John C. Baur

Valparaiso University Acting President, 1926, 1927-28

The Rev. John C. Baur led the administration at Valparaiso University in the years after it was purchased by the Lutheran University Association, in which he had been serving as secretary. Baur commuted from Fort Wayne, refusing to move to Valparaiso, to demonstrate that his work at the University was an emergency measure — one that lasted 10 years. He was also member of the first Board of Directors of Valparaiso University selected in 1925 and a member of the first Board of Directors elected in 1926.

In “Valparaiso’s First Century,” John Strietelmeier credits Baur with having prodded the University back to life in the first decade of Lutheran administration.” Baur, along with President Dau and Dean Kroencke, is also credited with winning accreditation for the University in 1929. Valparaiso University awarded him the honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1951.