Paul Rusch

Paul Rusch
Paul Rusch Memorial, Kiyosato, Yamanashi
Born	November 25, 1897 Fairmount, Indiana
Died	December 12, 1979 Tokyo, Japan
Nationality	American
Occupation	Anglican lay missionary, educator, rural development pioneer, post war reconciliation activist.

Paul Frederick Rusch (1897 – 1979) was a lay missionary of the Anglican Church in Japan.

Rusch is remembered in Japan for his role as an educator and for pioneering activities in development of American football, rural agriculture and post Second World War reconciliation.

Born November 25, 1897 in Fairmount, Indiana, Rusch was raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He served with the US Army in France during the First World War. In Kentucky, Rusch was an active member of the congregation of Christ Church Cathedral in Louisville.

Rusch first arrived in Japan in 1925, initially to help the YMCA with reconstruction efforts after the Great Kantō earthquake, and stayed to dedicate his life and energies towards youth education, post-war reconciliation and rural development in that country. Through his association with the Anglican Church in Japan he taught both Economics at Rikkyo University and was instrumental in helping Dr. Rudolf Teusler raise funds for the expansion of St. Luke's International Hospital in central Tokyo.

Encouraged by Bishop Charles S. Reifsnider, Rusch was renowned as an unconventional, but highly effective lay evangelist for the Anglican Church in Japan, establishing a chapter of the Brotherhood of St. Andrew at Rikkyo University in 1927.

In 1934 Rusch also established and was elected first chairman of the Intercollegiate Football League, the first college level American Football association in Japan. The Paul Rusch Cup is awarded each year to the MVP of the Rice Bowl, Japan's own American Football national championship game.