Celebrating 90 Years - Foreign Policy Association

In Memoriam
Arthur Ross
1910-2007
118 | FOREIGN POLICY ASSOCIATION
John C. Whitehead, Chairman of AEA Investors and
Honorary Chairman of the Foreign Policy Association recalls:
is very hard to know what to say about
Arthur: He left behind such a rich, varied “It
treasure-trove of material. He started the
Arthur Ross Foundation more than fifty years ago,
and it became a never-empty pitcher of generosity
to literally hundreds of organizations. He was one of
the great philanthropists of New York City. He was
not only generous with his money, but also with his
time and his wisdom. I remember him once calling
me and asking that I call the mayor and invite him to
a ceremonial event at the United Nations. I said yes
and added his request to my ‘to do’ list. Less than
an hour later, he called again and said, ‘What did he
say?’ When Arthur called, he expected action!
“He was twice as physically fit as most men half his
age. He exercised and swam every day and loved the
competition of his golf games.
“He loved nature, trees, and parks, and gardens gave
him great joy. He loved poetry and literature and art
and architecture, but not modern architecture. He
believed in peace and justice, and his support for the United Nations was boundless. He believed that a better
world was ahead of us, and he worked endlessly to achieve that.
“I remember the last time I talked with him on the phone, a couple of weeks before he died. I said to him, ‘Arthur,
how are you?’ and he replied instinctively with two words: ‘Never better.’ I realized that these were the two words
he always used when people asked how he was. He was confident, positive, upbeat, a little jaunty even. I think of
him now somewhere ‘up there,’ and I know that if I could somehow reach him, I would ask, ‘How are you, Arthur?’
and the words would come bouncing back, ‘Never better. Never better.’”
Arthur Ross, an investment manager and generous benefactor of the Foreign Policy Association, died at age 96 in
East Hampton, New York, on September 10, 2007.