He developed his career at the University of Edinburgh as Professor of Pharmacology, later Dean of Medicine and Vice Principal. In 1969 he became Vice Chancellor of the Open University and made that university into an effective institution proving that sceptics had been wrong. He was mainly responsible for deciding that the Open University would not compromise on academic standards – he was determined that its qualifications should be of equal academic value to non-distance learning universities. Perry worked further to develop distance learning through the United Nations.
