S5E4: ‘Beneficence is About ... How You Become a Better Person’ | (Stefan Anderson, Retired CEO, Community Leader, and Honorary Alumnus)

For more than 50 years, Stefan Anderson has had a distinctive relationship with Ball State University. Though he never attended Ball State, Steve became an advocate and friend of the University soon after he became the CEO of First Merchants Bank in 1974. In the decades since, Steve has served on numerous boards and committees, including the Ball State University Foundation Board, chairing Ball State's first capital campaign,  chairing the Ball Honors House campaign, and serving on the leadership teams of several subsequent major fundraising initiatives. 

In October, Steve received an Honorary Alumni Award from the Ball State Alumni Association. After listening to this episode, you’ll discover why he is a deserving recipient of this award. Steve discusses how meaningful it was for him to receive this award, and he shares the many ways in which he believes Ball State is an exceptional University. 

Steve also shares stories about the front row seat he’s had to the evolution of the University—and how gratifying it’s been to witness the positive impact Ball State has had on so many people over the years, himself included. 

If you enjoy this episode, please leave a review to support the show. 

Transcript

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Welcome back to our Call to Beneficence. My guest today is someone with a distinctive relationship with our university and with our community. Steve Anderson first came to Muncie in 1974, in order to serve as the CEO of First Merchants Bank. In addition to his fulfilling career as an executive, Steve has been a dedicated servant leader in our community and on behalf of our university.

He has served on numerous boards and committees, including chairing the Ball State University Foundation Board, chairing Ball State's first capital campaign, chairing the Ball Honors House campaign, and serving on the leadership teams of several subsequent major fundraising initiatives. Today, I'm going to talk to Steve about what first attracted him and his wife, Joan, to Muncie, and why they chose to make this city their forever home.

I'm also going to ask him about his lasting relationship with our university, a relationship that culminated last month with him receiving our honorary Alumni Award. So, Steve, welcome and thank you for joining me today.

[STEVE ANDERSON] 

Thank you, Geoff. it's an honor to be here.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So I'm going to start our conversation where I generally do. You've lived in Muncie for more than 50 years, but tell us more about where you grew up. You grew up in the Midwest, and eventually migrated here to Muncie. But tell us about your childhood, where you grew up.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

I grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, outside of Madison, next to my grandfather's farm, for the first eight years. Heavily influenced by him, who was a Norwegian immigrant. He had eight children, including my mother. We moved into town, um, into Madison, where my mother was very active in community organizations. The university’s president was one of her best friends.

So education was a part of the environment in which I grew as a young adult. And Madison was a very special city. So, after getting out of the University of Chicago graduate school, having worked in Chicago for 14 years, eventually becoming executive vice president of a very large Chicago bank, I determined I wasn't having any fun. And I had a big, fancy office and would occasionally get born home in a limousine. And one day I looked at Joan and said, you know, this just really isn't me. The culture of being in a large, corporate organization isn't fitting me, nor is Chicago. She said, why don't you do something about it? 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And it was that conversation that led you to coming to Muncie?  

[STEVE ANDERSON]

We were looking for a town of medium size that had a good university. The university was a requirement for both of us. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So I'm going to ask you to continue that part of our conversation in just a moment. But first, tell me a little bit more about how you grew up and events that affected your life. I understand that you were a child when the United States entered World War II. How was your family affected by that ... that terrible war?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Well, I would have been 7 years old when the war started. And we were living next to my grandfather's farm at that point, and he came over to our house and said, I'm afraid the boys are going to war. And indeed, they did. Two of his sons went into the Army, fought in the Battle of the Bulge. Both came home. Both had been wounded. And I remember vividly my mother checking news with Grandpa. They would sit together and listen to the news, worrying, of course, about how the brother and the son were doing. So the war had that dimension. But I think I also, at that age, recognized an unparalleled degree of national unity. 

Joan and I sometimes laugh about—we’re both about the same age, had the same wartime experience—we can still remember the wartime patriotic songs that were sung at that time. And reflect often today on the precious quality of America in a time of absolute unity and patriotism born out of the very best kind of motivations.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

You were also then, your life was also affected when you were in high school. I understand you were invited to participate in a pretty distinctive program, uh, that was created by President Truman, after the war. Describe that experience and how you ... how that gave you some confidence in your capacity to pursue both professional success and maybe service.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

In 1950, President Truman called a White House Conference on Children and Youth. And I was then a sophomore in high school and was asked to attend that. And it was about a year long-process that involved bringing together not only youth serving agencies, but youth and young adults, as well. And I was elected vice chairman of this youth council for the White House.

