Arnold Ephraim Ross (August 24 1906 – September 25 2002) was a mathematician and educator who founded the Ross Mathematics Program at the Ohio State University.
He was born in Chicago, but spent his childhood in Odessa, Russia before moving back to his hometown when he was 16 (1922). It was there at the University of Chicago, where he earned his PhD in mathematics (under L. E. Dickson) in 1931. In that same year, he married Bertha Horecker, nicknamed "Bee." Over the years, he taught at Caltech, People's Junior College, and St. Louis University. When World War II arose, he put in time doing mathematical research for the U.S. Navy. After the war, the University of Notre Dame appointed him Head of the Mathematics department (1946).
It was at Notre Dame that he started the Ross Mathematics Program. Later on, he moved to Ohio State University as a new Chairman of the Department of Mathematics in 1963. The Ross Program, after moving to the University of Chicago for a period in the 1970s, eventually moved to Ohio State where it is still in existence today. In addition, Ross introduced programs like New Horizons and Horizons Unlimited in the 1960s for children in Columbus, Ohio. He retired from his job at OSU in 1976. In 1983, his wife died after a happy, childless marriage. In 1990, he married Madeleine Green. Ross continued to teach the summer program until 2000, when he was no longer physically able to do so. There was a "Ross Reunion" in 1996 and again in 2001, the first year in the program's existence that he did not teach the lecture portion. After he died in 2002, memorial articles appeared in the December 2002 and January 2003 issues of the MAA Focus, and another in the June 2003 issue of the notices of the American Mathematical Society. There was a 50th anniversary "Ross Reunion" on July 20--22, 2007. Through the Ross Mathematics Program, he sparked an interest in the math community as smaller programs popped up as far away as Australia, India, and West Germany. Many alumni of the program went on to create number theory camps like PROMYS and the Texas State University Honors Summer Math Camp. Some awards:
- Ohio State University Distinguished Teaching Award (1974)
- Ohio State University Distinguished Service Award (1981)
- Mathematics Association of America Award for Distinguished Service (1986)
- American Mathematical Society Citation for Public Service (1998)
- American Mathematical Society establishes the "Arnold Ross Lecture Series" (1993)
- Denison University Honorary Doctoral Degree (1984)
