Geoffrey S. Mearns has served as Ball State University’s 17th president since May 2017.
Under President Mearns’ leadership, Ball State has solidified its reputation as one of the leading public universities in the country. Ball State is recognized for its premier academic programs, its commitment to community engagement, and its reputation as an outstanding employer.
A leader on campus and beyond
President Mearns’ strategic plan for Ball State, Destination 2040: Our Flight Path, outlines the University’s ambitious goals for its second century. The plan provides a framework for five long-term goals for 2040. These goals enable Ball State to prepare students for fulfilling careers and meaningful lives, while strengthening the community, providing economic and social benefit to the region and state, and offering leadership by example across the country and around the world.
During his tenure, President Mearns has also pursued initiatives that have increased alumni engagement and fundraising. The upward trajectory of Ball State’s fundraising success has contributed greatly to the University’s latest comprehensive fundraising campaign, Our Call to Beneficence, which President Mearns launched publicly in Fall 2023.
Led by President Mearns, Ball State’s public-private partnerships have also flourished. The University is implementing its long-term plan to revitalize The Village, the commercial district located immediately adjacent to Ball State’s campus. And since 2018, the University has been engaged in a historic partnership with Muncie Community Schools (MCS). As a result of this partnership, student enrollment at MCS has stabilized; budgets have been balanced annually; and compensation for teachers and staff has increased by nearly 40 percent.
President Mearns’ commitment to the greater community includes his service as one of the co-chairs of Next Muncie, a team of local leaders committed to advancing the redevelopment of downtown Muncie and its adjacent neighborhoods. He also serves as a member of the IU Health East Central Region Board of Directors.
As a former competitive college athlete, President Mearns is actively involved in NCAA governance, including: Division I Board of Directors; Division I Administrative Committee; Chair, Division I Infractions Process Committee; Division I Budget and Finance Committee; and Board of Governors Finance and Audit Committee. President Mearns is also the chair of the Mid-American Council of Presidents.
An advocate for higher education and the law
Prior to becoming president of Ball State, President Mearns served five years as president of Northern Kentucky University (NKU). At NKU, President Mearns improved the University’s level of state funding and oversaw a number of major projects, including an expansion of the campus recreation center and construction of the Health Innovation Center. Before becoming president of NKU, he served in administrative positions for seven years at Cleveland State University, first as dean of the law school and then as provost.
President Mearns’ career in higher education was preceded by a legal career that included service as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Department of Justice. While serving as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and Chief of the Organized Crime and Racketeering section in the Eastern District of New York, he personally participated in the prosecution of several high-ranking members of the Gambino organized crime family. At the conclusion of his career in the Justice Department, he was appointed by Attorney General Janet Reno to serve as one of the principal trial lawyers in the prosecution of Terry Nichols, Timothy McVeigh’s conspirator in the Oklahoma City bombing.
President Mearns earned his undergraduate degree in English from Yale University and a law degree from the University of Virginia, where he was inducted into the Order of the Coif national honors society.
President Mearns and his wife, Jennifer, have five children and four grandchildren.