Peter H. Ruger - 2001
Mr. Ruger has been General Counsel of Southern Illinois University since 1997. Prior to that, he was a Partner in the St. Louis law firm, Peper, Martin, Jensen, Maichel and Hetlage and, for 12 years before that, served as General Counsel of Washington University in St. Louis. He received his B.A. degree from Denison University and his J.D. from Washington University.
Mr. Ruger’s involvement in NACUA has been long and distinguished. He has served on virtually every NACUA committee, chairing both the Committees on Nominations and Elections and Honors and Awards. In addition, he chaired the Executive Director Search Committee upon the retirement of Executive Director Emeritus Mike Grier. During his tenure as co-chair of the Health Sciences Section, he was instrumental in organizing that Section’s special, free-standing meetings that were held prior to the regularly-scheduled November CLE.
Mr. Ruger was first elected to the Board of Directors in 1981 as a member-at-large, and again in 1986 as Second Vice President. He served as First Vice President in 1987-1988 and as President-elect in 1988-1989. In 1989-1990, he became the Association’s 29th President.
Mr. Ruger is co-author of the NACUA publication, Accommodating Faculty and Staff with Psychiatric Disabilities, which has consistently been among the top-selling NACUA publications. He has spoken extensively at NACUA workshops and Annual Conferences for many years, and at numerous other organizations’ meetings on behalf of NACUA. For more than twenty years, he has given generously, selflessly, and graciously of his time and expertise on myriad association activities, and he has been a friend to all.
NACUA is honored to present the Distinguished Service Award to Peter H. Ruger in recognition of these contributions and the distinction that he has brought to our profession.