[1] Perry's dissertation was titled Keats and the Poets, 1815-1848: Studies in his Early Vogue as Reflected in the Verse Tributes and Allusions of His Contemporaries,[3] and his doctoral advisor was Hyder Edward Rollins.

He simultaneously taught at Washington and Lee University, where he eventually rose to the position of department chair in English.

In 1952, he established the Elizabeth Gray and Marvin Banks Perry Memorial Fund at Washington and Lee.

In 1973, he resigned from Goucher to serve as president of Agnes Scott College, a position he held until his retirement in 1982.

At the time of his death, he was residing at the Westminster-Canterbury of the Blue Ridge Retirement Home in Charlottesville, Virginia.