Emerson Houck was born in Oak Park, Illinois and raised in nearby Glen Ellyn, returning to Oak Park in the sixth grade and graduating from high school there in 1952. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College in 1956 and a Master of Science degree in Business Administration and Mechanical Engineering from Dartmouth two years later.

He retired from Eli Lilly and Company in 1993 after 35 years of service. His responsibilities covered a wide range of executive management positions including Executive Director of Medical Research for Lilly Research Laboratories, Executive Director of Engineering for the parent company, Director of Administration for the company’s Australian affiliate, Director of Market Research for Lilly International, and Director of Human Resources for both Elizabeth Arden and the Pharmaceutical and Medical Device of Eli Lilly and Company.

Mr. Houck is married to the former Jane Hanna of Indianapolis. Mr. Houck is a graduate of Shortridge High School and of Wheelock College in Brookline, Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Houck have three children, Elizabeth Warnock of Winnetka, Illionois, and sons Joseph and Douglas, both of Carmel, Indiana, and seven grandchildren.

Mr. Houck was elected a Trustee of Hanover College in 1985. He has served the college as Chairman of the Academic Affairs Committee, member of the Long Range Planning and Executive Committess of the Board, and as Chairman of the Campaign for Hanover. He was also a member of the College’s Academic Vision Task Force. In September of 1994 he was honored as the recipient of the Hanover College Leadership Award.

Mr. Houck is a current member and past President of the St. Vincent Hospital Advisory Board, and a past President of the Indianapolis hospital’s Foundation Board. He is a past member of the Board of the Daughters of Charity National Health System (now Ascension Health Care) and was Chairman of the Audit Committee of that board. He is Chairman of the Board on CHAN, a joint venture for-profit subsidiary of Ascension and Catholic Health Initiatives.

He has also served as Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Indianapolis Children’s Bureau, and as President of the Dartmouth Clubs of Indiana and Australia. He is also an Alumni Council member for the Dartmouth and was the Head Class Agent for ten years. In 1987 Dartmouth honored him with the Alumni Award.

He served as a member of the Advisory Committee which helped establish the MBA program at the University of Indianapolis and on Dean Schuyler Otteson’s Advisory panel when Indiana University’s Business School was in the process of extending their programs to the Indianapolis campus (IUPUI). He was a past Chairman of the United Way of Indianapolis Agency Relations Committee.

Houck also served as a member of the Corporate Advisory Board of the Thayer School of Engineering of Dartmouth College. In that capacity he was instrumental in working with faculty and the Dean to redesign the school’s technical management degree program, the Masters of the Engineering Management. He is a member and serves as Treasurer of the Congregational Community Church of Indianapolis. Houck also is a member of the Board of Directors of General Alarm, an Indianapolis based security firm.