Associate professor of English and chair of the department, Dale H. Ross, recently retired but left ISU with honors.

At the Alumni Association’s Honors and Awards Ceremony held in September, Ross received the Distinguished Service Award.

“I was very surprised when I found out that I was going to be receiving this distinguished award. Although it was presented to me in September, I knew last April that I was going to be receiving [it],” Ross said.

The Distinguished Service Award is given yearly by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. The Liberal Arts and Sciences College gives the award to alumni staff or friends for outstanding service or academic contributions that further the educational mission of the college of LAS.

“This award goes to the individual for what they have done to further the mission of the Liberal Arts and Sciences College,” Karen Tow, associate executive director of the Alumni Association, said.

“Professor Ross received this award for his long time involvement as a faculty member and as the department chair of the English department,” Tow said.

Ross said there is not one particular thing he has done to receive this award, but rather a series of things. “This Distinguished Service Award goes to the one that has contributed a variety of contributions to the institution, not just a single effort,” Ross said.

Ross recently stepped down from his positions in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at ISU. He retired from the university on June 30, 1996.

Ross was an ISU faculty member for 33 years. For the last four years of his career at ISU, he was the chair of the department.