In Memory of John Ruan

By Bill Friedricks

John Ruan, a leading business and community figure in central Iowa, died February 13, 2010 at his home in Des Moines, IA. He was 96.

Widely recognized for his success in the trucking industry, Ruan was equally well known for donning his trademark bow ties, short sleeve white shirts, and wire rimmed glasses.

Over his career, he built a diverse empire, which now includes trucking, banking, financial services, real estate, international trade, and a hotel. Most important of these are Ruan Transportation Management Systems (RTMS), one of the nation's largest trucking and logistics firms and Bankers Trust, the largest independently owned bank in Iowa.

Ruan was long regarded as one of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Des Moines. He often attributed his success to hard work: "I am no smarter than a lot of guys in town, but I work harder." Ruan possessed a hard-charging personality that led him to the office seven days a week and a business style that was often described as "sheer determination." This work ethic and his willingness to take risks made him a quintessential entrepreneur.

Never completely divorced from his work, Ruan was always thinking about "ways to make a buck," and he was fastidious about jotting down ideas on note cards. When out of the office, he carried a small leather address book, which included a pad of paper and pencil, in his pants pocket so that even when hunting or playing golf, he  could note possible opportunities so they would not "get away from him."

He was born February 11, 1914, to a successful physician and his wife in Beacon, a small town outside of Oskaloosa in Mahaska County, Iowa. When his father lost most of his money in the 1929 Stock Market Crash, he moved the family to Des Moines the following year. Devastated by the loss, he died in 1931. Ruan had always been interested in following his father as a doctor, and he attended Iowa State College. After completing his first year, there was no money left for tuition, and he was forced to leave school and go to work.

On the advice of a friend, Ruan traded one of the family cars for a truck in the summer of 1932 and began hauling gravel for a local road builder. A year later, he owned three trucks and was hauling coal. A fellow trucker who knew Ruan at the timed noted: "He was aggressive, always moving. He pushed hard, and he never eased up."

By the mid-1930s he began moving freight and later hauling petroleum. Ruan soon had the largest trucking operation in central Iowa. After World War II, his trucking operation grew rapidly, becoming the nation's largest hauler of petroleum products by the end of the 1950s. Along the way, he acquired the taxi service in Des Moines as well as the city's Avis Rent a Car franchise. The following decade, he expanded into truck leasing business. Today, RTMS operates a fleet of 8,700 trucks nationally.

The trucking magnate moved beyond transportation in 1964 with his purchase of a majority interest in Bankers Trust Company. Ruan eventually bought all the remaining stock and began branching into other areas including real estate and property management, the import-export business, and a securities firm.

In addition, Ruan was one of the most influential leaders in the revitalization of downtown Des Moines in the 1970s and 1980s. So significant was his role, that Robert Ray, former governor of Iowa, said: "John Ruan is the father of the renaissance of Des Moines. Because of him, the city started to prosper and grow and come alive." His 36-­story Ruan Center, which was the state's tallest building for 15 years, became the anchor for the new downtown. As general partner, he was the prime moverbehind the construction of the downtown Marriott and soon thereafter erected Ruan Two, another office building adjacent to his original tower. While these facilities were going up, Ruan played a central role in the planning and layout of the skywalk system.

Ruan was also involved in many philanthropic undertakings. Over the years, he gave millions of dollars to his favorite causes. Most notable were his fight against multiple sclerosis and his support of the World Food Prize.

After his wife had been stricken with MS and shortly before his daughter was afflicted and would eventually die from complications of the same disease, he formed the John Ruan MS Charity. Its golf tournament quickly became the largest one-day charity golf event in the United States, and it began funding research in an experimental MS regimen at Rush Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Chicago. In the late 1980s, Ruan personally donated $1 million for the establishment of the Ruan Neurological Center at Des Moines' Mercy Medical Center, which cares for patients with MS as well as other neurological disorders such as stroke and Parkinson's disease.

Following discussions with Nobel Prize winner Norman Borlaug, Ruan agreed to back the four year-old World Food Prize, which had lost its corporate sponsorship. He established a foundation in 1990 to support the prize, "the foremost international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have improved the quality or availability of food around the world." Each year the organization honors the winner with a $250,000 prize in a ceremony held in Des Moines. In 2001, Ruan and his family pledged $5 million for buying and renovating the downtown Des Moines Public Library building to make it the permanent home for the World Food Prize organization.

He received numerous honors during his lifetime, but he was most humbled when he received the Iowa Award, the state's highest citizen award, in 2001.

Because he was very private, few people actually knew Ruan well. To most, he was a distant, tough, and powerful businessman. Yet those close to him saw a different John Ruan. He had a passion for hunting morel mushrooms, a wry sense of humor, loved to play the piano and sing, and was tender hearted and generous.

He is survived by his wife, Elizabeth; two children, John III (Janis) and Thomas; six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren. His daughter, Elizabeth Jayne Ruan Fletcher, preceded him in death.  Donations may be to the World Food Prize the World Food Prize Foundation, 1700 Ruan Center, 666 Grand Avenue, Des Moines, IA 50309.

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