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George Perles, citing health, resigns as MSU trustee

Posted at 11:15 AM, Nov 29, 2018
and last updated 2018-11-29 11:15:40-05

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — George Perles has resigned as a member of Michigan State University’s governing board after nearly 12 years, citing his age and health.

Perles was a former Michigan State football coach and athletic director before winning election as a trustee in 2006. A Democrat, he was re-elected to an eight-year term in 2014.

The 84-year-old Perles has Parkinson’s disease, and he says the consequences “continue to grow.” In a statement dated Wednesday, he says he and wife Sally “need to make our life smaller as we age and consider our quality of life.”

In September, a woman alleged that Perles covered up a rape allegation against sports doctor Larry Nassar when Perles was athletic director in 1992. Pat Perles called it a “fabrication” and insisted his father had never met the woman, who was a 17-year-old field hockey player at the time.