Robert J. (Bob) Ross is Chairman and CEO of Inasmuch Foundation. Founded in 1982 by Edith Kinney Gaylord, Inasmuch Foundation awards $25 million plus in grants each fiscal year to nonprofits supporting initiatives in community and civic engagement, education, human services, and journalism.

Career & Education

Ross joined Inasmuch Foundation in 2003 as Vice President and Executive Director of Inasmuch Foundation and the Ethics & Excellence in Journalism Foundation. In 2005, Ross became President and CEO, and in 2014, the corporate entities merged and the Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation became a wholly owned subsidiary of Inasmuch Foundation. In 2019, Ross was elected to Chairman and CEO. Thanks to Bob’s involvement in the expansion of Educare to Oklahoma City in 2009, he earned a reputation as an education advocate with the moniker “Mr. Education.” Under Bob’s leadership, Inasmuch Foundation reached a major milestone in 2023 when the distribution of grant funding surpassed $350 million, the amount of founder Edith Kinney Gaylord’s original contribution. Prior to his time at Inasmuch Foundation, Ross was employed as an attorney with the Oklahoma City law firm McAfee & Taft. He is a graduate of Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School in Oklahoma City and Washington and Lee University in Virginia, where he received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. At W&L, he was a co-chairman of the 1996 Mock Convention, which correctly predicted that Bob Dole would receive the Republican presidential nomination. After attending W&L, he received his J.D. from the University of Oklahoma in 1999.

Community Involvement

In 2000, Ross was an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention, representing the Oklahoma Republican party on the floor of the national convention. Ross has also served in the following volunteer positions:

Honors & Awards

Ross has received the following honors and awards for his service to Oklahoma City:

Personal life

Ross was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on January 11, 1974, to William Jarboe and Mary Lillian Ross. He is married to Heather Nicole Ross and has a daughter, Lillian Margaret Ross, and a son, Francis Joseph Ross. He lives in Oklahoma City. Ross is an 89er. His great-grandfather George Ross made the Oklahoma Land Run on April 22, 1889, staking a plot of land on a corner of California Avenue in Oklahoma City, where he built a bakery.