Dr. Ross’s Profile Draft:
Dr. Arnold Ross strutted into a classroom full of eager high school students. Itʼs
the summer of 1965, and the Ross Mathematics Program was underway.
Wearing a plain white dress shirt and a mischievous grin, Dr. Ross took his
position at the front of the classroom, jumping right into a lecture about number
theory. One of the students, hidden figure Rada Higgins, watched Dr. Ross
pacing “back and forth, from le to right, then from right to le, and again from
le to right, like a panther in captivity” while he lectured. But even as he
bounced from wall-to-wall, topic-to-topic, Dr. Ross flawlessly held the attention
of his audience. Throughout the lecture, the “Pied Piper of Mathematics”
hammered his motto into the students: “think deeply of simple things.”
...
Dr. Arnold Ephraim Ross (then named Arnold Ephraim Chaimovitch) was born on
August 24, 1906 in Chicago, Illinois to Isaac Chaimovitsch and Clara Greenberg.
At three years old, little “Noli” moved with his mother to Odessa, Russia (now
Odessa, Ukraine) to live with her parents. While growing up in Soviet Russia,
Ross met Professor Samuil Shatunovsky: a talented mathematician from Odessa
University. Shatunovsky took the local boys—including Ross—under his wing,
oen trading math lessons for hard candy.
Aer graduating from high school, Dr. Ross returned to his birthplace to attend
the University of Chicago. Even from 5,272 miles away, Professor Shatunovsky
continued to help his star pupil. Shatunovsky recommended Ross to E. H. Moore,
a prominent math professor at the University of Chicago. Under Mooreʼs
guidance, Ross thrived in his undergraduate math courses. This laid the
foundation for Rossʼs PhD studies under mathematician L. E. Dickson, during
which time Ross helped Dickson with his book, Studies in the Theory of Numbers.
Three years later, in 1931, Dr. Arnold Ross graduated from the University of
Chicago with a PhD in Mathematics.
For his PhD dissertation, Ross studied quadratic forms: a polynomial where all
terms are to the second degree. Click here to read a brief explanation on quadratic
forms.
...
Aer graduation, Dr. Arnold Ross taught mathematics at St. Louis University
(1935-1946) and Notre Dame (1946-1963). During his time at Notre Dame, Dr.
Ross kicked off his Notre Dame Mathematics Teacher Training Program. The
NDMTTP, founded in 1946, taught educators how to present higher-level math to
a high school audience.
The program was a huge success; by the mid-1950s, hundreds of high school
teachers came from around the midwest to hear Dr. Ross speak about math
education. This success led to Rossʼs second and most notable program: the
Ross Mathematics Program. Unlike the NDMTTP, Dr. Ross made the RMP for
mathematically-gied high school students. He would send hand-written letters
to select students, personally inviting them to attend the six-week summer
program that Ross described as “a vivid apprenticeship to a life of exploration.”
...
In 1963, Dr. Ross decided to leave Notre Dame aer some disagreements
between him and other faculty. He packed his bags (and his successful Ross
Program) and set off for The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. Here, he
served as chair to the universityʼs math department until his retirement in 1976.
During those 13 years, Ross continued to develop the Ross Mathematics
Program alongside his new New Careers program. Hidden figure Howard
Richard, who studied New Careers for his PhD dissertation, says “the basic
purpose of the program was to provide para-professional training to the
disadvantaged adults of Columbus, Ohio.” Essentially, Dr. Ross wanted to equip
New Careers participants with the mathematical tools to succeed in work and in
life. Students ranging from 22 to 54 years old spent 20 hours a week at Ohio
State, where they listened to Rossʼs lectures and participated in laboratory
activities. By the end of two quarters, these students showed “exponential”
growth in their mathematical abilities. A little over half could even apply their
mathematical abilities to a new technology: the computer.
