ROSS, Thomas B(ernard) 1929-2002

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born September 2, 1929, in New York, NY; died of pancreatic cancer October 24, 2002, in Greenport, NY. Journalist, business executive, and author. Ross was a bestselling author of books about military intelligence. A Yale University graduate, where he received his bachelor's degree in 1951, Ross attended graduate courses at Harvard University in 1964. He served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean War, after which he became a reporter for the International News Service. In 1958 he briefly worked as a reporter for United Press International before joining the Chicago Sun-Times staff, where he was employed for the next twenty years. It was in 1960, while he was a reporter for the Sun-Times in Washington, D.C., that an international incident occurred in which the Soviet Union captured an American pilot who had been spying on its territory. Ross, along with coauthor David Wise, investigated the incident and published their findings in the bestselling book The U-2 Affair (1962). He and Wise went on to write two more bestsellers on government intelligence: The Invisible Government (1964) and The Espionage Establishment (1967). Because of his knowledge of the subject, Ross was asked to serve as assistant secretary of defense during the Jimmy Carter administration. He worked for the U.S. government from 1977 to 1981, then joined the Celanese Corporation as communications director. His later career also included posts as senior vice president of NBC, RCA, and the public relations firm Hill & Knowlton, and as vice president of government relations for Loral Space and Communications, where he was employed at the time of his death. For his government work, Ross was honored with the U.S. Department of Defense's Distinguished Public Service Medal.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

periodicals

Los Angeles Times, October 30, 2002, p. B11.

New York Times, October 28, 2002, p. A28.

Washington Post, October 26, 2002, p. B6.