Thomas W. Ross Announced as President of the Volcker Alliance
Paul A. Volcker Names Thomas W. Ross, former President of the University of North Carolina, as President of the Volcker Alliance
Ross to Bring Government, Philanthropy, and Higher Education Leadership Experience to Expand and Enhance Alliance’s Work to Improve the Effectiveness of Government
New York, NY—Paul A. Volcker, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve, announced today the appointment of Thomas W. Ross, the former President of Davidson College and the University of North Carolina, to lead the Volcker Alliance, a nonpartisan organization formed in 2013 to address the challenge of effective execution of public policies and to rebuild public trust in government. Mr. Ross brings to that challenge a strong sense of commitment to public service and long experience in law, education, and management.
Mr. Ross served as a judge in the North Carolina Superior Court for seventeen years and continued his public service as the Director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts before serving as the chief executive for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, Inc. From 2007 to 2010, he served as the President of Davidson College, his alma mater. He was the President of the seventeen-campus University of North Carolina from 2011 to 2016, and remains the President Emeritus. Mr. Ross is currently serving as the first Terry Sanford Distinguished Fellow at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and will continue in that role after joining the Volcker Alliance. His tenure as the President of the Volcker Alliance will begin on July 1, 2016.
“The strains and pressures on government at all levels are plain to see,” said Mr. Volcker, the founder and chairman of the Volcker Alliance. “Tom Ross’s broad experience in education, government, and philanthropy will be brought to bear on all our efforts to improve government performance.”
Central to the Alliance mission will be working with leading universities, scholars, and practitioners to build support for professional excellence among civil servants and well-designed research relevant to government performance.
“In all those areas, Tom has knowledge and skills in building relationships and brings leadership to our efforts. I am very glad to have him come to New York and lead the organization,” Mr. Volcker affirmed.
“I admire and am inspired by Mr. Volcker’s vision in creating the Alliance,” said Mr. Ross. “It will be an honor for me to work alongside of him and the other outstanding board members to catalyze the development of a new generation of public servants and improve the effectiveness of our federal and state governments.”
“We’re extremely fortunate to have Tom join this effort,” commented Richard Ravitch, former Lieutenant Governor of the State of New York and a director on the Alliance’s board. “He’s been in government and he gets the issue the Alliance is tackling – not what should policy be, but how best can that policy, whatever it is, be implemented. He’s coming from much bigger organizations and his managerial skill will be critical as the work of the Alliance continues to grow and mature.”
Another director, Norman J. Ornstein, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, said, “Clearly, Tom was attracted to the power and urgency of this organization’s mission. America’s leadership in the world and the well-being of her people depend on a government that works well, a government that can deliver on the mundane task of issuing social security checks but also take on massive and complex challenges such as preventing terrorist attacks. Tom knows how to get things done. He can move the needle.”
