ MORE: College president as urban planner

A landfill that occupied the new rail site had to be relocated, which meant excavating and relocating 104,000 tons of trash.

He secured state funding and worked with local employers.

During his eight years there, he also built a $50 million life science and philosophy building and renovated a center for business, government and public policy.

Fry also brought more students back on campus with new student residences, called College Houses.

A native of Brooklyn, Fry and his wife, Cara, an art historian, have three children. Mia is a graduate of Penn’s law school, while Nat is an entrepreneur, and Phoebe is a Drexel graduate.