John Pruis, Ball State (Administration/President)
John Pruis, who served as the president of Ball State University from 1968-78, was inducted into the MAC Hall of Fame in 1994 as one of nine inductees that year. Pruis became Ball State president in 1968 and was an instrumental part of Ball State joining the MAC in 1973 and elevating all of its athletic programs to NCAA Division I status.
Pruis earned his bachelor's degree from Western Michigan in 1947 and both his master's in 1949 and his doctorate in 1951 from Northwestern. He received honorary degrees from Korea's Yeungnam University in 1972, Indiana State University in 1975 and Ball State in 1984.
Pruis, who began his professional career as a grade school teacher in Jamestown, Mich., was a graduate assistant at Northwestern from 1948 to 1951 before serving one year as a speech instructor at Northern Iowa. He was an assistant and associate professor of speech at Southern Illinois from 1952 through 1955 before returning to Western Michigan as an associate professor of speech. He held several positions in his 13 years at Western Michigan, including vice president for administration during the 1966-67 and 1967-68 academic years. His knowledge of the MAC and his relationship with its member institutions proved invaluable in Ball State's acceptance into the Conference.
After leaving Ball State in 1978, he served as president for corporate relations at Ball Corporation in Muncie, Ind., until his retirement in 1988.
