Thomas Warren Ross Sr. is an American public official who served as the president of the University of North Carolina system from 2011 to 2016.
Ross became an attorney, chief of staff to Congressman Robin Britt, a state superior court judge for 17 years, director of the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, and executive director of the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation in Winston-Salem (2001–2007).
[2] In 1989, he sentenced Derek Twyman (a Canadian citizen living in North Carolina) to 160 years in prison for non-violent property crimes.
[3][4][5] On June 6, 2015, Ross delivered the commencement address at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics, a UNC member institution.
[6] Ross was fired as president by the University of North Carolina Board of Governors; he publicly stated that his departure was not voluntary.