Denison University

Dr. Mattie Ross was a Denison faculty member from 1952 to 1985. Ross earned her undergraduate degree from Central Missouri State College in 1947, then received her master’s degree from the University of Missouri in 1950. In 1960, Ross completed her doctoral work at The Ohio State University. While a graduate student at Missouri, Ross taught at Washburn University in Topeka, Kan. In her first several years at Denison, Ross coached or supervised three women’s sports teams or clubs each year. Included were swimming, field hockey and lacrosse, and she often produced state championship teams. She later coached women’s bowling and tennis.

During her tenure at DU, Ross coached or supervised every women’s sport except fencing. She taught several courses in Denison’s physical education curriculum, including Kinesiology, Physiology of Exercise, Organization and Administration of Physical Education and Methods and Techniques of Sports. In 1971, Ross became the chair of Denison’s department of physical education, and continued to serve in that capacity until retiring from Denison in 1985.