As founding president of Heritage University, Dr. Kathleen Ross has led this unique liberal arts college from 85 students in 1982 to its present enrollment of more than 1,300 students.

Today, Heritage continues to fulfill its mission and is in the vanguard in bringing a quality liberal arts education to a multicultural population.

Dr. Ross is nationally known as a leader in higher education, especially in the field of cross-cultural communication. She was one of three recipients, in 1989, of the Harold McGraw Prize in education. In 1991, Georgetown University presented her with the John Caroll Award. She has honorary degrees from Dartmouth, Alverno, Pomona, and Whitworth Colleges, Notre Dame, and Seattle University.

In 1995, Ross was one of two people to receive the Washington State Medal of Merit award. In 1997, she was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, the so-called "Genius Award."

Dr. Ross holds a B.A. degree from Fort Wright College, a M.A. from Georgetown University, and a Ph.D. from the Claremont Graduate School. At Claremont, she studied with Peter Drucker and Howard Bowen and did her dissertation on cultural factors affecting American Indian students in higher education.

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