And when I went to Washington, the next time my mother bought me a new suit.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

It’s an important occasion.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

It was a big occasion, but it also was a reaffirming experience in that I was with very bright people. I recognized their brightness, but they also lifted my aspirations for what I might be able to achieve, to be like them. So it had a very profound effect on me.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So I understand at the end of your high school career, you applied to Harvard University in Cambridge, and you were accepted and you did very well there academically. Tell us about that experience and how that fostered both your growth and perhaps your confidence.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Well, Harvard ... is a much ... Harvard had a major impact on me, but it took me 30 years to realize this. There were elements of Harvard that were completely foreign to me, in the way I had been raised. But thankfully, the Harvard president who was there had also been the president of Jones University, Lawrence University. And he was insistent that the culture of Harvard no longer be one of prep school, good old boy type thing. So I suspect that I was admitted under the diversity program at Harvard. And I was challenged beyond my capabilities, I often felt. But I had a disdain for the people that were there that were not taking advantage of the marvelous opportunities and resources which Harvard provided. So it had a very large impact. Long answer, but it means a lot to me.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And when you say disdain, you're talking about other students who didn't really appreciate how fortunate they were to be in the company of great scholars and unlimited resources. 

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Yes, yes, yes, yes. And you know, Ball State University is characterized by a culture that is so important to really making an impact on not merely the intellectual and scholarly side of students, but on their moral and ethical development and their feeling of responsibility to others. And that was there at Harvard, but in no degree was it present to the degree it is here at Ball State University today.

[GEOFF MEARNS] 

Yeah. So on a lighter note, when we were walking over this morning, cold morning, you and I have a little friendly rivalry. Me having attended Yale, and I told you I wouldn't ask you to comment on the fact that the last six years in a row, Yale has beaten Harvard in the most important college football game of the year. So, we'll move on from that if that’s okay...

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Oh, wait a minute. Yes, indeed, they did take care of Harvard, who was unbeaten at that time.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yes, but I'll stop gloating. So after you graduated from Harvard, you were required at that time to serve in the military. Tell us about that experience. What lessons did you learn there? Was that another instance of a reinforcement about the importance of people who have special opportunities to ensure that they use their good fortune to serve other people?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

The quick answer would be yes. But it was also very formative for me. In those days—1956— military service was compulsory. College graduates had the opportunity to go three years through officers training programs, or two years as an enlisted man. And I elected to go as an enlisted man. And when they assigned my role, it was as a clerk typist for the admiral of the Fifth Fleet. They looked at my Harvard background, which I think rather astounded them. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Right.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

And, what they did not know is that I did not know how to type, did not know how to word process. And I remember I was practicing when I got there on the Yorktown. The admiral walked in and I could just catch out of the corner of my eyes, he was rolling his eyeballs like, how did this guy ever get here? But it was a great experience because, perhaps more formative than any other in my life, and it reminds me of the book you recommended, How to Know the Other Person by David Brooks. Um, in the Navy, I wish I’d had that book. There were people there from totally different backgrounds. As enlisted people, they'd go to shore and get drunk, but you know, it opened up to me the importance of everybody, that everyone has a role. It may not be one that you intuitively approve of, but you’re here, make the best of it, and give them all the respect you can. That was slow and growing, but the Navy experience absolutely cemented it as a way I think today.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So from time to time, people, elected officials and other folks, have suggested that maybe we should reinstitute maybe some form of public service requirement for young Americans. What are your thoughts about that potential policy?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

I have a number of friends who were there in the movements that are no longer here, to bring Americans into foreign countries. Um, but I think really the service dimension of one's life is formed earlier, and it is formed in college. And my belief would be that one must make certain decisions in their life, certain commitments that almost can't be taught, but they can be absorbed in a culture that promotes it.

