Gora receives highest Muncie citizen award

Mayor Dennis Tyler and President Jo Ann Gora pose for a photo after Tyler gave her the Spirit of Chief Munsee award June 6 at the mayor's office in Muncie City Hall. Gora will retire from Ball State at the end of June. DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY
Mayor Dennis Tyler and President Jo Ann Gora pose for a photo after Tyler gave her the Spirit of Chief Munsee award June 6 at the mayor's office in Muncie City Hall. Gora will retire from Ball State at the end of June. DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY

For her decade of service, Muncie Mayor Dennis Tyler honored President Jo Ann Gora with the Spirit of Chief Munsee Award.

“I can’t think of anybody more deserving,” Tyler said.

The outgoing Ball State president received a plaque for the highest award the mayor can give a citizen in a small ceremony Friday morning in City Hall.

Gora was honored for “her caring of the citizens of Muncie ... her wisdom and council and her unselfish leadership to her community,” according to the inscription on the plaque.

Tyler said the plans to give Gora the award began not too long ago.

“I just started thinking about it a [few] weeks ago,” Tyler said. “We did a proclamation honoring Dr. Gora.”

Gora then sat up and interrupted: “I have the keys to the city.”

The award was supposed to be a surprise to her, as Gora was told she was coming to Tyler’s office for a meeting.

Gora said it was a “half-surprise” to receive the award.

“I knew I was coming to the mayor’s office to receive an award,” she said. “I just didn’t know what it was.”

After the announcement, Gora and Tyler reminisced about the relationship Ball State has had with Muncie over her decade as president.

One major part of her tenure has been the geothermal project, which has brought people to the city as they learned about Ball State’s project.

“People from universities as far east as Dartmouth and as far west as Stanford have come to Muncie to hear about this project,” she said. “We’ve had visitors from Turkey, Germany, Japan — all these countries that have heard about this project and want to talk about it.”

She said Ball State’s leadership position can put the city on the map, not just the university.

She became president of Ball State in 2004. As the university’s 14th president, she was the first female president of a public university in the state.

In October 2013, she announced she will retire June 30, 2014. The Ball State Board of Trustees selected Paul Ferguson to be her successor.

Gora discussed her plan to start a small business in Virginia after she retires.

“I guess you can’t work at Ball State for a decade and not become an entrepreneur,” she said.

Past honorees of the Spirit of Chief Munsee Award have been Charles V. Sursa, Edmond Ball and Thomas J. Kinghorn.

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