While he led his two programs and fulfilled his chairman duties, Dr. Arnold Ross
was an ally and friend to every one of his peers and pupils. He helped numerous
Eastern European mathematicians obtain visas to work in the US; he fought on
behalf of graduate students when the university denied them housing; he
threatened to give up his office aer the administration refused a workspace for
his graduate students; and he secured a home for a black family who couldnʼt on
their own due to racial prejudice. Dr. Ross also protected students during the
1970 campus protests. He donned a red armband and stood
shoulder-to-shoulder with other brave professors, forming a line to shield the
students from protest violence. It seemed that—both inside and outside the
classroom—Dr. Ross wanted the best for every single one of his coworkers and
students.
In 1976, Dr. Ross retired from Ohio State. He continued to lecture for his famous
Ross Mathematics Program until he physically couldnʼt anymore in 2001. A year
later, in 2002, Dr. Arnold Ross passed away at 96 years old.
...
Dr. Arnold Ross received many honors for his work in mathematics and math
education. He earned the OSU Distinguished Teaching Award (1974), the
Distinguished Service Award (1981), the Mathematics Association of America
Award for Distinguished Service (1986), and the AMS Citation for Public Service
(1998). But the greatest reward of all was the connection Dr. Ross cultivated with
his coworkers and students.
Hidden figure Carolyn Mahoney thanked Dr. Ross first and foremost in her PhD
dissertation, for he “made it possible for [her] to come to The Ohio State
University.”
Hidden figure Howard Richard stated in his PhD dissertation that “you [Dr. Ross]
provided me with the opportunity and support to gain my advanced degrees.
Your sense of concern for the persons entrusted to your care is only one of your
many assets. I shall try to follow your example in whatever role life demands of
me.”
And hidden figure Rada Higgins—the student sitting in that energetic classroom
during the 1965 Ross Mathematics Program—said “the opportunity to study
under Dr. Ross and to participate in his summer training program was probably
the most singular privilege I have known in my academic life ... Through him, I
received an NSF Fellowship to follow the graduate program in mathematics at
Ohio State University, from where I eventually acquired a doctorate ... Certainly,
Dr. Ross shaped my destiny.”
Works Cited
“Arnold Ross and the Afro-Am Student Protests.” Blind Man with a Math Degree, 18 Jan. 2020,
https://blindmanwithmathdegree.blogspot.com/2020/01/arnold-ross-and-afro-am-stude
nt-protests.html.
Jackson, Allyn, and Daniel Shapiro. “Arnold Ross (1906-2002).” Notices of the American
Mathematical Society, vol. 50, no. 6, 2003, pp. 660–665.,
https://doi.org/https://www.ams.org/notices/200306/comm-ross.pdf.
Jackson, Allyn. “Interview with Arnold Ross.” Notices of the American Mathematical Society,
vol. 48, no. 7, Aug. 2001, pp. 691–698.,
https://doi.org/https://math.osu.edu/sites/math.osu.edu/files/interviewArnoldRoss.pdf.
Mahoney, Carolyn. “On the Unimodality of the Independent Set Numbers of a Class of
Matroids.” The Ohio State University, 1983.
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1487238163203
965&disposition=inline .
Richard, Howard. “New Careers Mathematics: The Effects Upon Achievement in Mathematics
of Supplementing a Concept Centered Course for Adults with Experiences in Computer
Utilization.” The Ohio State University, 1970.
https://etd.ohiolink.edu/apexprod/rws_etd/send_file/send?accession=osu1486659302579
478&disposition=inline .
Shapiro, Daniel. “History of Arnold Ross and His Program.” The Ross Mathematics Program,
https://rossprogram.org/alumni/history/ .
Stevens, Glenn. “Memories of Arnold Ross.” FOCUS, vol. 23, no. 1, Jan. 2003, p. 17.,
https://doi.org/https://www.maa.org/sites/default/files/pdf/pubs/jan03.pdf .
Rada Higgin's Words on Dr. Ross (I donʼt know where her quote came from.)
Picture Ideas
Presentation on Dr. Ross's Life by unknown author