And again, I come back to Ball State University. I think most of the graduates here have that sense of giving back, not only to the university, but to the community, and don't need a year of service to do that. So I'm fairly lukewarm on that.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Okay. So after you completed your service to the country, that's about the time that you met your wife, Joan. Tell us about, uh, how you met.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Well, I had just gotten out of the Navy and was at our family cottage in northern Wisconsin, in Door County. And I was on the beach. Uh, young guy, I don't know how old I was, but wasn't very old, maybe 22 or 23. And there were a couple of girls there who, um, oone of whom I was sure I went to high school with. So I went over to talk to them. And the other girl— the girl who I went to high school with—turned out not to be. Looked just like her. But the other girl just thought I was the worst, forward, kind of obnoxious male you can imagine. Which immediately attracted me to the other girl. And the other girl was Joan. And she probably would not be fond of my telling that story. But the reality is, I got very fortunate and have been blessed with 66 years of marriage to a wonderful woman who, incidentally, has a master's degree from Ball State.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. Well, Joan, like you, is a good friend and a wonderful member of our community. So, where did life take you after you finished the military service and when you were with Joan?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

After leaving the military service, I attended the University of Chicago, Graduate School of Business. Got an MBA there. Had, really, the privilege of being taught by three Nobel Prize winners, which I didn't appreciate that much at the time. And then went to work as a management trainee in a large Chicago bank. Joan, a mathematician by training, was then an early systems analyst for IBM. So she worked downtown in Chicago and supported me through graduate school.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And you had mentioned a few minutes ago during our conversation about then your career in Chicago in banking. You started out at an entry level?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Yes. And, um, I sometimes think that I started at a time when large banks were just realizing a higher level of professional background was necessary. So I had many opportunities, and was, went through the ranks of this bank, and ended up at age 39 as executive vice president. And that was a wonderful learning experience. But from a personal satisfaction point of view, the farther I got up the ladder, the farther I was away from who I thought I was. That is, someone who would engage in and be involved with other people. And the fanciest office you can imagine. But I was realizing it didn't fit. So I took the gamble and looked for a wonderful town, which Muncie proved to be. And First Merchants Bank, which it proved indeed to be a wonderful decision.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So you may know, Steve, at in my closing brief closing remarks at every commencement ceremony, I remind the graduates, that, you know, our mission statement, we don't refer to preparing students for successful careers. The phrase in our mission statement is we want to prepare them for fulfilling careers. And I take a moment to explain to them that there is an important, maybe subtle, distinction, but an important distinction between success and fulfillment. And it's because, as you said a moment ago, people equate success with a lot of compensation, maybe a nice office, and a fancy title. But fulfillment is something deeper and more enduring.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Much—your admonition to the students is so important. We can be rich, we can be successful. We can have the world think we're wonderful. But if it's not inside us, in a way that makes us feel that we truly are fulfilled and all we can be, we've missed something.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And while I share it there, if the students are graduating with an undergraduate degree, they're 22 or 24. Of course, if they're getting a master's or a doctorate, they're a little older. I'm hoping to plant the seed. I don't think maybe at 22 or 24, a person can experience or appreciate those distinctions. But as you get to be 30, 35 or 40, it's an important awareness to have—a self-awareness to have.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Absolutely. But the seed has to be there. You may not recognize the seed, but it grows into a larger plant when you're 30, 35 or 40.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

And it also is then nourished by who you choose to associate yourself with. 

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Absolutely. Absolutely, Geoff. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. So, you come to interview here in Muncie, to become the next CEO of First Merchants. Tell us about some of the people who participated in that recruiting and interview process, because I understand from our prior conversations, it's a pretty significant list of the Who's Who of Muncie in that period.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Well, the group who were then on the board of First Merchants were connected with Ball State in many ways. I always joke that most of them have buildings named after them today. But, there was Jack Emens, Hamer Shafer, Ralph Whitinger, who always was a challenge for me in board meetings. And, I know I'm going to forget somebody here, but, these men—oh, and Ed Ball, I should add Ed Ball—but Jack Emens took a special interest in me. I was very young, and I remember one board meeting ... it was an early board meeting as president, and he asked me if I could stay a while after the meeting. And he said, Steve, there's no question you have the competence to lead this bank. But nobody will ever know it unless you speak more loudly. He never—he took the time, and I've never forgotten that, so those early pioneers truly did two things: one, they connected me in great respect to Ball State University, and secondly, they encouraged John and I to come to Muncie.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

When President Emens made that comment, what message was he communicating to you? Obviously it was about more than just raising the volume of your voice.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

He was really sending the message, or I took it that he was, you know, I care about you. And I had the same—Alex Bracken was my board chairman for many years. And Alex was another one who had an interest in my fulfillment to a greater degree than I probably deserved. But  we had so many meetings in the President's House [Bracken House] in the library where Alex, I'd go through things with Alex, and then he'd say, well, have you thought about this?

