Remembering Ross
By Thomas H. Thompson
Ross Nielsen died of a heart attack at the age of 82 while on vacation in Texas.
To say that Ross was important to the UNI Emeritus
Association would be an understatement.
Beginning in 1986, Ross worked
tirelessly to establish what is now the UNI Emeritus Association. He was the
person who dealt with the university administration, wrote the proposals and
oversaw the creation of the Association as an officially recognized organ of the
university.
The rights and privileges of emeritus faculty were reduced to writing and received official approval. Ross served as the first chair of the organization and his influence and advice have contributed since then to its success. As Ross concluded his last service as chair, the Advisory Council presented him with a certificate of appreciation honoring his extraordinary dedication to the purposes of the body he founded.
In 1996, Ross published a 100-page history of the Emeritus Association (still available).
He and his late wife established no fewer than five endowments in the UNI Foundation. One of these, the Ross A. Nielsen Professional Service Award, is an annual award of $2000 for "an extraordinary record of meritorious service to both UNI and the individual’s academic discipline." Few can match this outstanding record of university citizenship.
I bring you one more memory of Ross.
In response to an e-mail from me reminding him of the monthly emeritus lunch, he begged off, citing a golf game with Bob Leahy. Ross explained: " Senior golfers like to shoot a score equal to or less than their age . . . I shot my age of 81, needing only a bogey on hole 18 to make that score." His brother, Keith, recalled, ". . . he was an avid golfer and scored his age many times. He scored an 80 a few days before his death in Corpus Christi, Texas."
Ross was an overachiever in the game of golf. And in the game of life.