TALLAHASSEE — The oldest son of parents who were part of what NBC newsman Tom Brokaw dubbed the “The Greatest Generation,” Bill Corry and his three brothers learned at an early age the value of hard work and a good education. 

His father the late James Edmund Corry, a prominent contractor, developer and rancher in Gadsden County, put Bill and his three brothers to work on the family’s 1,200- acre ranch north of Quincy, where they raised Black Angus cattle, and at his construction sites during the summer months. 

The boys helped build, among other things, apartments, houses and a major sea wall in Bay County. They typically arrived at the construction sites before the rest of the crew and stayed to continue working after the rest of the crew left. His mother Margaret, whom everyone calls Betty, was a stay-at-home mom, volunteering at her sons’ schools, participating in Cub Scouts as their den mother, involving them in church activities, and helping her husband in the administrative side of his companies. 

In gratitude to his parents for instilling in him such a strong work ethic and for paying for his high school, undergraduate and law school education so he could concentrate on his studies, Corry has created the James Edmund and Margaret Elizabeth Hennessey Corry Professorship at the College of Law, where he proudly graduated with the class of 1973. 

“I attribute my success today as a lawyer to my parents teaching us to buckle down and work hard—working in construction throughout the summers and at the cattle ranch in Gadsden County after school and on weekends in the winters,” says Corry, who practices personal injury law at the Tallahassee Law Office of William W. Corry, P.A. 

The professorship is to be used to recruit or retain an exceptionally productive legal scholar. College of Law Dean Don Weidner appointed Curtis Bridgeman the James Edmund and Margaret Elizabeth Hennessey Corry Professor of Law. 

Bridgeman joined the law school in 2004. He teaches Contracts, Commercial Law, Creditors’ Rights, Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Private Law. He was chosen Professor of the Year by first-year law students in each of his first two years of teaching at Florida State. He received his law degree and doctorate and master’s in philosophy from Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. 

“It is a tremendous honor for me to be associated with this generous gift,” Bridgeman said. “Our alumni are fantastic partners in everything the law school does, and Mr. Corry is a great example. The fact that he was able to honor his parents through his support of education makes the donation that much more special.”