Meet Roy Derryberry, an Army veteran, pilot instructor, and current student at the University of Memphis who has been taking classes at the school since 1973.
Derryberry, who has been auditing one class per semester, has three degrees from what was formerly known as Memphis State University. In 1978, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history; in 1981, he received a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology; and finally, he achieved a Master of Arts degree in history a few years later.
However, Derryberry’s story in Memphis does not start there.
In the late 1950s, Derryberry, who originally grew up over an hour away in Bolivar, received a draft notice from the military, and he did a physical examination at Kennedy Veterans Hospital, which resided on what is now the University’s South Campus on Park Avenue.
While in the Army, one of Derryberry’s trips was to Memphis, where he gained a significant professional opportunity through being a pilot instructor at the Memphis Flying Service airport.
“They needed instructors, so I talked to the boss there and they asked me what my qualifications are,” said Derryberry, who had been flying for a few years at the time. “They called me up and said to come work for us. I worked as a flight instructor here in Memphis for over a year.”
Derryberry accepted a job at Southern Airways, which is now Delta Airlines, and served with the company for about 15 years, becoming a captain in the process. He left the company in 1997 due to a mandatory retirement age of 60 at the time.
While Derryberry was an airline captain, he started college at the age of 35, attending Oglethorpe University in Georgia. In the fall of 1973, Derryberry transferred from Oglethorpe to the University of Memphis, where he was able to achieve a Master of Arts degree. After leaving Northwest Airlines in 1997, he started to audit one class per semester at the University of Memphis, choosing a class that he found interesting to learn in.
“You can audit courses without tuition and with very few restrictions,” said Derryberry. “The University has never denied me any course I wanted to take, and I have been doing that for about 26 years.”
This semester, Derryberry is taking a classics course every Monday and Wednesday.
1986 was the only year, since he got his master’s degree, that Derryberry did not take a class at the University.
“After I got my master’s degree, my advisor Marcus Orr asked me if I wanted to continue or quit. I wanted to continue. I applied and was accepted into a Ph.D. program. I took one course under Dr. Orr, but the airline I was flying for at the time leased six brand new [Boeing] 757 airplanes flying out of Detroit, and the training was going to be in Seattle. I talked to my wife about it, and I wanted to fly that airplane so badly. I dropped out of the Ph.D. program and flew the airplane.”
Derryberry only recommends auditing courses for people who are genuinely interested in doing so. “You need to have the interest, because if you’re not interested, it’s a waste of time. If you are interested and want to go, it is the greatest deal in the world.”
When reflecting from the time he first attended Memphis State in 1973 to still taking classes at the University of Memphis in 2024, Derryberry does not see a lot of change.
“The name has changed, but it’s the same place and the same buildings. However, when I first started here, they had a lot of courses at night taught at Cordova High School, Whitehaven High School, and other schools around. They do not have that anymore,” Derryberry said.
Derryberry will continue auditing classes at the University of Memphis as long as he’s physically able and still interested. “Physically right now, I am in good shape. I am thankful to the gods and everybody else that I am in such good condition, but at my age, anything can happen.”
