A Champion for Veterans

For more than three decades, Fran Perez-Wilhite ’88 has been a force of possibility at the intersection of military service, business development, and community leadership. A four-year student-athlete on the rugby team, graduate of the Norwich University Corps of Cadets, and former U.S. Army officer, Fran has built a career defined by service, and an unwavering commitment to those who serve.

Since 2006, Fran has led Veteran-Owned Business Development for the North Carolina Military Business Center, becoming a lifeline for veteran entrepreneurs navigating the complex landscape of federal contracting and small-business growth. Her work helps veterans translate their skills, discipline, and vision into sustainable businesses.

Her impact stretches far past state lines. Fran has been appointed to some of the nation’s highest-level advisory bodies focused on veterans’ issues, including multiple U.S. Small Business Administration committees and the VA’s Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses. As Chairwoman of the SBA Advisory Committee on Veterans Business Affairs, she helped steer national policy, elevate veteran voices, and shape programs that continue to influence federal support for veteran-owned businesses.

Fran’s leadership is grounded in a rare blend of credibility and heart. Her career began as a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army, followed by thirteen years in management roles at Philip Morris USA. Along the way, she earned her MBA from Wake Forest University, deepened her global perspective through study at University of Oxford and the University of Salamanca, and served on more than two dozen city, county, state, federal, nonprofit, and corporate boards.

Her service record reads like a blueprint for civic engagement: Chairwoman of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Community Relations Subcommittee, member of the NC Commission on Military Affairs, commissioner and advisor across multiple state and federal agencies, and longstanding Norwich University volunteer on the Board of Fellows. Since January 2024, Fran has volunteered her expertise as part of the Women Kicking Glass Steering Committee. As an ongoing commitment she chairs the Women Kicking Glass Leadership Summit, with the first summit being hosted in 2027. Her work has earned her recognition, including the ATHENA Leadership Award, Mecklenburg Times 50 Most Influential Women, and the Charlotte Business Journal Women in Business Award.

Yet for all the titles she has held, Fran is known just as much for the way she moves in the world: purposefully, compassionately, and always with an eye toward lifting others. Skilled at building coalitions across communities, she brings people together to solve problems that matter.

Through every chapter of her life, Fran has embodied the ideals of Norwich: service before self, leadership with integrity, and the courage to go beyond. She and her husband, Chuck Wilhite, make their home in Charlotte, North Carolina, where her work continues to ripple outward in ways that strengthen communities, empower veterans, and honor the values she first embraced on The Hill.
 

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To learn more about the Women Kicking Glass Initiative or contribute to the WKG Scholarship, visit the Women Kicking Glass webpage.