Awards

Honorary Degree - 1929

LL.D.

Doctor of Laws

Bloomington, Indiana

Presenter: William Lowe Bryan

About Frank C. Ball

Frank Clayton Ball was one of the five Ball Brothers who founded the Ball Brothers Company that became the world’s largest manufacturer of glass jars. He used the power and influence of his financial wealth, leadership, and philanthropic vision to help build and shape many of Indiana’s educational and hospital institutions, notably, Riley Hospital for Children.

The foundation of Riley Hospital for Children began in 1917 at a meeting of a representative group of Indianapolis businessmen. Seven men were chosen to work out the details for construction of the hospital; Ball was one of them. At the meeting, he conveyed in a letter that he “would be glad to be one of the incorporators of the hospital” and expressed hearty favor of the plan. After the meeting a formal public announcement was made of plans to build the James Whitcomb Riley Hospital for Children. Ball went on to become one of 21 Incorporators of the James Whitcomb Riley Memorial Association (now the Riley Children’s Foundation) in 1921 and served as a charter director of the Association until 1937.

Frank and his brother, George A. Ball, generously donated $500,000 in 1926 to the Riley Memorial Association on the condition that the Association would raise an additional $1 million. The Association’s fund-raising campaign was successful and the $500,000 from the brothers was used to build the Ball Nurses Residence in 1928. The residence provided living quarters and a training facility for 165 nurses and staff members to learn, work and live close to Riley Hospital for Children, and additionally helped spark the growth of the Medical Center campus and the Indiana University Training School for Nurses (now the Indiana University School of Nursing).