Robert Ross (born Robert Rosen; December 26, 1918 – March 19, 2011) was an international business entrepreneur who founded the

Ross University School of Medicine Ross University School of Medicine (RUSM) is a private, for-profit medical school. Its main campus is in Barbados, and its administrative offices are in Miramar, Florida. Until 2019, the university's main campus was in Portsmouth, Dominica. RU ...

in 1978 and the

University of Medicine and Health Sciences The University of Medicine and Health Sciences (also known as UMHS) is a private, for-profit medical school located in Basseterre, Saint Kitts in the Caribbean. UMHS confers upon its graduates the Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree. The university a ...

in 2007 on the Caribbean island of

St. Kitts Saint Kitts, officially Saint Christopher, is an island in the West Indies. The west side of the island borders the Caribbean Sea, and the eastern coast faces the Atlantic Ocean. Saint Kitts and the neighbouring island of Nevis constitute one ...

Career

Ross was born in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, and served in the U.S. Army during WWII. After his return to Detroit following his discharge from the Army, he began marketing television sets in anticipation of the post-war growth of television broadcasting. Later, he began marketing clothing and pharmaceuticals, expanding into various international businesses such as steel, petro chemicals, and electronics. In 1972, ''Time'' magazine dubbed Ross, "one of the new

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

s", referring to his far-flung business activities. He was one of the first entrepreneurs to begin doing business behind the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. On the east side of the Iron Curtain were countries connected to the So ...

in Eastern Europe with the then-Communist countries of Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania. His export-import business eventually expanded to include the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and

mainland China "Mainland China", also referred to as "the Chinese mainland", is a Geopolitics, geopolitical term defined as the territory under direct administration of the People's Republic of China (PRC) in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War. In addit ...

. Concerned about the shortage of physicians and believing that more medical school admissions were needed, he began the

in 1978. In 2003, he sold the for-profit school to DeVry Education Group for $310 million. He subsequently founded the

on the Caribbean island of

in 2007.

Personal life

Ross was awarded an honorary doctorate in humane letters from the

Southern College of Optometry The Southern College of Optometry is a privately owned educational institution located in Memphis, Tennessee. It specializes in optometry and offers a comprehensive program in this field. History The Southern College of Optometry (SCO) is a pr ...

in Memphis, Tennessee. He was married for more than 40 years to his wife, Anne. They had five children and maintained homes in

Palm Beach, Florida Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...

, and Manhattan, where he died on March 19, 2011, after a 10-year battle with

bladder cancer Bladder cancer is the abnormal growth of cells in the bladder. These cells can grow to form a tumor, which eventually spreads, damaging the bladder and other organs. Most people with bladder cancer are diagnosed after noticing blood in thei ...

. He was 92 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Robert 1918 births 2011 deaths Businesspeople from Detroit University and college founders 20th-century American businesspeople United States Army personnel of World War II United States Army soldiers Military personnel from Detroit Deaths from bladder cancer in New York (state)