K. John Perrin

K. John Perrin
Unit Manager
Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library

John's role is vital to the success of the Southwest Collections archives. He holistically redesigned the archives' acquisition database software, and the legal documentation that allows our donors, both fiscal and archival, to contribute to Texas Tech's mission. John also facilitates the retrieval, organization, and availability of unique archival collections that have been used by researchers in Japan, the UK, and other nations; in New York, California, and most every state in between. He has collaborated closely with the National College Baseball Hall of Fame to make the Southwest Collection its archive of record, working with world-class baseball players and coaches, including MLB luminaries such as Stephen Strasbourg and Nomar Garciaparra, to nurture their relationship with Texas Tech. Along with the Southwest Collections Archivist, he retrieved the papers of Astronaut Commander Rick Husband as well as those of Shuttle Pilot and Lubbockite Willie McCool, which have helped to document his legacy in Lubbock's new McCool Academy. John has developed relationships with prominent Texas politicians such as Senator (and former TTU Chancellor) Kent Hance, former Texas Tech President and U.S. Secretary of Education Lauro Cavazos, the family of Texas Governor Coke Stevenson, and has gathered and preserved the records of U.S. Representative Randy Neugebauer, as well as every other Congressman who served in Texas's 19th U.S. Congressional District. Because of John's outstanding work, the Southwest Collection now proudly houses the documentary legacy of all of these figures.