A Lasting Impact: Rich Downs’ CCP Story

For Rich Downs, the Community College of Philadelphia experience centers around community, access and quality educators. A member of the first graduating class, Downs formed a unique and unforgettable bond with Dr. Edward Anderson, founding director of the College’s Division of Economics and Business Administration. Dr. Anderson started as a professor when the College opened in 1965, teaching until he passed away in 1972. Downs spent his career honoring Dr. Anderson in any way he could think of, regarding the late professor as “the most wonderful instructor [he] could ever meet in this world.” Rich Downs made a significant major gift during the campaign in 2008 to name the Welcome Center as "Edward A. Anderson Welcome Center."

“Edward Anderson was just so funny [in] the way he explained accounting,” Downs said. “Everybody thinks accounting is boring. It wasn't boring. He was just absolutely fabulous. And at the end of that semester, I knew what I wanted to be for the rest of my life. I wanted to be a CPA.”

After graduating from the College, Downs came back to Dr. Anderson for guidance and advice. “The man became my mentor,” he said. “He steered me to Drexel and to my co-op jobs at Drexel. And then after that, we worked on going back to grad school. And Dr. Edward Anderson, I owed it all to him.”

Downs has stayed connected to the College in many ways over the decades since he graduated, including working to set up the first named scholarship at the College in honor of Dr. Anderson. “Every year we meet with students, and it's just a wonderful experience getting to rehash my experience at Community College of Philadelphia and the wonders of Dr. Edward Anderson.”

Outside of the joys of working with Dr. Anderson, Downs is grateful for his time on the baseball team at CCP. “You can tell I get away from education sometimes,” he joked, as he pulled his baseball glove out of his bag. “We started up the first baseball team and we traveled around, and we were very good. We had some great seasons, the two seasons I was here.” Downs coached baseball after his time at CCP, too—first in Little League and eventually at Ursinus College for six years.

Downs spent his career working in financial roles for organizations like PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and American Food Service Corporation, but he was always involved in the community. He served as president of the school board for a period of time and became chairman of the former Phoenixville Hospital, which eventually merged with Penn Hospital, where he then became part of the University of Pennsylvania Medical Board. Eventually, Downs came back to his roots at community colleges as well. “I got involved with all the community colleges. I taught classes everywhere because I'm so dedicated to community college,” he said. “I taught at Community College of Philadelphia, Delaware County Community College [and] Montgomery County Community College.”