Though it may not be as old or as famous as some buildings on campus, Ross Hall is nonetheless a prominent structure at Iowa State. Ross Hall is located just northeast of Curtiss Hall and is one of the tallest structures on campus, standing at six stories, including basement and penthouse levels.

Ross Hall is named after Earle D. Ross, a former professor of economic history and official college historian at Iowa State. Ross received his Ph.D from Cornell University and joined Iowa State as an associate professor of economic history in 1923. He later became a full-time professor of economic history and Iowa State’s official historian in 1943.

Ross was also highly knowledgeable in other fields of history. During his time at Iowa State, he published several books and articles on political, economic, agricultural, regional, state and ISU history. Ross was highly regarded by his colleagues, and was known as the “father of agricultural history.”

He retired from teaching in 1956, but stayed on as a part-time faculty member. Ross died in 1973, shortly after the construction of his namesake building.

Ross Hall was initially designed to be seven stories tall. The building was also supposed to be constructed with an attached wing on the south side containing three lecture halls, but the addition caused the building project to go over budget and as a result, two of the three halls were scrapped along with the seventh floor.

Construction bidding led to the last lecture hall being eliminated from the building plan, and so Ross Hall was built without the lecture wing that was originally envisioned.

Changes were also made to the building’s location on campus. The original location for Ross Hall was set due north of Curtiss Hall, but concern over how the building’s shadow would affect the campus greenhouses caused the building to be relocated northeast of Curtiss Hall. Once these issues were sorted out, construction on Ross Hall began in 1970 and was completed in 1973.

The departments of philosophy and religious studies were formerly housed in Ross Hall; they are now located in Catt Hall. Ross Hall currently houses the departments of English, history, and political science.