University of Minnesota Athletics
Ralph Piper - M Club Hall of Fame
Ralph Piper
Gymnastics Coach, 1929-68
HOF Class of 1997
As either assistant or head coach, Ralph Piper was involved with the University of Minnesota gymnastics program nearly every year from 1929 to 1968.
His teams won six Big Ten championships, finished second in the nation twice, and placed in the top five eight times. He coached 34 Big Ten and six NCAA individual champions.
Piper taught and coached at Kansas State before coming to Minnesota in 1929, where he was also a professor. He was a U.S. Army officer from 1944-46, chief of the rehabilitation program at Walter Reed Army Hospital, working with soldiers who had lost limbs. Through the Fullbright teaching scholarship program, Pipe traveled and taught around the world, including Burma, Iran and Iraq.
He coached the North All-Star team in 1958, the U.S. National team in 1959, and the East All-Star team in 1965. He was named to the National Gymnastics Hall of Fame, and was National Coach of the Year in 1962.