The purpose of the William E. Ross Education Foundation shall be to broaden the educational opportunities available to American youth and assisting such youth in taking advantage of the opportunities presently available to them.
About Dr. William E. Ross, Jr.
Dr. William E. Ross Jr., a member of Alpha Phi Alpha’s Rho Chapter, was a retired superintendent of the Southwest Region of the Philadelphia School District who was active in his church and community. He was the first African American Superintendent in the district.
Bro. Ross, who retired in 1987, began his professional career as an elementary teacher and became the first black supervisor of special education in the system. He was superintendent of the Southern Region for 14 years. He also served as a principal at George Brooke Elementary, Morton McMichael Elementary and Wagner Junior High School.
“Dr. Ross was very devoted to working with youth. Much of his service to his church and community and to the various boards of directors on which he held positions were always focused toward providing programming for young people, providing some alternative approaches to exposing them to finer things in life which would make them more academically efficient and culturally secure,” said Ty Collins, a longtime friend and teacher at Philadelphia Community College. “He was a lover of the opera, the theater, live entertainment. He would make monthly trips to the Metropolitan Opera and encouraged quite a number of people to take an interest in the musical theater.”
Born in Malvern, Ark., Ross came to Philadelphia in 1941 and after graduating from Northeast High School and attended Wilburforce University, where he was president of his junior and senior classes. When Wilburforce separated into two colleges in 1948, Bro. Ross became a member of the first graduating class of Central State University. He received a master’s degree in school administration from Temple University and his doctorate from the University of Sarasota. He was also selected to study on a fellowship at Harvard.
Bro. Ross was a longtime member of Mount Pisgah A.M.E. Church and was a steward for many years. He had served as director of religious education and belonged to the Scholarship and Historical committees of the church. He was also an active supporter of the NAACP, the Urban League and Philadelphia’s Opera North. Over the years he also gave away bonds to help young people in his church.
His other memberships included the National Association of School Administrators, the School Mens’ Club of Philadelphia, the Student Welfare Council, the Inter-Greek Council of Philadelphia. He also had been a consultant to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia and the Council for Community Education and development in Boston, Mass.
Bro. Ross was the recipient of many awards, including recognition from the Education Foundation of Alpha Phi Alpha, the Education Equality League, the American Cancer Society and the Educator’s Roundtable, which he helped to found.