A member of the Allegheny College athletics department since 1996, Bill Ross was named the Director of Athletics and Recreation in February 2019 after serving in an interim capacity since July 2018.
Ross previously served as the Associate Director of Athletics for Facilities and Recreation Services. In this position, he was responsible for overseeing all of the recreation and intramural programs offered by Allegheny, while also managing all Allegheny athletic facilities.
As facilities manager, Ross was responsible for coordinating all scheduling, maintenance, and staffing at both the David V. Wise Center and the Robertson Athletic Complex. He supervised all maintenance, housekeeping, cleaning, and repair/replacement of equipment and systems at the Gators' athletic facilities, and was responsible for vendor selection, contract negotiation, and facility design for facility enhancements.
Ross helped to spearhead a major capital athletic project that includes the building of a new turf competition complex for field hockey, soccer, and lacrosse, the construction of two grass playing fields, the resurfacing of the Wise Center’s sports forum (Blue Courts), and the installation of new scoreboards and sound system in the Wise Center performance arena. During his tenure, Ross has served as project manager for the 2015 resurfacing of Frank B. Fuhrer Field, oversaw extensive renovations to the Wise Center weight room and fitness center, developed a comprehensive plan for facilities that includes annual and deferred maintenance schedules, and coordinates the department’s annual student-athlete awards ceremony.
Along with his work with facilities and recreation, Ross has also supervised staffing and event management for all varsity home events, as well as coordinated events involving outside parties hosted by Allegheny including high school playoffs and local youth tournaments, camps, and clinics.
In addition to his role within the Allegheny athletics department, Ross also served on the NCAA Division III Cross Country and Track and Field Committee from August 2014 through September 2017, including a three-year stint as the committee’s chair. The committee is comprised of D-III coaches and administrators from across the country, and is responsible for rankings, selections of teams and athletes for NCAA championships, finding host sites for NCAA championship events, rules implementations, and the planning and supervision of the D-III cross country and track and field national championship events.
On the conference level, Ross served as the North Coast Athletic Conference’s sport liaison for both track and field and cross country and was named co-chair of the NCAC’s Sport Caucus for the 2018-19 academic year. He has served as a member of the NCAA cross country/track and field working rule book group, and has been a member of the Intercollegiate Officiating Association Committee since the fall of 2014.
At Allegheny, he is currently a member of the school’s Safety Committee and Forest Management Committee, while he has previously sat on both the Allegheny Finance and Facility Committee and the Communications Leadership Committee.
Prior to being named associate athletic director, Ross was the head coach of the Gator cross country and track and field teams from 1996-2010. He built Allegheny into a formidable running power, guiding student-athletes to the International Association of Athletic Federation (IAAF) World Championships and U.S. Olympic Trials. An 11-time U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Region Coach of the Year, Ross earned a record 31 NCAC Coach of the Year honors. He developed 77 NCAA National Championship qualifiers and 34 All-Americans while coaching the Gators, and on four occasions, the men’s cross country team enjoyed top-10 finishes at the NCAA Division III National Championship, including third-place performances in 2006 and 2009.
Ross came to Allegheny after enjoying a similarly successful stint as cross country and track and field coach at Thiel College from 1990-96. He guided both the Tomcat men and women to a pair of PAC championships apiece, coaching a pair of outdoor national champions, two ECAC champions, and 12 All-Americans. He was a three-time PAC Coach of the Year and two-time USTFCCCA Region Coach of the Year during his time with the Tomcats, and he was inducted into the Thiel Athletic Hall of Fame in 2009.
Ross is a 1984 graduate of Slippery Rock University where he was a three-year letterwinner in both track and field and football, and qualified for three NCAA Division II Track and Field Championships. A native of Mt. Jewett, Pennsylvania, he earned his master’s degree in science of exercise and sport from SRU in 1989.
He and wife Wendy reside in Meadville and are the parents of sons Tim, Zac, Nat, Tyler, and Noah.
