Inventors and Innovators: David Ross

Purdue graduates continue to develop innovations and breakthroughs that help move the world forward. Purdue Today will highlight these inventors and innovators by featuring two each month in the Purdue Today newsletter and on social media.

David Ross, an inventor with some 88 patents, is a Purdue alumnus who went on to become a trustee and noted University benefactor.

Born in 1870, Ross graduated from Purdue in 1893 with a degree in mechanical engineering. He went back home to the Brookston area upon graduation, but his creation of new devices for the young automobile industry caught the attention of car manufacturers, and he went on to form the Ross Gear and Tool Co.

Ross would return to Purdue, serving first on an alumni committee, and later on the University's Board of Trustees. He played a significant role in raising funds for the Purdue Memorial Union and was instrumental in developing Ross-Ade Stadium, faculty pensions and the Purdue University Airport. He also was behind the creation of the Purdue Research Foundation.

Though Ross died in 1943, his legacy as a Purdue benefactor is forever sealed. He is buried on campus on Slayter Hill.

The Inventors & Innovators website contains Purdue alumni from business and industry; technology; medicine and health; and the food and consumer industries.