Stefan S. Anderson papers

Stefan S. Anderson was born in 1935 near Madison, Wisconsin to Ted and Siri Stolen Anderson. His father practiced as a dentist and his mother was a homemaker and community activist in Madison, where she headed the local chapter of the American Red Cross and the PTA. Anderson received his BA degree from Harvard University in 1956, where he earned Phi Beta Kappa recognition, and his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1960. He received an honorary doctorate degree from Ball State University in 1993.

From 1956-1958, Anderson served in the United States Navy. He began his banking career in 1960 with the American National Bank of Chicago and was named executive vice president in 1970. He also served on the Board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago from 1992 to 1998. Anderson joined First Merchants Bank in November 1974 as executive vice president and served as the bank's president from 1979 until his retirement in April 1999. During this period, the company recorded twenty consecutive years of earnings growth. Anderson also served on the bank's Board of Trustees from 1987 to April 2005. During Anderson's overall tenure with the company (1974-2005), the assets of First Merchants Bank grew from $167 million to $3 billion.

Anderson served on the Board of Trustees for the Delaware Advancement Corporation (DAC) during the construction of the original Horizon Convention Center in 1988 and oversaw the expansion of the center as chairman of the DAC board between 1991 and 1995. Anderson was also one of the organizers of the Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County and served as its chairman from 1996 to 1998. During this period, Anderson negotiated the purchase of the Muncie Masonic Temple for community use as the Muncie Community Civic Center (renamed the Cornerstone Center for the Arts in 2005).

Anderson served as chairman of the Ball State University Foundation and chaired Ball State's first capital campaign, Wings for the the Future. He also served as the first chairman of the Ball State University Business Roundtable and the Miller College of Business Executive Advisory Board and is a past director of the Indiana Chamber of Commerce and the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce. Anderson's other local service includes advisor director of Indiana Public Radio, Motivate Our Minds, and the Cornerstone Center for the Arts, as well as chair or president of the United Way, Muncie Symphony Orchestra, and the Muncie chapter of Rotary International.

The awards and accolades received by Anderson throughout his career are numerous and include the Martin Luther King Jr. Service Award from the Coalition of Concerned Clergy (1993), the Paul Samuelson Award from the Indiana Council of Economic Education (1994), the Distinguished Eagle Award from the National Council of the Boy Scouts of America (1995), the Ball State University Business "Hall of Fame," The Star Press "Citizen of the Year" (2002), the Ruth Freund award from Motivate Our Minds (2004), the Tech Point Bridge Builder award (2006), the Muncie/Delaware County VIVA Lifetime Achievement award (2008), and the Muncie-Delaware County Chamber of Commerce Legacy Award (2013).

Stefan Anderson lives in Muncie, Indiana with his wife Joan. Together they have two children and six grandchildren.