So this is not so much relevant to me as it is relevant to the fact that this university was supported and led by people of strong character, values that resonated with people who care about society today and then. And that hasn't changed. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

So you were the CEO for more than two decades. As you reflect on your leadership, what makes you proud in the sense of fulfillment? What were you doing over those 20 years that enabled you to find great fulfillment in that work?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Well, it's hard to recall how tremendously competitive I was. So, all 20 of those years, our earnings grew, which was pretty unparalleled. But what I tried to do, in addition to serving the shareholders, was to say to the employees that you can replace the president with one vote, but an employee who's a teller or a loan officer makes the president look good. And I tried to enforce the view that leadership is a responsibility, but it can never be fulfilled without the important people who do the real work. And I believe I was to some extent successful in that. You would have to ask Mark Hardwick [current First Merchants CEO] who has done such a spectacular job of leading First Merchants in a way that I never could have had the capacity nor the talent to do. But it was a wonderful experience, and I now remember the soft sides better than being home on weekends, studying balance sheets, and so forth. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Right. One of the things that you've spoken about, these other individuals who were, you know, leaders in the bank, but also very civic minded. Did they encourage and enable you at that time to also be engaged with the community? I know Ball State, but also other organizations or institutions

[STEVE ANDERSON]

It was really part of the way the bank had always been, and I'm sure their role was very substantial in reinforcing the responsibility that we have to the community. And I, this may be more than you want to know, but there was a time in my life when I couldn't decide whether I wanted to be a preacher, a teacher, or a salesman, and I found banking is, in a way, embodied all of those things.

So the idea of service, of serving your fellow man, had been part of my heritage. But here was my board, all setting examples way beyond anything I could have ever thought of. So yes, indeed, it had a big effect. 

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. So you've mentioned Ball State on several occasions, and we’re grateful for your service and engagement and generous philanthropic support. During your time here, as First Merchants was growing, you also had a front row seat to the growth of Ball State as a university, not just in size, but in influence and impact. What are your recollections of having seen that growth, supporting that growth, what are maybe some of your favorite memories of your relationship with the institution with the institution and, more importantly, with the people here at Ball State?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

I could spend a great deal of time answering that question, and I think the short answer is Ball State has given me so much more than I was or would be able to give to Ball State in terms of the friendships, but also in terms of watching the evolution, a trajectory of growth, of careful growth, strategically designed throughout the time I've been here. 

When I came, the College of Business was in a Quonset hut. Today I drove past the marvelous Innovation Center coming up. And you look at the recognitions that Ball State—the Carnegie Opportunity College is a fulfillment of, really, everything that has characterized your leadership. But you also would be the first to say you stood on the shoulders of others. And that continuity of strong leadership is something that has given our community such a blessing.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Well, thank you. I mean, you've touched on it ... in other occasions I've had, you know, people start to, as you probably know, when you get to a certain age or experience, people start using that legacy word, which makes you uncomfortable when you're still in the position. But I read a book entitled Legacy several years ago, and it's a very good reminder that with all of the complex nature of your work, it really boils down to one thing: Can you leave the institution in a modestly better place than it was when you arrived? It's as simple as that. And that is hope is that when Jennifer and I choose to retire, that’s what people will say about us.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Nine years of your presidency has been a remarkable period for the university. One of my heroes, as you know, is John Worthen, who led the university in an exemplary way. But this is so important to all of us in Muncie. And I think, if I may be permitted to make a personal observation, the listeners should know that the President of Ball State several years ago made a decision that could have been career ending. It was a huge risk to take on a failing community school system. That would not have happened without you. [GEOFF: Thank you.] That could not be done without both a belief in the university's capacity and a great belief in the community. And I want to make that point when we talk about the trajectory of the university and fulfillment—wat has happened in our school system is remarkable. It wouldn't have happened if you had not made that one decision.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Well, thank you. And it was all driven, as you know, by a commitment to and an appreciation for the transformative value of education at all levels, whether it's high quality daycare, pre-K, K-12 education. The core of the partnership that we have with the Muncie schools,, it's one promise: to ensure that every child in Muncie, Indiana, has access to a high-quality public education. So thank you for your kind words, Steve. 

