By:Nicole Falco
Like past honorees, including rocket scientist Dr. Mark Salita, inventor Dr. Lawrence Minkoff, novelist Alice Hoffman, and teen magazine editor Atoosa Behnegar Rubenstein, Ross' message was simple: It can happen to you.
"I wasn't all that distinguished when I was a student here nor was I easily distinguishable from among my fellow students," Ross explained.
He grew up on North King Street in Malverne. He attended James A. Dever Elementary School, then North. While at North, Ross became editor-in-chief of the North Star school newspaper. In the same way that the events of Sept. 11, 2001 may have changed the way today's young people see the world, Ross said his world-view was changed by the Cuban Missile Crisis. As a high school freshman, Ross saw journalism as his key to the inside; as a way of having some control over his world. "I wanted to know everything before it happened," he said.
After graduation, Ross attended Syracuse University and majored in journalism. While in college, he attended Woodstock, and he decided that what he saw that weekend would change the world. Jimi Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Carlos Santana and Joan Baez were standouts, but it was the portable video cameras that really caught his attention.
"You may think you know what to do, but don't be afraid to change your mind," Ross said. And he wasn't.
Ross decided to learn everything he could about the new medium, though his school, at the time, offered few classes. Just prior to his graduation, he was offered a position to teach video at Syracuse, but that offer was later rescinded when he was accused of being a communist because he opposed the war in Vietnam.
With the teaching offer reneged, Ross had few plans for life after graduation. A friend offered him $100 to take a photograph of the new curator of the Everson Museum of Art in Syracuse. The long-haired, jeans-wearing hippie walked into the new curator's office and before long told the man, "The museum you're taking over is a piece of crap." The curator responded, "Well kid, if you're so smart, why don't you be my assistant."
Ross worked for the Everson Museum as curator of video art from 1971-74. He worked deputy director of the Long Beach Museum of Art in California from 1974-77. He was then hired by he University Art Museum at Berkeley, where he served as assistant director and curator from 1977-81.
During his more than 30-year career, he has earned a reputation as one of the world's foremost curators of video and Internet art, he has organized exhibitions, published numerous articles and has been invited to speak at museums and universities throughout the world.
Today, he lives in Manhattan with his wife, Peggy, who works in education. The couple has two daughters, Lindsay, who works for Court TV, and Emily, a junior at Vassar College. He currently serves as president of the Artists' Pension Trust in Manhattan, as a principal in a design and marketing consulting firm, and as an independent curator for collectors worldwide.
At the conclusion of his acceptance speech, Ross offered the students three pieces of advice: Never stop inventing yourself, have confidence and question authority.
Besides the Distinguished Alumni Award, Ross was given a school T-shirt by Ryan Lavin, vice president of the Student Council, on behalf of students; Miriam Pisk Miller, representing the North High Alumni Association, gave him an alumni directory; and Village Deputy Mayor Guido Cirenza, Nassau County Legislator John Ciotti and Town Councilman Ed Ambrosino each made presentations to the alumnus.
Following the ceremony, Ross spoke privately with a select group of students who are interested in pursuing a career in the arts or journalism.
