Background
He was born in Lafayette, Indiana, but moved to Brookston at the age of two. Despite his father’s disapproval, Ross enrolled in Purdue University in 1889.
inventor metal products executive
He was born in Lafayette, Indiana, but moved to Brookston at the age of two. Despite his father’s disapproval, Ross enrolled in Purdue University in 1889.
In 1893, Ross graduated from Purdue as a Mechanical Engineer. His life at college was “quiet”. Despite his inventive mind, he received only a passing grade in most of his classes, including machine design, mathematics, and physics.
David East. Ross was the second child of George Ross and Susanna Booth. In 1876, Ross began attending primary school. During this time in his life, Ross began to show an interest in engineering.
During his senior year of high school, Ross decided to attend college and learn about engineering.
Around 1905, Ross invented his first automotive steering gear. He eventually patented 88 inventions and was involved in founding four companies related to building materials and automotive mechanisms.
Purdue University His first project involved raising money to build the Purdue Memorial Union that would honor Purdue graduates that died during World War I. After donating a large contribution of his own, Ross began persuading alumni in the area to donate as well. He would promise them that the building would be “the finest thing of the kind in the United States”.
Partially because of his persistence, alumni donated almost half of the one million dollars that paid for the Union.
Ross’s next project was the design of a new football stadium to help promote the athletics of the school. He met with George Ade, another well-known Purdue graduate, on a 65-acre farm and proposed the financing of the new stadium. The two men became business partners and friends, and funded what came to be called the Ross-Ade Stadium.
Ross also helped build the Lambert Fieldhouse by donating $100,000 and land.
Ross became president of the Purdue Board of Trustees in 1927. With his new role, he was able to push for the creation of the Purdue Research Foundation, which was successfully founded in 1930.
He personally donated $25,000 towards its formation. He believed that research was an essential part of the learning process and led to innovation and discovery.
This belief in the power of research led to $453,00 of fellowship funds from1930 to 1940 Ross was also a believer in the need for aeronautical engineering at Purdue.
Because of this, he bought 157 acres of land that would eventually grant Purdue the distinction of having one of the country’s first operational airports. Death Ross died on June 28, 1943. He is buried northwest of the Slayter Center of Performing Arts, on a piece of land overlooking the main campus of Purdue University that he had donated as part of the Purdue Research Foundation.
He is one of two people buried on campus, the other being John Purdue.
Ross was quoted as saying “I’m hoping the time may never come when I’m not identified with Purdue”. Most of Ross’s estate was left to the Purdue Research Foundation.
The sum total of money, stocks, and land that Ross donated to the university was nearly three million dollars.
Ross became a member of the Purdue Alumni Committee in 1921.