 Dr. Fries devoted over 39 years of his professional career to public education in North Carolina, having served as superintendent of Cabarrus County Schools from 1977-1988.His colleague, Dr. Ed Tyson said, "He had a very large role in bringing about what turned out to be a very smooth and peaceful integration of schools in contrast to others...He did that by being fair to all people,” Tyson said.The other major change Tyson recalled was the 1983 merging of the Cabarrus County and Concord City school systems when Fries was superintendent.