By Jud Fisher, President/CEO, Ball Brothers Foundation— MUNCIE, IN — Ball Brothers Foundation’s support for education in Muncie is deeply connected to the origins of Ball State University and the Ball family’s long-standing belief in the importance of teacher preparation and public education. In 1917, after community efforts to sustain a struggling private college failed, the Ball brothers purchased the land and buildings of the institution and donated them to the State of Indiana.  That gift became the Indiana State Normal School Eastern Division which opened in 1918 to help address Indiana’s growing need for well-prepared teachers. In recognition of…