On Feb. 1, 2025, former Boise State President Charles P. Ruch passed away at the age of 86.
Ruch became Boise State’s fifth president in 1993 after previously serving as Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University.
In Ruch’s ten-year tenure (1993-2003), he served as a pivotal figure in the development of Boise State’s athletics and academic programs.
One of his accomplishments was assisting in the creation of the engineering program at Boise State. In 1995, The Idaho State Board of Education approved the transfer of three engineering bachelor’s degrees at Boise State. Two years later in 1997, the College of Engineering (COEN) program was officially established.
In 2017, due to Ruch’s efforts, Boise State named the College of Engineering building the “Charles P. Ruch Engineering Building”. This decision marked the 20th anniversary of the College of Engineering officially becoming a program at the university.
JoAnn Lighty, former dean of the College of Engineering, mentioned Ruch’s impact on the program after joining the department shortly after the building was officially named.
“I think it’s fitting,” Lighty said of the building being named after Ruch. “Getting engineering on campus transformed our STEM degrees. We are now 25 plus years [old] and we are the largest engineering college in the state.”
According to Lighty, the program now has 3,000 students and around $18 million in research expenditures, training across engineering, computer science and construction management.
“I am really proud of our faculty, staff and all of our students in COEN,” Lighty said. “Through their amazing dedication and work — President Ruch’s work lives on and his legacy lives on in the students that we put out and the faculty that we hire and the research that they do to help Idaho, the nation and global impacts.”
In 1996, Ruch helped Boise State athletics rise in competitions, going from the Big Sky to the Big West Conference.
Former Boise State Athletic Director Gene Bleymaier discussed the intricacies behind this change.
“It was obviously a very big move for Boise State and for the athletic department to get from [Division] I-AA to [Division] I-A and it was difficult in the state because of University of Idaho and Idaho State [University] being I-AA — it meant that we will be leaving this category.”
Bleymaier credited Ruch’s ability to get approval from the Idaho State Board of Education for Boise State’s transition, despite the “political stances” Idahoans had about the three schools staying together.
“President Ruch did a masterful job working with the State Board of Education and actually ushering that [new] era in and making that move possible,” Bleymaier said.
The following year, Boise State’s Albertsons Stadium, formerly known as Bronco Stadium II, saw an expansion to their football stadium by increasing capacity to 30,000 seats and the creation of The Allen Noble Hall of Fame Gallery.
“Because we had the population in the valley and we had the attendance — enlarging the stadium was the most logical thing to do to increase revenues for the athletic department and increase visibility for the university,” Bleymaier said. “Dr. Ruch was supportive of it all the way — we laid out the plan and the justification and support that we had from donors and the community, made it a pretty easy decision.”
Ruch’s leadership and vision for the university were highlighted in Boise State’s alumni magazine “FOCUS”, where Ruch wrote columns throughout his tenure discussing accomplishments and goals for Boise State.
Former FOCUS Magazine Editor Larry Burke, discussed Ruch’s qualities as president, reflecting on his relationship working with Ruch through previous stories for the publication.
“I appreciated President Ruch because he had a good understanding of the news business,” Burke shared in an email to The Arbiter. “He was confident in our ability to work with the media and when challenging issues arose, he didn’t shy away from addressing them with the media, and he always willingly listened to advice from us and others.”
Burke added that Boise State’s growth in academics, specifically in engineering and athletics, marked a change in how the Idaho State Board of Education viewed the university.
“These two changes — engineering and athletics — represented a shift in the State Board’s approach to Boise State in my opinion,” Burke said. “The board recognized the importance of the Boise market and allowed Boise State to offer programs to serve that market. President Ruch and others who worked with him were instrumental in making that transition.”
Jane Buser, a former leader of Human Resources at Boise State University, worked at Boise State from 1973 to 2011 under the leadership of four Boise State Presidents, including Dr. Ruch.
Buser noted Ruch’s leadership skills and his ability to recognize Boise State’s growth potential as a university during his tenure.
“He really understood where the university could move to and go to because of the opportunity for connections within the city of Boise,” Buser said. “I think his leadership style — he was pretty casual and informal — what you saw is what you got.”
Buser explained Ruch’s commitment to Boise State University’s growth, emphasizing his focus on students and faculty.
“Between the four presidents, he was by far to me the easiest to work with,” Buser said. “He wasn’t in [it] for the prestige of being the president of Boise State, he was in it because he loves students and he believes so strongly in education and ensuring that we have the best faculty we could hire for that purpose.”
After leaving Boise State in 2003, Dr. Ruch continued his professional career until retiring in 2015, in which he moved back to Boise.
A memorial service will be held at a later date to honor President Ruch and the contributions he made to Boise State University and the community.
