Criteria
One or more scholarships will be awarded to WSU students according to the following criteria.
- Sophomore or Junior students intending to major or majoring in The Edward R. Murrow College of Communication.
- Students must be from the greater Portland area.
- Students must demonstrate financial need.
- Previous scholarship recipients are eligible to apply.
Student recipients will be invited to attend an East Portland Rotary Club meeting during the summer following their selection. It is the hope of the club that former student recipients will attend meetings annually in the future to report the impact of their scholarship on their academic progress and/or their internships and careers. Committing to this level of involvement with the club ensures the members know and appreciate the impact of their philanthropy while keeping the memory of Richard Ross alive.
History
The Rotary club of East Portland was founded in 1950 and could boast 115 members in 2008. East Portland Rotary has a rich history of serving their community through projects such as meals on wheels, youth mentoring, Foster Kids programs, youth reading programs (SMART) and serving the international community through projects such as the Rotary Youth Exchange Program or assisting communities in Central America with education and clean water needs.
It is the honor and privilege of The Rotary Club of East Portland to provide a Portland Area student or students of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication scholarship funds in the name of a fellow East Portland Rotarian, a past president, and friend, Richard Ross (1921-2007).
About Richard Ross
Richard’s broadcasting career commenced in 1939 on Spokane radio, while he was still a student of journalism at WSU. As an officer in the marines during WWII, he helped establish armed forces broadcasting in China. After the war, he joined KIRO Radio in Seattle, leaving to take the nightly co-anchor chair with KING-TV in 1956. This was the first nightly news west of New York. When owner Dorothy Bullitt decided to open a sister station, KGW, in Portland, Oregon, she chose Richard to be the head anchor of what would become an award winning evening news team. After many years at KGW, Richard left KGW in the early 1970’s to join the team at KATU, where he was very happy until he retired in July of 1986. Throughout his career, Richard was often referred to as the Walter Cronkite of the Northwest, but he liked to remind people that he actually started in television before Walter! Like many other fine news broadcasters who defined the trade in the 20th century, he believed the story and facts should speak for themselves. He always felt that the purpose of good journalism was full and complete communication, not personal opinion. Richard believed in giving back to the community. He was an East Portland Rotary member for many years and a past president. He had a long and rich involvement with the Rose Festival. He anchored the televised coverage of the Rose Parade for many years as well as serving as MC for the Queen’s Coronation. Richard was on the board of Goodwill for many years. He was active in support of the Lakewood Center for the Arts in Lake Oswego where he lived for 51 years. Richard loved to sing in his church choir.
Richard did some guest teaching at Benson Polytechnic in journalism and his family has confirmed this scholarship would mean a great deal to him. He was proud to have graduated from WSU. As he always tried to uphold the highest standards of journalism, it is a fitting tribute that his fellow Rotarians have chosen to honor both him and his profession in this way. Establishing this scholarship for a deserving student in a profession that he so loved would make Richard very happy.
The members of East Portland Rotary are privileged to have known Richard Ross and hope that Scholarship recipients will understand the rich life of a man who excelled as a broadcast journalist while being a husband, father, and grandfather who believed in helping others through being involved in his community.