Ralph L. Ropp

{{Short description|11th president of Louisiana Tech University}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Ralph Loyd Ropp | office = [[List of Presidents of Louisiana Tech University|11th President]] of [[Louisiana Tech University]] | term_start = 1949 | term_end = 1962 | preceded = [[Claybrook Cottingham]] | succeeded = [[F. Jay Taylor]] | birth_name = | birth_date = March 3, 1897 | birth_place = [[Latty, Ohio|Latty]], [[Paulding County, Ohio|Paulding County]], [[Ohio]], USA | death_date = {{death date and age|1982|3|31|1897|3|3}} | death_place = | resting_place = Forest Lawn Cemetery in Ruston, Louisiana | spouse = Effie Lee Jones Ropp | children = Linda Lou Ropp May<br /> Col. Ralph Edwin Ropp (deceased)<br /> John M. Ropp | parents = Edward F. and Viola Finnegan Ropp | occupation = [[College president]]; [[Professor]] | alma_mater = [[Ohio Northern University]]<br /> [[Louisiana State University]] }}

'''Ralph Loyd Ropp''' (March 3, 1897 – March 31, 1982)<ref name=cemetery/> was an [[Ohio]] native who from 1949 to 1962 served as the [[List of Presidents of Louisiana Tech University|11th president]] of [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], [[Louisiana]], having preceded [[F. Jay Taylor]].<ref>"F. Jay Taylor Named as Louisiana Tech Head", ''Ruston Daily Leader'', May 31, 1962</ref>

==Background== Ropp was born in [[Latty, Ohio|Latty]] in [[Paulding County, Ohio|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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://records.ancestry.com/Ralph_L_Ropp_records.ashx?pid=85014431|title=Ralph L. Ropp|publisher=records.ancestry.com|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://boards.ancestrylibrary.com/surnames.ropp/62.6/mb.ashx|title=OBIT: Ropp, Ralph L.|publisher=boards.ancestrylibrary.com|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref> 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, Ohio|Ada]] in [[Hardin County, Ohio|Hardin County]].<ref name=mindenpress/> In 1955, Ropp received an honorary doctor of laws degree from his alma mater.<ref>''Minden Press,'' May 19, 1955, p. 18.</ref>

From 1927 to 1928, Ropp was the third national president of [[Alpha Phi Gamma (honor society)|Alpha Phi Gamma]] (which later became part of [[Society of Collegiate Journalists]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scj.us/bio_prez.shtml|title=List of National Presidents of Alpha Phi Gamma, later the Society of Collegiate Journalists|publisher=scj.us|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lahistory.org/site28.php|title=Keeny, John Ephraim|publisher=[[Louisiana Historical Association]], A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography (lahistory.org)|access-date=August 5, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101201234813/http://www.lahistory.org/site28.php|archive-date=December 1, 2010}}</ref>

On April 1, 1926, Ropp married the former Effie Lee Jones (1902–2000), an educator and a member of the [[Daughters of the American Revolution]]. The Ropps, who were [[United Methodist]],<ref name=mindenpress/><ref name=effieropp/> had three children, Ralph Edwin Ropp (1928–1993), a colonel and director of internal information for the [[United States Army]] in [[Washington, D.C.]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://traditions.nsula.edu/collections/the-long-purple-line/show/12351|title=Col. Ralph E. Ropp|publisher=traditions.nsula.edu|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref> later of [[DeRidder, Louisiana|DeRidder]], Louisiana, Linda Lou Ropp May, and John M. Ropp (born 1930).<ref name=rdl/> In her later years, Effie Ropp had returned to live in Natchitoches, along with son John and daughter Linda May.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latech.edu/specialcollections/collections/m366.shtml|title=Dr. R. L. Ropp|publisher=latech.edu|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref> After her mother's death, Linda May, divorced from Fred May of [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]], [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], subsequently left Natchitoches to return to Ruston.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fgazette.com/engages.php?id=184|title=Green, Loup to wed December, August 26, 2010|publisher=Farmerville, Louisiana, Gazette|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref>

==Academic career== In 1925, Ropp procured a [[Master of Arts]] in [[English studies|English]] from [[Louisiana State University]] in [[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|Natchitoches]], Louisiana.<ref name=mindenpress>"Louisiana Tech President Veteran's Day Banquet Speaker", ''Minden Press'', [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]], November 4, 1954, p. 1</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM90N3_Dr_Ralph_L_Ropp_Old_Normal_Hill_Natchitoches_LA|title=Dr. Ralph L. Ropp - "Old Normal Hill" - Natchitoches, LA |publisher=waymarking.com|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref>

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.<ref name=rdl>"Golden Wedding Anniversary: Dr. and Mrs. R. L. Ropp", ''[[Ruston Daily Leader]]'', March 25, 1976</ref> 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 [[United States Bicentennial|bicentennial]] of the [[American Revolution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&field-author=Ralph%20L%20France&page=1&rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ARalph%20L%20France|title=''Lincoln Parish History''|publisher=[[Marceline, Missouri]]: Walsworth Publishing Company, 1976|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref>

In 2013, [[Bust (sculpture)|busts]] of Ropp and his two successors, F. Jay Taylor and [[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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20130518/NEWS01/305180017/Tech-honors-3-presidents-Spirit-Park|title=Tech honors 3 presidents at Spirit Park |date=May 17, 2013 |newspaper=[[The News-Star|Monroe News-Star]] |access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref>

Ropp died on March 31, 1982, at Lincoln General Hospital in [[Ruston, Louisiana]].<ref>{{cite news|work=[[The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana)|The Times]]|title=Dr. Ralph Loyd Ropp|date= April 2, 1982|page=14A}}</ref> Ralph and Effie Ropp are interred at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Ruston.<ref name=cemetery>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/lincoln/cemeteries/forest.txt|title=Forest Lawn Cemetery, Highway 80 West, Ruston, Louisiana|publisher=usgwarchives.net|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref><ref name=effieropp>{{cite web|url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/la/rapides/obits/obR-2000.txt|title=Ropp, Effie Lee|publisher=[[The Town Talk (Alexandria)|Alexandria Daily Town Talk]], May 2, 2000|access-date=August 5, 2013}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

{{s-start}} {{succession box | before=[[Claybrook Cottingham]] | title=[[List of Presidents of Louisiana Tech University|11th President]] of [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]], [[Louisiana]] | years=1949–1962 | after=[[F. Jay Taylor]] }} {{s-end}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ropp, Ralph L.}} [[Category:1897 births]] [[Category:1982 deaths]] [[Category:People from Paulding County, Ohio]] [[Category:Ohio Northern University alumni]] [[Category:Louisiana State University alumni]] [[Category:Northwestern State University faculty]] [[Category:People from Natchitoches, Louisiana]] [[Category:Presidents of Louisiana Tech University]] [[Category:People from Ruston, Louisiana]] [[Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers]] [[Category:20th-century American male writers]] [[Category:20th-century Methodists]] [[Category:American United Methodists]] [[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]