Mason W. Gross

Mason Welch Gross (June 11, 1911 – October 11, 1977) was an American television quiz show personality and academic who served as the sixteenth President of Rutgers University, serving from 1959 to 1971. He was born in Hartford, Connecticut in 1911 to Hilda Frances Welch (c. 1880-1962) and Charles Welles Gross (1877–1957). He had two siblings: Spencer Gross (1906–1982) and Cornelia Gross (1914-?). Charles Gross was an attorney. Mason started in the Hartford public grade school system and two years at Hartford High School. He then entered the Taft School, a preparatory school in Watertown, Connecticut in 1925. In 1927 he became ill following his inoculation for scarlet fever. He missed a year of school and spent part of the year at a...