Courtney Sale Ross

Video Synopsis:

Courtney Sale Ross is featured on PBS’s Beta Charlie Rose: “A conversation with Courtney Ross Holst, founder of The Ross School, about education reform in the U.S.”

Interviewee: Courtney Sale Ross
Interviewer: Charlie Rose
Date: January 1, 2002

With innovation in education her singular focus, Courtney Sale Ross has been a leader in the field for 16 years. She has embraced the dual mission of advancing the study of globalization as it affects education and being a catalyst for change in international public education. Courtney Ross has worked across a broad spectrum, establishing groundbreaking interaction between public and private sectors, utilizing corporate, governmental and private foundation grants to support Ross School’s innovative curriculum and programming into the arena of public education.

In 1991, Courtney Sale Ross and her late husband, Steven J. Ross, co-chairman of TimeWarner, Inc., founded Ross School as a private incubator for 21st century education. Its creation was informed by a council of international scholars in the fields of cultural history, mathematics, engineering, psychology, neuroscience, anthropology, literature and economics, among others. Ross School functions as an educational research and development environment where linking research to practice is a key function. Ross School currently serves 562 children from pre-nursery through grade 12. In 2006, Courtney Ross opened a public charter school in New York City, Ross Global Academy, in collaboration with New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and New York City’s Board of Education.

Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education is a vehicle for international research. It fosters the study of globalization and education, interdisciplinary curriculum for cultural understanding, scaling up of innovative school models, mind, brain and education, media, communications and technology education, well-being and nutrition and teacher training. With the University of California Press, Ross Institute co-published Globalization: Culture and Education in the New Millennium, and more recently co-published Learning in the Global Era. Through Ross Institute’s Inter-University Consortium, university graduate schools of education utilize Ross School as a laboratory, with the findings disseminated to public educators, primarily in underserved areas.

Ross Institute Teacher Academy offers comprehensive training in the Ross model; its intention is to positively affect international immigrant and inner-city student populations and to increase possibilities for systemic change. The Ross Teacher Academy, with its direct access to Ross School, Ross Global Academy public charter school, and the Ross Institute, is uniquely positioned to teach others about best practices and applied theory for 21st century education. Through the Academy, a network of mentors, scholars and master teachers provide professional development in a variety of formats for educators and educational leaders at both new and established schools. The Academy distributes information about the Ross Model curriculum and best practices in education through Ross Model schools, workshops, conferences, on-line mentoring and other collaborations. Using a collaborative approach, working directly with school leaders, the Teacher Academy ensures that the schools it serves are achieving their desired goals and applying the Ross Model authentically and effectively.

Courtney Ross serves on a number of boards including those of New York University, the Asia Society, the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, the Committee on U.S./China Relations, and the United Nations Association of the United States of America. Mrs. Ross and her daughter, Nicole-one of Ross School’s first graduating class–reside in New York City. Nicole is currently enrolled NYU’s Graduate School of Arts and Science studying Biopsychology.

Courtney Sale Ross
Educational philanthropist and Chair of Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education, New York City and Founder of Ross School, East Hampton.

Ross Institute for Advanced Study and Innovation in Education serves as an incubator for 21st century education. It facilitates Ross School’s entry into public school systems, acts as a catalyst for research in areas such as Globalization in Education, Mind, Brain and Education and Interdisciplinary Curriculum for Cultural Understanding. Ross Institute’s Inter-University Consortium was founded in 2004. It is a network of universities whose schools of education will utilize Ross School as a lab school, and through teacher training the partners’ findings will be disseminated to public education, primarily in underserved areas.

Founded in 1991, Ross School teaches the whole child for the whole world. The school’s multi-disciplinary curriculum presents global cultural history as an outwardly-expanding spiral, enabling multiple perspectives onto past and current history. Ross School serves children from age 2 through the 12th grade. In the 2006-2007 academic year the school enrollment will number almost 550 students.

In 2006, the New York State Board of Regents approved the charter for the Ross Global Academy which is a collaboration with New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education and New York City’s Board of Education. The charter school is scheduled to open in New York City in fall 2006.

Courtney Sale Ross’ philanthropy is focused on education, emphasizing the underserved, globalization, and U.S./China relations. Ross has given to major universities across the United States including Harvard University, New York University, the University of Southern California and Skidmore College. At New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Ross created the Courtney Sale Ross Scholarship Fund for aid to minority women. At NYU’s Steinhardt School of Education, Ross’ daughter, Nicole, established the Courtney Sale Ross University Professor of Education and Globalization Chair.

Ross’ giving extends to the People’s Republic of China where she has endowed museums with contributions related to education and research. At the Shanghai Museum, Ross created the Courtney and Steven J. Ross Multi-Media and Communications Center, an interactive theatre designed for use by international scholars. Ross serves on boards with special emphases on education, wellness and international relations, including New York University, the Asia Society, the Brain and Creativity Institute at the University of Southern California, the Committee on U.S./China Relations, and the United Nations Association of the United States of America.

Prior to her work in education, Courtney Sale Ross founded a contemporary art gallery in Dallas, Texas. Thereafter, New York State Governor Hugh Carey appointed Ross to curate a state-wide exhibition celebrating two centuries of art in New York. Ross followed this by producing an accompanying documentary film ‘The Big Picture’ and then with a six-part documentary series on the ‘New York School’ artists, ‘Strokes of Genius.’ In 1990, Ross was executive producer on the feature film, ‘Listen Up! The Lives of Quincy Jones’ which received enthusiastic notices in the international press.

Courtney Sale Ross is a graduate of Skidmore College where she was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in 1991. She is the widow of Steven J. Ross, former Chairman and CEO of TimeWarner and the mother of one daughter, Nicole Ross.

Additional Resources About Courtney Sale Ross:

Courtney Ross is featured online at Forbes.com.

More information about Courtney Ross is available online at the Ross Institute.

The New York Times features an article about Courtney Ross.

Information about filmography for Courtney Sale Ross.

Philanthropy for Courtney Sale Ross.

The website for Courtney Sale Ross and the Ross School