May 28, 2002 [Number 223]     Printable version (492k PDF)

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Perry Plexico Retires from CIT after 40 Years of Service

CIT's Deputy Director, Perry Plexico, retired this past February after a long and distinguished career at NIH. His career at NIH includes many "firsts" in the development of computer technology. CIT and NIH are richer for Perry's wealth of experience and exemplary leadership.

Plexico with Winslow Homer

In at the Beginning

Perry was present almost from the beginning of computing at NIH. Back in 1962—before the Internet, palm-pilots, cell phones, or personal computers—NIH hired a young engineer named Perry Plexico. With the ink still wet on his University of Maryland diploma, Perry found himself in the new Computation and Data Processing Branch (CDPB), Division of Research Services. Headed by Hank Juenemann, CDPB was trying to persuade NIH's scientific staff to use computers for recording and analyzing their data.

At the time, NIH scientists used various systems that did not operate efficiently with each other. NIH wanted to find a way to use the new technology of computers to help streamline the scientific process. Perry's new job was to help put this new technology directly into the hands of the NIH scientific community, which he succeeded in doing. Mr. Juenemann later recalled—in a letter written for Perry's retirement—that Perry had

• rescued Building 2 (one of the NIH's original scientific laboratory buildings) from being swamped with paper tape

• installed a computer system in an NHLBI laboratory that permitted scientists to analyze data in real time during an experiment

• enhanced the Laboratory Instrument Computer or LINC family of small computers so they would fit different scientific research situations

• achieved many other "firsts" in the burgeoning field of computer technology

Over the Years

As the technology he helped initiate at the NIH continued to progress, so did Perry. In the 1980s he was the Computer Systems Laboratory Chief for the Division of Computer Research and Technology (predecessor to CIT). In the early 1990s he became director of the NIH Computer Center. From 2000 until his retirement, Perry served as the Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer for CIT, helping to chart its overall direction, strategic development, resource allocation and financial performance.

Retirement and Beyond

The sentiment expressed in the closing line of Hank Juenemann's letter is shared by the many NIHers who have had the pleasure of knowing Perry and working with him "…your 40 years of successfully plowing new ground has earned you the respect of all who came to honor you…."

Though Perry has retired, he has not abandoned us. He has agreed to continue to contribute to CIT and share his wisdom with us—although part time. So don't be surprised if you see him around the building 12 complex. And, your e-mails will still reach him.