Du Bois, Hoosier by birth, spent 20 years as a journalist, half of the perido as editor of Portland and Muncie newspapers. He later served on the executive staff of governors Otis R. Bowen and Robert D. Orr. Before retiring in 1998, Du Bois also spent a decade in higher educatioin as president of the Independent Colleges and Universities of Indiana and as the system marketing and public relations director for Ivy Tech State College.