Arnold Ross (1906–2002) Arnold Ross died for high-school students talented in mathematics. on September 25, Even before the Sputnik era, Ross divined the need 2002, at the age of for encouraging such students. In the summer pro- ninety-six. His un- gram, he developed innovative methods to impart wavering commit- creativity and problem-solving skills in a manner ment to nurturing that would benefit the students throughout their mathematical talent lives. The Ross Program moved to Ohio State in had a profound im- 1964 and continues to thrive there. Ross directed pact on many and taught in that program every summer until young people. Soft- poor health forced him to retire in 2000 at age spoken and unfail- ninety-four. In the 1970s he carried this program ingly polite, Ross to Australia, India, and West Germany, where local possessed an un- efforts flourished for several years. Alumni of the compromising will highly successful Ross Program at Ohio State have that allowed him to created similar programs at other universities in translate into edu- the United States and Canada. cational practice his In the 1960s Ross also initiated innovative out- own exalted ideals reach programs for inner-city school children in about knowledge, Columbus and served on several national com- Arnold Ross creativity, and com- mittees concerned with mathematics education. munication. He received many academic honors, including na- Arnold Ephraim Ross was born in Chicago on Au- tional awards for teaching and service in mathe- gust 24, 1906, and spent his childhood in Odessa, matics: the OSU Distinguished Teaching Award Russia. After returning to Chicago in 1922, he (1974) and Distinguished Service Award (1981), changed his original surname, Chaimovich, to Ross. the Mathematics Association of America Award He became a student at the University of Chicago, for Distinguished Service (1986), and the AMS Ci- where he was deeply influenced by E. H. Moore and tation for Public Service (1998). In 1993 the AMS by L. E. Dickson, who advised Ross on his Ph.D. in established the annual “Arnold Ross Lecture Series”, number theory, completed in 1931. After holding in which top mathematicians present lectures to a fellowship at the California Institute of Tech- high-school students. Ross also received an hon- nology and teaching at the People’s Junior College, orary doctoral degree from Denison University Ross spent eleven years at St. Louis University. (1984). During World War II he worked for the U.S. Navy Arnold Ross married Bertha (Bee) Horecker in as a research mathematician. In 1946 he was ap- 1931, and they had a long and happy marriage pointed as the head of the mathematics department until her death in 1983. They had no children. In at the University of Notre Dame. Ross left Notre 1990 he married Madeleine Green, who remained Dame in 1963 to become the chairman of the de- with him in a close, loving relationship for the rest partment of mathematics at the Ohio State Uni- of his life. versity (OSU), retiring in 1976. What follows are reminiscences about Arnold Perhaps his most notable lifetime achievement Ross from students and colleagues who worked was the summer program he started at Notre Dame with him during his long career. Further information 660 NOTICES OF THE AMS VOLUME 50, NUMBER 6 about Ross may be found in “Interview with Arnold many mathematicians who would pass through Ross”, Notices, August 2001, pages 691–8. Notre Dame at his invitation. I also remember how proud I felt when he asked —Allyn Jackson and Daniel Shapiro me to stay on after graduation and be one of his teaching assistants in his National Science Foun- dation summer program for secondary-school teachers. I developed much of my own teaching Prakash Bambah style by observing him and the other instructors he would choose for that program, and I was happy While talking of Arnold Ross, I often recall the to return for a second summer after my first year following: A young student passing through Colum- as a graduate student at Berkeley. I especially ap- bus came to the mathematics department at the preciated his commitment to the inspiration of time Arnold had gone to lunch with some others. secondary-school students, who returned as as- Seeing the student’s disappointment, the secre- sistants during their college years, in his success- tary suggested that he see Arnold at the faculty din- ful summer programs at Notre Dame and later at ing hall. The student said, “How will I find him? I Ohio State. I was very happy to read about the have never met him.” The secretary replied, “You many awards that acknowledged his lifelong con- ask for the mathematicians’ table, and as you near tributions to our profession, including the Gung Hu