University officials and students joined family members to dedicate the center, which is in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center, and to unveil a commemorative plaque in memory of Rinker, a businessman and philanthropist who endowed a scholarship program for Ball State students to study abroad.

Speakers included Ball State President Jo Ann M. Gora; Marty Bennett, director of International Services; Lisa Gerstner, a senior majoring in history and Rinker scholarship recipient; Rinker's son, David, who is chief operating officer and president of the Marshall E. Rinker Sr. Foundation; and James Coffin, director of Ball State's Center Programs and Field Studies.

Ball State University Board of Trustees approved dedicating the center in Rinker's honor last May, noting that his generosity resulted in more than 400 students receiving scholarships to study oversees.

"Attracting top students to Ball State and offering the kind of life-changing, immersive experiences delivered through study-abroad courses that the Rinkers support is one way Ball State is redefining education," Gora said.

Rinker was born in Cowan, Ind., in 1904 and attended Ball State 20 years later.

He moved to Florida in 1925 and started Rinker Rock and Sand. The company later became Rinker Materials Inc., one of the largest ready-mix concrete and block producers in the country. After selling his corporation to an Australian conglomerate, he established the M.E. Rinker Senior Foundation.

In 1994 through his foundation, he pledged $500,000 to the university to establish the International Scholars program. Even after his death in 1996, the family and the foundation continued their support of Ball State, and through the years, they have pledged more than $1 million.