So, now I understand, switching gears, one of the other things during my tenure is the motto “We Fly,” and I understand that, from time to time, you've taken a little credit for maybe having been the inspiration years ago for that simple declarative motto.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Well, I'm glad you asked. And it wasn't a little credit .... I wanted to be—

[GEOFF MEARNS]

You wanted all credit. [Laughs] Why don't you tell the folks who are listening what we're referring to?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

[Laughs] I hope you recognize a jocular tone in my voice. But when we finished The Wings of the Future, that was the name of the first capital campaign, Wings of the Future, we had a full house at the Horizon Center, and I got up to talk. And I concluded my remarks by saying, “There's a phrase in Isaiah that says, ‘We will mount up on wings like an eagle and fly.’” 

Little did I know that later those words “We Fly” would so well characterize Ball State University. You know, obviously I deserve no credit, but I like to claim that I did.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Well, certainly the sentiment is the same. And because of your participation, you know that Wings for the Future, as you said, was the first capital campaign. It raised more than $40 million, which was quite significant. You have served, as I said in the introduction, on many other fundraising initiatives. You're also serving on the campaign advisory council for the current campaign.

And as you know, we're on track to maybe raised more than $400 million in that campaign because of generous and engaged folks like you. So, last month, speaking of the campaign, at our annual celebration to celebrate the progress in our capital campaign, Our Call to Beneficence campaign, I had the honor of presenting to you our university's Honorary Alumni Award. And I know you've received many awards and recognitions over the year, including an honorary degree from Ball State. But you shared with me that that award had some particular meaning to you. Would you share that with us?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Well, I've always wanted to be, a deep enough part of Ball State so that I could look its marvelous graduates in the eye and say, “I'm one of you,” right? So I was, as you know, deeply moved by that honor. I have a number of honorary degrees, but they do not count as much as being recognized as an honorary graduate of Ball State. And I hope my comments today, Geoff, have really answered that question in themselves. We have an extraordinary university. All of us connected with it can indeed be so proud of it, and it is only going to get better and better.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. And you've touched on this, before I get to our last question, but I'll give you an opportunity to maybe elaborate. When I speak about the character of our students and our graduates, and when I speak about the culture that exists on our campus, one of the things that I describe is that our students don't come to our campus with a sense of entitlement. They come here with a sense of purpose. And you and I have both had the opportunity to go to an undergraduate institution that is considered highly selective and very prestigious. But, as you said, there's some folks on those campuses that have a sense of entitlement and that isn't here. Why don't you, if you want to, that how I would describe the sentiment that you are also sharing.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

And that so much describes Ball State. And the phrase that echoes throughout the campus today, which you originated, is the enduring value of gratitude. And I think that captures so well not only what we owe to the university, but more important, it captures the feelings of so many people, students who are here, have. 

There's a very interesting book, written by Michael Sandel. It's called The Tyranny of Merit. And I think it has, oh, it has a theme that says one of the problems that has evolved in America to lead us to where our universities are political gambits is that there was an excessive sense of entitlement among those who had succeeded and who were successful in the terms of their peers. And that sense of entitlement, as you so correctly point out, I have never seen here at Ball State University. And that is one of the thing—John Worthen and I would talk about that, and he recognized that. It's still there today, even though there are people here that—in the classrooms—who are probably smarter than people anywhere else in the country. There still is a sense of gratitude and gratefulness.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Yeah. And as you know, one of the responsibilities that go with being the CEO of a bank or having the good fortune to serve as the president of Ball State University, is keeping an eye on the importance of culture, that culture is so important to fulfilling the mission. So I want to ask you one final question. As the folks who listen to this podcast regularly know, it's the question I ask all of our guests. As we walked over here this morning, we walked by the Statue of Beneficence. You mentioned the enduring value of gratitude just a moment ago. As you know, that statue of Beneficence is the representation of the enduring values of Ball State University. 

So beneficence, as you know, means doing good for other people through your work and through your service. So why don't you conclude our conversation by sharing with the folks who are listening what Beneficence means to you?

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Beneficence means more than paying it back. It means building an opportunity for your own growth. There was a development officer who worked with us on the first capital campaign, and he said, “I never want to ask people to give until it hurts. I want to ask people to give until they feel good.” And that statement has resounded with me through many years when I think of beneficence. Beneficence is not only about the recipients of gratitude, resources, support ... but it is also about how you become a better person.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Well, thank you, Steve. Thank you for joining me here this morning. And as we head into the holiday season, I wish you and everyone who's listening a holiday season filled with peace and joy.

[STEVE ANDERSON]

Thank you. And Joan and I send our best wishes to you and the University for continuation of the great work that is being done here today. Merry Christmas.

[GEOFF MEARNS]

Thank you Steve.