Emma Kate Fittes

efittes@muncie.gannett.com

MUNCIE, Ind. — Ball State University’s acting provost Robert Morris died early Monday morning after spending a little more than a month in the hospital fighting a blood infection.

The 53-year-old was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis on Oct. 18, his brother Richard Morris II told The Star Press Monday afternoon. He had Septicemia, also known as blood poisoning, meaning a bacterial infection elsewhere in the body entered his blood.

“We’ll probably never know how he got it or where he got it,” Richard Morris said.

His family knew it was serious as it started shutting down his kidneys and settled on his heart, but Richard Morris said they weren’t expecting him to die. Morris was scheduled for another test and then heart surgery later this week.

Richard FaceTimed with his younger brother Sunday night after spending Saturday in his hospital room. They had watched college sports and talked about Morris getting back to his relatively new job as provost.

Then Richard woke up to a phone call from Morris’ wife, Sandy, at 6:30 a.m. Monday.

Even before calling his own kids, Richard called acting university president Terry King. He said he knew how important his brother was to the university.

Morris is a Ball State alumni and has worked at the university since 1991, when he started out as an assistant professor of chemistry. He went on to be a professor of chemistry, then the chair of the chemistry department, dean of the graduate school, associate provost for research, and, most recently, acting provost and vice president for Academic Affairs when King became acting president after Paul Ferguson left.

“Bob was a proven scholar, an accomplished teacher, and a skilled leader and administrator,” King said in an email Monday. “He was an inspiration to us all. We’re all just shocked and feeling the loss very deeply.”

Senior associate provost and dean of University College Marilyn Buck has been filling in while Morris was in the hospital, and will continue to, according to university officials.

“It’s a huge loss to Ball State and to the Muncie community, not only because of the position that he had but because of the person that he was,” said Boys & Girls Club director Micah Maxwell, who worked with Morris on a strategic planning committee. “He understood very well the importance of a conversation. You always felt important when you were around Bob.”

Maxwell said he seemed to know everyone and everyone seemed to know him, and he was always willing to help.

“Bob was a very giving man,” his wife, Sandy Morris, said Monday. “He would give his shirt off his back if it meant making someone’s day. The world lost a wonderful person.”

Delaware County Coroner Scott Hahn, a family friend, remembered that Morris took the time to sit down with his daughter and tutor her in chemistry.

“That’s the kind of guy he was … he was well grounded,” Hahn said.

Morris grew up in the area. His parents moved from Columbus, Indiana in 1972, when Morris was in elementary school, and built a house. He went to Liberty Perry Schools, graduating from Wapahani High School with a 4.0 GPA in 1981.

His high school physics teacher Michael Elder, who later became a close friend, said Morris was an unforgettable student.

“He was brilliant in his way,” Elder said. “It’s just kind of an unlikely mix of a really intelligent person and someone who had a wonderfully entertaining personality.”

His brother remembers him getting off the bus as a kid and starting his homework right away while other kids played.

Morris went on to be the first person in his family to go to a four-year college, Richard said, and the first to earn a PhD. Morris had a way of tackling problems with a science mind, his brother said, but was also a great communicator and speaker.

But Richard said if someone asked Morris what he did, he would say “I work for Ball State” without mentioning the PhD in chemistry. He credited his brother’s humbleness to how they were raised.

“He’s on a different level than most of us,” said local dentist Greg Pyle, who has been Morris’ best friend since about fourth grade.

“We would tease him and say, 'We knew you back when you weren’t famous.' He was always down to earth and his job position may have changed, but he never changed.”

Morris spent his final weeks with his wife Sandy by his side. She took time off work and rented a room near the hospital so she could spend every day with him, Richard said. Then she ended up in the hospital, too, a few rooms down with a non-life-threatening illness.

The two have been married since 1985 and have two children, Chelsea, 27, and Jake, 23.

“My dad has been the most influential person in my life,” Chelsea said. “Things he has taught me will always be with me and I will teach my kids in the future.”

Contact families & education reporter Emma Kate Fittes at 765-213-5845 and follow @EmmaKate_TSP