Braun CEO Named to Industry Hall of Fame
February 29, 2012
News Release
Winamac, Ind. Due to his unyielding contributions to the automotive mobility industry, Ralph Braun was inducted as an honoree into the inaugural National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association (NMEDA) Hall of Fame, Friday.
Ralph Brauns commitment to the disability industry began 65 years ago, when at the age of six, he was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy and told he would lose his ability to walk. As he grew older, he recognized a need for mobility and would go on to invent the motorized scooter, filling orders from his parents garage. He adapted to the times and his changing mobility, outfitting an old jeep when his employer moved, and installing lifts when the first full-sized van was introduced.
The eventual launch of the minivan would help to cement Brauns revolution of the entire mobility industry.
Ralph Brauns legacy is unmatchable and immeasurable, said NMEDA Executive Director and CEO Dave Hubbard. He is a true leader in an industry that began in the confines of his own home, and without his innovation or determination to overcome a disability, the automotive mobility industry certainly would not be what it is today.
Business Hall inductee: Arthur Capper
Publisher, politician and philanthropist.
Biographer Homer Edward Socolofsky used those words in the title of his 1962 book detailing the life of Sen. Arthur Capper, who left his mark in all three areas.
As a publisher, Capper ran the Topeka Daily Capital and other newspapers that came to have a combined circulation of 4.75 million.
As a politician, he was governor of Kansas for four years and represented the state in the U.S. Senate for 30 years.
As a philanthropist, Capper sponsored a birthday party and picnic held annually for more than 40 years in Topeka. He also founded the organization known as the Easter Seals Capper Foundation.
Capper was born July 14, 1865, in Garnett, the son of Quakers who taught him the importance of honesty, morality, temperance and self-reliance.
He started work at age 14 as a “printer’s devil” at the Garnett Journal, and set out after graduating from high school to make his living as a typesetter at the Topeka Daily Capital.
