From Student Enthusiasm to College Commitment: How President Emeritus Tom Ross ’72 Shaped Sustainability at Davidson
September 8, 2026
- Author
- Danielle Strickland
When President Emeritus Tom Ross ’72 took office in 2007, he found a student body deeply concerned about the environment. Energized by their vision, he made sustainability a core part of the institution rather than a footnote.
“I was inspired by their ideas and what they wanted to accomplish,” he said. “They convinced me we needed to do a better job at Davidson, and they helped me understand how we could do it.”
Ross channeled student enthusiasm into concrete, institutional commitments. In the fall of 2007, he signed the American Colleges and University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, pledging Davidson would achieve full carbon neutrality by 2050.
The president also took the story on the road. To demonstrate environmental impact to Davidson alums at events across the country, he’d carry a plastic water bottle two-thirds full of motor oil to illustrate the exact amount of petroleum required to manufacture the single-use container. He announced a campus-wide elimination of single-use plastic water bottles, saving the college $10,000 in just two months by switching to tap water.
The Farm at Davidson College
On campus, he led initiatives to launch a composting program, introduce compostable materials and acquire the College Farm. In the classroom, it was clear student interests were outgrowing the existing curriculum, and Ross championed the creation of interdisciplinary majors, starting with Environmental Studies and Neuroscience.
“We still had pretty much the same curriculum when I started as we did in 1968,” he said. “New majors were developed that were critical for us to appeal to students with broad interests.”
Planting Seeds for the Next Generation
When Ross reflects on his journey at Davidson College, he often begins by noting that he wasn’t even sure he was “Davidson material” when he arrived on campus. He struggled to find his footing, until a pivotal sophomore-year experience with Classics Professor George Labban changed everything.
Labban saw potential in Ross that Ross hadn’t yet seen in himself. A mentorship developed during a spring classics seminar abroad, where Ross presented research on ancient Greek athletics while standing in the historic ruins of Olympia.
“I told this story when I was introduced as president, and I made sure Dr. Labban was there to hear it,” he said. “I like to tell students to go look at my transcript, proof that even if you don’t start well, you can finish well. You can see the moment the light got turned on for me.”
Decades later, after serving as a state superior court judge, director of the NC Administrative Office of the Courts and executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Ross returned to alma mater as Davidson’s 17th president.
After his tenure at Davidson, Ross went on to serve as president of the University of North Carolina System and held leadership roles across public policy, state courts and land conservation. Throughout his career, his commitment to sustainable living and leadership never wavered.
Ross shared this passion with his wife, Susan, and the pair have long supported land conservation efforts. Susan now serves on the board of the Blue Ridge Conservancy after serving several terms on the board of the NC Conservation Trust.
The couple also share a passion for Davidson, and they have invested their time and resources for many years into the college through athletics, art acquisitions and more. Now, they are investing in the future of environmental leadership through a generous gift to support the Davidson College Sustainability Scholars Program. Their contribution establishes a strong foundation that others can build upon to fully fund and expand this transformational initiative for future scholars.
The Sustainability Scholars Program provides hands-on, experiential learning opportunities where students step outside the classroom to tackle real-world environmental challenges.
2026 Sustainability Scholars
Davidson College Farm Student Employees
“The timing of where we are in the world … attention to our environment has somehow been lost as of late,” Ross said. “We want to give students the opportunity to understand it and be interested in it; they are going to be the leaders who will change the direction of things.”
The college’s sustainability focus remains strong, and visible. Just this summer, the Baker Sports Complex parking lot welcomed a solar canopy that powers up to one quarter of the campus’ energy demand during sunlight hours.
“Every president will face different issues and take on different areas of focus,” Ross said, “but if one of us starts something that has value, it isn’t cast aside just because it was done by ‘the old guy.’ That does happen at other places, but not at Davidson.”
Sustainability Reunion: Join Us!
The Davidson College Sustainability Reunion will be held on campus Oct. 9-11, 2026. It aims to celebrate Davidson’s campus commitment to environmental leadership and support alums in building connections across generations and across areas of professional, civic and personal impact.
2026 marks several milestones related to Davidson’s environmental leadership:
- Forty years of immersion in nature through the Outdoor Odyssey pre-orientation program;
- Fifteen years supporting student pathways to impact careers through the Sustainability Scholars program;
- More than a decade equipping Environmental Studies graduates with creative thinking and problem-solving skills for complex environmental issues in the world;
- Renewal of an agreement with the Catawba Nation to continue Dútα Bαhiisere Kus Ráˀhere, a collaborative project that nurtures a reciprocal and generative relationship between the tribe and Davidson College; and
- Completion of on-campus and off-campus renewable energy projects supporting a 50% carbon emissions reduction target by 2026.
The reunion is hosted by the Sustainability Office, the Environmental Studies Department and Davidson Outdoors and is organized by a volunteer planning team, of which Ross is a part.
Learn more, check out the weekend schedule and register today
