Ray Perkins was first elected to the Township of Union Board of Education in 1995 and is in his fourteenth year of service, presently serving in his fifth elected term.  He has served as Vice-President and President and has been a member of most Board of Education standing committees over time.  He currently is the chairperson of the Board’s Policy Committee.  Significant concerns for him continue to be public participation in dialogue with the Board on all issues of education and management of the Township’s schools, and communication with the public on district issues and developments.

Mr. Perkins is an attorney with the law firm of Meyner and Landis LLP, successor to the firm founded by the late former Governor Robert B. Meyner, in Newark.  Earlier in his career he was a licensed professional engineer and was Deputy Director for Engineering with the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering degree from Newark College of Engineering (now within New Jersey Institute of Technology); a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall University School of Law; and, a Master of Laws in Trade Regulation from New York University School of Law.  He is admitted to practice in New Jersey state courts, the Federal District Court for New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the 3^rd Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Perkins is a former officer of the New Jersey Army National Guard and the United States Army Reserve, having retired with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.  He served as an Armor officer, and later, in the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He is a graduate of the United States Army Armor School at Fort Knox, Kentucky, the Judge Advocate General’s School in Charlottesville, Virginia, and, the United States Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Mr. Perkins has been a resident of Union for 60 years.  He is married to the former Jean Riley.  They are the parents of two adult sons who are graduates of Union schools, and the grandparents of two boys.

Members of the public may contact Mr. Perkins by writing to him at the Board’s offices, through his e-mail address frperkins@comcast.net, or may call him at 908-686-2224 (evening), or 973-602-3462 (daytime office – direct dial).