Glen Ross, 65, who has taught political science at Citrus College for the past 25 years, announced he will retire from teaching this year. The upcoming summer semester will be his last time teaching.
Ross was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. As a young man, he was interested in getting an education in geography. However, Ross was also interested in politics, which motivated him to dive into the world of political geography and international relations.
“I was fascinated with how geography affects political decisions and how political decisions affect the outcome of political terms and issues,” Ross said. “If I’m going to go into politics, then I should probably gain more knowledge and pursue getting a masters degree in international relations.”
Ross went on to feed those educational ambitions by graduating from the University of Utah in 1978; with a degree in political geography and international relations, just as he hoped for. He also accomplished his goal in getting a master’s degree in those same fields of study from Brigham Young University in 1981.
Prior to his educational accomplishments, Ross was an intelligence officer in the U.S. Army and was with the U.S. National Guard from 1975 to 1983.
“I was going all over the world to assist different military units in their intelligence needs,” Ross said. “I was thinking to spend my whole life and continue on with that career, but I got really interested in politics within society.”
Ross’ first opportunity to teach as a professor was at Ohio State. He taught at Ohio State from 1983-1986. Ross believed that his time teaching at Ohio State is what solidified his love for educating students.
“I understood I had the power of the students’ attention, that they’re ready to learn and get educated,” Ross said. “That’s when I fell in love with teaching.”
Ross then gained a one-year position as a visiting professor at University of California, Irvine in the early 1990s. After transitioning in teaching from the east coast to the west, he decided he wanted to stay in California. Ross expanded his teaching career in California by applying to teach at Citrus in 1994.
Ross had impacted Citrus right from the start. He helped develop new innovative strategies and ideas that would affect Citrus both inside and outside the classrooms. Ross was one of the first few faculty members to instruct a Distance Education program with full online courses for Citrus in 1997.
In 1999, Ross took a year off from teaching and was hired as a planner to contribute toward the educational master plan, which constructed the CI building on campus. He would also lead students in semester-long study abroad programs in Spain throughout his time at Citrus, with his first trip in 2001. Ross has always been impressed and amazed with how Citrus has continued to strive for a better future overall.
“One of the things I’ve observed over the years is that Citrus has been very innovative to bring new ideas and new approaches to anticipate the way the world is going, for the direction of new and better,” Ross said.
Fellow staff faculty who have worked alongside of Ross throughout his career, Dr. Eric Rabitoy, dean of sciences, and the only other full-time political science professor at Citrus, Gerhard Peters, believe that Ross has an impactful role within his position throughout his time at Citrus.
“Professor Ross is an enthusiastic, dedicated, and committed instructor who truly cares for the success of his students, and over the past 25 years, hundreds of students have benefited from his instruction,” Rabitoy said.
“Professor Ross is one of the most gracious, generous, and kind people I have ever had the opportunity to work with in any capacity, and he was a true political scientist who brought his advanced knowledge of theory to the department and classroom,” Peters said.
Ross believed it was important for him to try to provide as much insight that he could from his life experiences to inform his students about the world of politics.
“It’s been beneficial to share with my students over the years my stories about being in the military, traveling around the world, and simply being involved in teaching and experiencing politics,” he said. “I’ve always tried to encourage students to contribute in class discussions, to learn the basics of politics, such as information about the house of representatives and so forth.”
Ross has embraced and appreciated the entirety of all the respectful relationships that he’s built with his fellow faculty and students within his time at Citrus.
“I’ve truly enjoyed working with all the students here at Citrus and they have always been kind and very cooperative, as I’ve had a lot of great students since I’ve been here,” Ross said. “I kind of think of the entire staff and faculty here as one big family, I’ve always had.”
Ross said teaching at the college level made him embrace and realize the overall strength that education from a college environment can provide for anyone.
“The greatest strength and blessing of a college environment is that you see all kinds of professors and students from all around the world,” Ross said. “It allows one to gain such a well-rounded educated experience to gain perspective on topics from everywhere and everything.”
Ross is looking forward to retiring after this summer and to potentially move back to Utah with his family. Aside from traveling and visiting more countries, he has plans to work on some novels, write some songs, develop new talents and just enjoy as much free time as he can. As he said that time is a little too quick for his liking to catch up with.
“Time goes by very fast, I can’t believe it’s been 25 years,” he said. “I remember starting here, how’d I get to this point?” he jokingly added.
