James J. Ross has been elected to the Board of Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, it was announced today by James R. Houghton, the Museum's Chairman. Mr. Ross's election took place at the January 10 meeting of the Board.
Mr. Ross, an investor in wireless telecommunications ventures, is vice chairman of the proposed satellite broadcasting network AirTV Ltd., which plans to provide live television, email, and Internet services to passengers on board aircraft. He has been a vice chairman and founding investor of the wireless telecommunications service provider Omnipoint Corporation and was a director of its merger partner VoiceStream Wireless prior to its acquisition by Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile). He was also a partner in the New York City law firm Becker Ross & Stone, specializing in corporate and securities law.
A prominent collector of African art and a longtime donor to the Metropolitan's Department of the Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas, Mr. Ross is also a member of the Museum's Chairman's Council. In 2001, in honor of his parents, he endowed the Grace Jarcho Ross and Daniel G. Ross Concert Fund to support the Guarneri String Quartet Spring Series. Mr. Ross was elected a Fellow for Life in 2001.
Philippe de Montebello, Director of the Metropolitan Museum, noted: "Jim's involvement in a wide range of fields – from new technologies to the somewhat more traditional performing and visual arts – will enhance the interests of our Board of Trustees, and I very much look forward to working with him in his new role."
Currently, Mr. Ross serves as chairman of the Lucille Lortel Foundation and as a director of the Yale University Art Gallery and member of its Executive Committee. He is also developing two websites on African art to be hosted by Yale University. Previously, he was president of the social service agency Educational Alliance, chairman of the Museum for African Art, and vice president and chairman of the Law Committee of the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of Greater New York.
A native of New York City, Mr. Ross is a graduate of Yale College and of the Columbia University School of Law.
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January 11, 2006