Aug. 12, 2015: In Memoriam: Richard Starr Ross, Former School of Medicine Dean

Dear Colleagues:

It is with profound regret that we inform you of the death on Aug. 11 of Richard Starr Ross, the former dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine during a period of extensive growth and change, and a renowned cardiologist who was instrumental in developing coronary cineangiography. He was 91.

Dr. Ross' exceptional accomplishments in medicine and lifelong devotion to improving public health will stand as his enduring legacy. During his period as dean from 1975 to 1990, Dr. Ross oversaw significant redevelopment of School of Medicine facilities, substantial growth of the faculty, including 29 new endowed professorships, an exponential increase in research funding from the National Institutes of Health, and an increase in the diversity and number of medical school applications. During his deanship, he also served as director of the Wellcome Research Laboratory and regularly saw patients.

As a clinician-teacher-scientist, Dr. Ross was a staunch proponent of basic scientific research, an advocacy acknowledged shortly before his retirement by the 1990 naming of Johns Hopkins' then-new 10-story research building in his honor. He also fostered a $5 million endowment drive for what became the Richard Starr Ross Fund for the Physician Scientist, a grant-bestowing program for young Johns Hopkins researchers founded in 1990. As of this June, it has given more than $8.9 million in grants to 137 young scientists, underwriting research in virtually every medical realm within Johns Hopkins.

Before becoming dean, Dr. Ross served as president of the American Heart Association from 1973 to 1974 and was a recipient of the AHA's Golden Heart Award, its highest honor, for advancing the knowledge of cardiovascular physiology and disease. He also received the Johns Hopkins University's President's Medal, an honor reserved for people of distinguished achievement.

Looking back two decades after his retirement, Dr. Ross said the "great developments of my deanship were the growth of research and the growth of the clinical practice." When he became dean, Dr. Ross formed a committee of himself, microbiologist Daniel Nathans and surgeon George Zuidema that created the Clinical Practice Association (CPA), a faculty practice group designed to increase patient volume as a source of funds.

Born in Richmond, Indiana, in 1924, Dr. Ross was the only child of a general physician and a college-educated mother. He graduated from Harvard Medical School and then came to Johns Hopkins to join the Osler house staff, intending to stay only one year. He remained for the rest of his career, with a few interruptions for military service and training.

As an Osler house officer, Dr. Ross began working with renowned pediatric cardiologist Helen Taussig, studying pulmonary hypertension in patients who had undergone the famous "blue baby" operation. Over the ensuing decades, Dr. Ross became an expert in myocardial blood flow, myocardial performance affected by coronary artery disease, and evaluating surgical procedures for the treatment of coronary artery disease. He also became a pioneer in coronary cineangiography, a method of studying dynamic movements of the heart. He wrote or co-authored more than 150 articles and textbooks on various aspects of cardiovascular physiology or disease.

Dr. Ross moved through the school of medicine's academic ranks, achieving directorship of the Cardiovascular Division of the Department of Medicine in 1961 and full professorship in 1965. He was named the Clayton Professor of Cardiovascular Disease in 1969.

Dr. Ross is survived by his wife of 65 years, the former Elizabeth "Boo" McCracken; their three children, Deborah R. Chambliss, Margaret C. Ross and Richard McC. Ross; and five grandchildren.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family as we remember his legacy. A memorial service will be held at Johns Hopkins later this fall.

Sincerely,

Paul B. Rothman, M.D.
Dean of the Medical Faculty
CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine

Ronald R. Peterson
President, The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System
EVP, Johns Hopkins Medicine