Ralph L. Ropp

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Ralph Loyd Ropp
11th President of Louisiana Tech University
In office
1949–1962
Preceded byClaybrook Cottingham
Succeeded byF. Jay Taylor
Personal details
BornMarch 3, 1897
Latty, Paulding County, Ohio, USA
DiedMarch 31, 1982(1982-03-31) (aged 85)
Resting placeForest Lawn Cemetery in Ruston, Louisiana
SpouseEffie Lee Jones Ropp
ChildrenLinda Lou Ropp May

Col. Ralph Edwin Ropp (deceased)

John M. Ropp
Parent(s)Edward F. and Viola Finnegan Ropp
Residence(s)(1) Natchitoches, Louisiana (2) Ruston, Louisiana
Alma materOhio Northern University
College president; Professor

Ralph Loyd Ropp (March 3, 1897 – March 31, 1982)

11th president of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana, having preceded F. Jay Taylor.[2]

Background

Ropp was born in Latty in Paulding County in northwestern Ohio, Ropp was one of two sons of Ohio native Edward F. Ropp (1867-1935) and the former Viola M. Finnegan (1874-1960), originally from Illinois.[3][4] Until he was twelve years of age, Ropp attended a one-room school and then graduated in 1913 from Latty High Schoo1. In 1923, he received a Bachelor of Science degree from the private regional institution, Ohio Northern University in Ada in Hardin County.[5] In 1955, Ropp received an honorary doctor of laws degree from his alma mater.[6]

From 1927 to 1928, Ropp was the third national president of

Society of Collegiate Journalists)[7] Oddly, a previous Louisiana Tech president, John Keeny, for whom the university administration building is named, had also studied at Ohio Northern; his field was music.[8]

On April 1, 1926, Ropp married the former Effie Lee Jones (1902-2000), an educator and a member of the

Washington, subsequently left Natchitoches to return to Ruston.[13]

Academic career

In 1925, Ropp procured a

Baton Rouge. Before he came to Louisiana Tech, Ropp had been from 1923 to 1949 professor of speech and head of the forensics department at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana.[5] At Northwestern, Ropp in 1940 wrote the poem "Old Normal Hill" inscribed on a metal plaque on a stone monument on campus. Three of four white columns which supported the east gable of the Bullard Mansion remain on "The Hill". These columns are the unofficial symbol of NSU and were added in 1980 to the National Register of Historic Places.[14]

During Roth's tenure as president, sixteen major buildings on the Louisiana Tech campus were constructed. Seven academic departments were created, and the institution, then known as "Louisiana Polytechnic Institute", launched the first master's degree.[11] The Ropp Center, first built on the Louisiana Tech campus in 1911 and formerly the home of the college president, is named in his honor.

In 1976, Ropp joined Mary Frances Fletcher, a Louisiana Tech English professor, in writing the book, Lincoln Parish History, intended for distribution in the bicentennial of the American Revolution.[15]

In 2013,

Daniel Reneau, were unveiled at Tech's Spirit Park located on campus between Davison Hall and the Biomedical Engineering Building. Busts of Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King Jr., Anne Frank, and Voltaire were already on display there.[16]

Ralph and Effie Ropp are interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Ruston.[1][9]

References

  1. ^ a b "Forest Lawn Cemetery, Highway 80 West, Ruston, Louisiana". usgwarchives.net. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  2. ^ "F. Jay Taylor Named as Louisiana Tech Head", Ruston Daily Leader, May 31, 1962
  3. ^ "Ralph L. Ropp". records.ancestry.com. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  4. ^ "OBIT: Ropp, Ralph L." boards.ancestrylibrary.com. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  5. ^ a b c "Louisiana Tech President Veteran's Day Banquet Speaker", Minden Press, Minden, Louisiana, November 4, 1954, p. 1
  6. ^ Minden Press, May 19, 1955, p. 18.
  7. ^ "List of National Presidents of Alpha Phi Gamma, later the Society of Collegiate Journalists". scj.us. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  8. ^ "Keeny, John Ephraim". Louisiana Historical Association, A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org). Archived from the original on December 1, 2010. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  9. ^ a b "Ropp, Effie Lee". Alexandria Daily Town Talk, May 2, 2000. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  10. ^ "Col. Ralph E. Ropp". traditions.nsula.edu. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  11. ^ a b "Golden Wedding Anniversary: Dr. and Mrs. R. L. Ropp", Ruston Daily Leader, March 25, 1976
  12. ^ "Dr. R. L. Ropp". latech.edu. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  13. ^ "Green, Loup to wed December, August 26, 2010". Farmerville, Louisiana, Gazette. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  14. ^ "Dr. Ralph L. Ropp - "Old Normal Hill" - Natchitoches, LA". waymarking.com. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  15. ^ "Lincoln Parish History". Marceline, Missouri: Walsworth Publishing Company, 1976. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
  16. ^ "Tech honors 3 presidents at Spirit Park, May 17, 2013". Monroe News-Star. Retrieved August 5, 2013.
Preceded by
11th President of Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana

Ralph Loyd Ropp
1949–1962

Succeeded by
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