Note to the Editor: Photos to accompany this release are available from Mary Wymer at mwymer@coe.eng.ua.edu.

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - The University of Alabama College of Engineering recently announced Warren Ross as the 2004 recipient of the Outstanding Alumni Volunteer Award.

Ross, a resident of Mobile, is an aerospace engineering and mechanics graduate of UA. He is a Distinguished Engineering Fellow of the College and a member of the College’s Leadership Board. Ross is also the leader of the aerospace engineering and mechanics department’s alumni advisory board. In addition, he has volunteered his time recruiting top-notch high school students to attend the College of Engineering.

Ross began his career with the U.S. Air Force after receiving his bachelor’s degree at UA in 1962. In 1965, Ross went to work for Brown Engineering Co., where he held positions as a thermal analysis, experimental research and systems engineer. He then decided to form his own company and in 1970 started Ross Engineering Inc.

In 1975, Ross joined Ingalls Shipbuilding and held increasingly responsible positions with that company in nuclear submarine overhaul and repair, as well as key positions during the design of several classes of surface ships. In 1996, Ross assumed a directorial position in the planning yard of Litton Ships Systems, which later merged with Northrop Grumman Ships Systems, located in Pascagoula, Miss., where he currently serves as the director of marine engineering.

Ross is a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and the American Society of Naval Engineers.

In 1837, UA became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering, with about 1,900 students and more than 95 faculty, is one of the three oldest continuously operating engineering programs in the country and has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.