Leonard "Lenny" M. Ross, (July 7, 1945 – May 1, 1985) was an American teacher, lawyer, and government official who was famous for his celebrity as a child prodigy and television game show contestant.
[1][2] At age 7 years, he gained national attention by passing a federal examination for a ham radio operator's license.
[1][2] This total made Ross the highest winner of game show prize money for two months, until passed by another child contestant, Robert Strom,[4] on April 16.
[2] Upset about a failed romance, Ross attempted suicide and was admitted to McLean Hospital, a private psychiatric clinic outside Boston.
[2] He resigned from the faculty in 1984 following a brief stay in the hospital after students found him under his car, rehearsing his lecture, in the parking lot of the school.
[2] With Peter Passell, a fellow professor at Columbia University, Ross co-wrote "Retreat from Riches: Affluence and Its Enemies" about a national policy of rapid growth being the only way to reduce poverty in America.
[1] In April 1972, Ross co-authored a strenuous attack on the newly published book The Limits to Growth in The New York Times.
[2] Convinced his emotional problems had a physical cause, Ross spent a considerable amount of time in medical libraries researching new and unorthodox treatments to cure himself.
The surgery, a cingulotomy, was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital and consisted of snipping a circuit in the limbic system.
[2][1][6][10] After his death, a psychiatrist who had treated Ross remarked, "the early fame and brilliant success of his youth ruined him.