Founders

Founder - William D Ross, BPE, MSc, MA, PhD, DHC

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Bill is the founder of Rosscraft Innovations. He is responsible for the vision, design and manufacture of instruments, instructional materials, and publications on related theory, technique and technology. Bill is well known for his advocacy of Kinanthropometry as a scientific specialization common to many disciplines and professional applications. Although retired from the day-to-day responsibilities of running Rosscraft Innovations and Turnpike Publications, he remains active in regards scientific direction and quality control.

The measurement of size he regards as the epistemological basis of the life sciences; either as a primary interest or a need to understand physiological and biomechanics performance events.

What does a maximal oxygen uptake of 30 liters per minute mean? Absolutely nothing unless one states in what individual subject, under what conditions, measured with what technique and related to what tissue masses. His animated essays help focus on the 5th and 6th methods for the study of human growth and individual profiling to display and quantify and departures from statistical determined measures of central tendency and variability that he refers to as PAR SCORES (Prototypical Anthropometric References).

Bill has measured and taught internationally, encouraging cooperative research among human biologist and health professionals, particularly the ‘NOW’ generation. This is unrelated to age, gender, ethnicity, or economic status and has everything to do with opportunity to become involved as participants and witnesses in research. It involves character and a sense of mission for fostering optimal growth, development and happiness of all the children of all the people and helping maintain health, vigor and well-being of adults throughout their life span.

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” Marcus Aurelius b 121 AD d 160 AD


Co-Founder - Mary L.  Ross B Ed

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Mary Ross is a co-founder and the former President of Rosscraft, an instrument design, manufacturing and distribution company in business since 1981, and former President of Turnpike Electronic Publications Inc, a US based company. As the president of both companies, she conceives her role as creating the framework for innovation.

Unlike the usual pyramidal organization chart, she set the tone to look at organizations as mobile polyhedrons. Each individual is linked to every other individual. When the polyhedron moves with the ambient conditions, anyone with the requisite talent may be momentarily at the uppermost, special leadership position. She saw organization and administration as enabling people to apprentice themselves to one another. She did not accept that there is a hierarchy of tasks everything is important in a complex enterprise. The company continues with this vision today.

Mary's initial experience in working with people was as a camp leader and waterfront director at a Campfire Girls' camp in Oregon during her teen age years. She continued for two summers after she graduated from the University of Oregon.

After her marriage to Bill Ross in 1961, they lived in Vallejo, California for two years. During this time she served as a substitute teacher in a variety of multi ethnic schools. They moved to San Diego for four years before coming to Canada in 1968. She organized Campfire Girls in Canada and conducted day camps at her acreage on the South Surrey peninsula. She also served as a substitute teacher in Surrey, BC for a year.

Always interested in sport, Mary was a skating mother to daughters, Linda and Laurie. She was also a team leader in Precision Skating when the sport was evolving. For 13 years she managed a Coaches' Club Job Opportunities Service for the BC Section of the Canadian Figure Skating Association. She adopted the policy of "information, not advice" and helped coaches and clubs develop employment practices that are still in place. She has served the sport in various executive positions and was the team leader for the BC Coast Region for competition. Mary was also an avid curler and often had executive positions in her club leagues. She was an Advisory Board Member of the Douglas College Coaching Diploma Course.

During the summer, she and Bill migrate whenever possible to Rosshaven, their family cabin. It is located in the woods surrounding Johnston Lake, a pristine area that reputably has the clearest waters in Canada (a claim made by the the habitants of more than a few lakes!). At Rosshaven, the beauty of the surroundings and the isolation are conducive to reflective thinking and innovation. "We can operate a computer off a generator or solar power and have satellite communication”. Everyone everywhere is a next door neighbor. Technologically possible: exactly as envisioned and by a polyhedron managed company with many friends and colleagues rich in talent."