it one man will get up to get a chair for you; that Award from the Mathematical Association of Amer- will be Professor Ross.” Arnold was considerate to ica for meritorious service. everyone, and he was passionately committed to Over the years, whenever we would meet, I loved bringing out the best in the young, especially the talking to him and sharing teaching experiences. gifted or the deprived. It was a privilege to be one He kept to the end his passion for teaching and for of his friends. the encouragement of teachers and students at all levels. That passion will continue to make an im- pact as we remember Arnold Ross. Thomas Banchoff At the final banquet of the joint AMS-MAA meet- ings each January over the past twenty years, I al- ways made sure to find a seat next to Arnold Ross. It was a great way to see so many fellow mathe- maticians, as they would come up to him to express their appreciation for his encouragement through- out their careers. It is hard to believe that he will be there only in spirit from now on. Although I was not one of those fortunate enough to participate in his “Saturday school” ses- sions for high-school students, I did meet him on Ross lecturing, 1996. my visit to Notre Dame in the spring of my senior year. His warm reception and his genuine interest in my geometric science-fair project sealed my de- termination to come there and major in mathematics. I recall him challenging us with prob- Felix Browder lems in his number-theory seminar and urging us For the last half of the twentieth century, Arnold undergraduates to attend presentations by the Ross was the outstanding figure in the United States in the encouragement of mathematical tal- Allyn Jackson is senior writer and deputy editor of the No- tices. Her email address is [email protected]. ent among young people on the precollegiate level. The only comparable figure on a world level was Daniel Shapiro is professor of mathematics at the Ohio I. M. Gelfand and his Mathematical Correspondence State University and director of the Ross Mathematics Program. His email address is shapiro@math. School in Moscow. Although Arnold spent most of ohio-state.edu. his childhood and early youth in Odessa in the Ukraine, the most important influence on his ideas After many years at the Ohio State University, Prakash Bambah became a professor at Panjab University, Chandi- and activities came from his mentors at the Uni- garh, India, where he also served as vice chancellor. He versity of Chicago, especially E. H. Moore and is now professor emeritus at Panjab University. His email address is [email protected]. Felix Browder is professor of mathematics at Rutgers Uni- Thomas Banchoff is professor of mathematics at Brown versity and past president of the AMS. His email address University. His email address is [email protected]. is [email protected]. JUNE/JULY 2003 NOTICES OF THE AMS 661 Leonard Eugene Dickson. (In- hero to the counselors at the program. We were fas- terestingly, Gelfand also spent cinated by his many stories, his careful Russian- his early years in the Ukraine, influenced speech, his unique classroom style, and but in a rural village.) even by his consistency in wearing a plain white The Ross Program, which dress shirt to lecture every day. has run for almost fifty years, It was inevitable then that rumors began to fly is a summer program for high- during the summer of 1990 when Ross started school students whose partic- wearing pinstriped shirts to class. The situation ipants are selected on the basis came to a head when one morning he was observed of their ability to indepen- to be wearing a new ring. Shortly after lecture, dently solve nontrivial ele- when the counselors had gathered to escort him mentary problems. It is based on his daily walk back to his office, Ross strode up on three central principles: self- to us with a striking woman at his side and intro- motivated activity by the stu- duced his new bride by declaring, “Gang, I’d like dent participants; a basic you meet Mrs. Ross.” course always taught by Arnold Naturally we were all delighted. But we could not Ross in elementary number have known at the time what a wonderful woman theory, culminating, hopefully, Madeleine Ross would prove to be or how extra- Madeleine and Arnold Ross, in the students finding their ordinary an influence she would have on Arnold and 1996. own proofs for the Gauss- on the program. Far beyond the introduction of Legendre Quadratic Reciproc- color into his wardrobe, Madeleine’s love reinvig- ity Law; and a strong emphasis on cooperation be- orated Ross. She gave us all the gift of having him tween students and the counselors who are former run the program for ten more years, until the age students.