Neale Perkins

Founder, Safariland, Ltd.

California State University, San Bernardino

Neale Perkins is a long-time supporter and strong advocate of higher education in the Inland Empire. Founder of the Ontario-based Safariland, Ltd., which makes military and police equipment, Mr. Perkins has been a member of the President’s Advancement Council (formerly the University Advisory Board) at California State University, San Bernardino since 1997 and currently serves as chair.

He has been an ardent supporter of the university’s educational mission since moving to the Lake Arrowhead mountain community in the 1990s, helping to strengthen the bond between CSUSB and mountain community residents who want to assist local students in securing a college education.

Mr. Perkins was instrumental in creating the CSUSB Mountain Communities Scholarship Fund in 2003. Together with his wife, Patricia, and other supporters in the Lake Arrowhead community, he launched a campaign to raise scholarship funds for the many potential college students living in the nearby mountain communities. The Perkins have raised more than $400,000 at annual events since 2003, providing Cal State San Bernardino scholarships to 52 recipients to date. He also serves on the executive committee of the board of directors of the Mountain Communities Hospital Foundation.

In recognition of his many accomplishments and dedication to the values of public education in San Bernardino, and his support of CSUSB, the Board of Trustees of the California State University and California State University, San Bernardino are proud to confer upon Neale Perkins the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters.