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I'm a Pathfinder: Chris Perry

Published on Apr 15, 2025

The son of a steel mill laborer and a secretary, Chris Perry was the first in his family to attend college. 

Inspired by his father’s advice and spurred by a teacher’s doubt, he set his sights on becoming an engineer, an ambition that would redefine his future.

“My dad, being a laborer, was always taking orders from others,” Perry said. “He would come home and talk about the guys in the white hats—the engineers—who were essentially the bosses at the plant. He would say, ‘I think you should do that.’ I didn’t really understand what that meant at the time, but I thought, okay, whatever that means, I’ll try it.”

Perry said that when he was in middle school, he told a teacher that he wanted to be an engineer. He recalls her discouraging him, telling him that he wasn’t smart enough to succeed in that career. 

That was all it took to spark a fierce determination in Perry.

“As an eighth grader, I was making deliberate choices about my future. I ended up in classes with the doctors’ and lawyers’ kids, but I didn’t care. I was going to prove that teacher wrong,” he said. 

Perry began his college education at ACTC, where he excelled in advanced math and science before transferring to the University of Kentucky. 

There, he earned a degree in electrical engineering, graduating third in his class and participating in UK’s cooperative education program.

“For a small-town kid who was once told he couldn’t do it, that was a great feeling. I loved proving people wrong,” Perry said.

His career path led him through Kentucky’s electric cooperative system, where he rose from engineer to CEO over the course of fifteen years. 

Perry now leads statewide energy initiatives and serves as a policy voice for rural electric utilities. Despite his high-profile role as President and CEO of Kentucky Electric Cooperatives, he remains deeply committed to the mission of community colleges.

“ACTC provided a way for me to start my education without financial burden,” he said. “Plus, I could continue working during the summers to save for when I transferred. It was a great opportunity.”

Perry’s ongoing commitment to workforce development includes supporting lineman training and serving on the KCTCS Foundation Board, helping future students access the same opportunities he once had.