Louis Warren Ross (July 18, 1893 – September 8, 1966) was an American

architect An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...

from Boston, Massachusetts, perhaps best known for his work at the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

, where he designed over thirty of the campus buildings there. Ross was born in

Arlington, Massachusetts Arlington is a New England town, town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. The town is six miles (10 km) northwest of Boston, Massachusetts, Boston, and its population was 46,308 at the 2020 census. History ...

on July 18, 1893, the third of the five children of Louis Hall Ross and Mable Louisa Rawson. He was the grandson of agriculturalist

Warren Winn Rawson Warren Winn Rawson (January 23, 1847 - August 9, 1908) was a noted American market gardener and seed distributor, said to have introduced the first greenhouses with steam heat. Biography Rawson was born and lived in Arlington, Massachusetts ...

and Helen Maria Mair. Graduating from Arlington High School in June 1913, he entered the

Massachusetts Agricultural College The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

(presently the University of Massachusetts Amherst) as a pomology major in the fall of that same year.Massachusetts Agricultural College Index, 1918 During his time at the college he was notably active in college sports, having played on the football, baseball, and hockey teams, serving as captain of the latter. He was also a member of the campus "mandolin club" and the

Phi Sigma Kappa Phi Sigma Kappa (), colloquially known as Phi Sig or PSK, is a men's social and academic fraternity with approximately 74 active chapters and provisional chapters in North America. Most of its first two dozen chapters were granted to schools in ...

fraternity. Ross graduated in 1917, entering the army soon after. He would serve as an infantry lieutenant in the 166th Regiment of the 42nd Infantry Division, better known as the "Rainbow Division", in France during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. By the end of the war he had been awarded a

Purple Heart The Purple Heart (PH) is a United States military decoration awarded in the name of the President to those wounded or killed while serving, on or after 5 April 1917, with the U.S. military. With its forerunner, the Badge of Military Merit, w ...

with an

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

. After the war, Ross entered the Harvard Graduate School of Architecture in 1921, graduating four years later in 1925. He would spend the next ten years working as a

draftsman A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for m ...

for prominent

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

architect, Edward T. P. Graham before starting his own firm in 1935. One of his first independent projects, Thatcher House, was designed for his alma mater as the first dorm of the Northeast Residential Complex and the oldest dormitory still in use on campus today. His first design was seen as such a success by the university (by this time known as Massachusetts State College) that he was given a gold medal at the 1938 commencement for his design and oversight of the building's construction. This would be the first of over 20 dormitories that he would design for the university, among other buildings. Although not as widely known as his campus work, Ross would also design a variety of buildings in the towns of

Amherst Amherst may refer to: People * Amherst (surname), including a list of people with the name * Earl Amherst of Arracan in the East Indies, a title in the British Peerage; formerly ''Baron Amherst'' * Baron Amherst of Hackney of the City of London, ...

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

{, Winchester, Needham and

Newton Newton most commonly refers to: * Isaac Newton (1642–1726/1727), English scientist * Newton (unit), SI unit of force named after Isaac Newton Newton may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Newton'' (film), a 2017 Indian film * Newton ( ...

{. Ross moved to Newton in the early 1920s where he met Dorothy M. Pickett; the couple were wed on October 8, 1928. They had two children, a son, Warren R. Ross, and a daughter, Sally L. Pestalozzi. In the last 10 years of his life Ross spent his summers in Rockport, and continued his work up until the age of 72, only a year prior to his death. After what was described as "a brief illness", Louis Warren Ross died on Thursday, September 8, 1966. Although his namesake is confined to the Builder's Association plaques of the many university buildings, never before, or since, has the Amherst campus been shaped so thoroughly by any single individual as Ross had done in his 30 years of service to the institution. It may be said that entire sections of the campus, encompass his legacy.

Selected works

*Newton Board of Appeals Building,

Newton, Massachusetts Newton is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is approximately west of downtown Boston. Newton resembles a patchwork of thirteen villages, without a city center. According to the 2020 U.S. Census, the population of Ne ...

(1962)

University of Massachusetts Amherst

* Arnold House (1954) * Baker House (1952) * Brett House (1962) * Brooks House (1949) * Butterfield House (1940) * Chadbourne House (1947) * Dwight House (1959) * Greenough House (1946) * Gorman House (1962) * Hamlin House (1949) *

Johnson House Johnson House may refer to: United Kingdom *Dr. Johnson's House, 17 Gough Square, London United States Alabama *John Johnson House (Leighton, Alabama) Arkansas * Johnson House (514 East 8th Street, Little Rock, Arkansas) * Johnson House (516 Ea ...

(1960) * Knowlton House (1949) * Leach House (1953) * Lewis House (1940) *Lincoln Apartments (1958) * Mary Lyon House (1959) *

New Africa House The New Africa House, formerly known as Mills House, is an academic building and former dormitory of the University of Massachusetts Amherst built in the Georgian revival style with Art Deco accents. It is part of the Central Residential Area at ...

, formerly "Mills House" (1948) * Paige Laboratory (1951) * Skinner Hall (1947) *

South College South College is a private for-profit college with its main campus in Knoxville, Tennessee. It offers more than 80 programs and concentrations, including certificate, associate, bachelor's, master's, educational specialist, and doctoral programs ...

, renovations (1939) *

Student Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

(1957) * Thatcher HouseSee bio of Roscoe W. Thatcher (1935) * Thayer Laboratory (1953, 1956) *University Apartments (1949) * Van Meter House (1957) * Wheeler House (1958)

Other academic buildings

*Bowen Elementary School,

(1952) *East Street School,

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a New England town, town in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. As of the 2020 census, the population was 39,263, making it the highest populated municipality in Hampshire County (althoug ...

(1936) *Jackson Gymnasium,

Tufts University Tufts University is a private research university on the border of Medford and Somerville, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1852 as Tufts College by Christian universalists who sought to provide a nonsectarian institution of higher learning. ...

(1947) *Leeds Elementary School,

Northampton, Massachusetts The city of Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of Northampton (including its outer villages, Florence and Leeds) was 29,571. Northampton is known as an acade ...

(1953) * Winchester High School,

Winchester, Massachusetts Winchester is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, located 8.2 miles (13.2 km) north of downtown Boston as part of the Greater Boston metropolitan area. It is also one of the List of Massachusetts locations by per capita income, wealt ...

(1955)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Louis W. 1893 births 1966 deaths 20th-century American architects American military personnel of World War I Architects from Massachusetts Architects from Boston People from Arlington, Massachusetts Massachusetts Agricultural College alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst buildings Artists from Newton, Massachusetts Harvard Graduate School of Design alumni Arlington High School (Massachusetts) alumni