Kenneth Bruce Ross (August 21, 1897 – July 12, 1959) was an inventor and businessman who is best known for the development of an automated manufacturing process for the reliable production of quartz crystals used in radios.
While installing a custom made radio system in their Chicago home, he met his future wife Gudrun Saetveit, a concert pianist providing instruction to the Wrigley children.
In order to satisfy the communications demands of Allied Forces during World War II, Ross converted one of his plants in Chicago to a facility for making FT-243 crystal units.
Ross developed a process to automatically and accurately tune the FT-243 quartz crystals in a shorter time while using far less labor.
His production method had a direct impact on the improved reliability of radio communications in both European and Asian theaters of war.