Nat Ross, the legendary direct marketing educator, died last Friday, Aug. 25. He was 96.
A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The Yale Club in New York.
Ross was known for developing New York University’s direct marketing program, which he first became involved with 34 years ago after he retired from Lincoln Graphic Arts at 62. He stepped down from leading NYU’s direct marketing program in 1998.
“It’s the passing of an age,” said Andi Emerson, president of the John Caples International Awards. “He represented every advance in direct marketing in the 20th century.”
“Without Nat Ross and his vision, there would be no direct marketing program at New York University and no master’s program,” added Lois Geller, president, Mason & Geller, New York.
“Nat was widely known as a pioneer in direct marketing education, having been among the very first educators to develop a formal direct marketing curriculum,” said H. Robert Wientzen, president and chief executive officer of the Direct Marketing Association. “He loved learning the business and he loved helping people learn the business.”
NYU’s introductory direct marketing course has become known as “the Nat Ross Course.” The university eventually expanded the program to included certificate and graduate degrees in direct marketing.
“Nat was the heart and soul and conscience of the direct marketing industry,” Iris Shokoff, president, Iris Shokoff Associates, New York, said. “He never strayed from his mission or his values or his desire to give back to the industry.”
That idea – and a support of human rights – goes back to his undergraduate days at Columbia University. Shokoff stressed Ross’s commitment to involving women and minorities in direct marketing education long before such affirmative actions were fashionable.
Ross’s contributions to direct marketing were not limited to NYU. Over 30 years ago, he also founded the Direct Marketing Idea Exchange (DMIX).
In 1984 Ross was inducted into the DMA’s Hall of Fame. Six years earlier, he received the Direct Marketing Educational Foundation’s Edward N. Mayer Jr. Award for Educational Excellence.
Emerson added, “Nat always wanted to see the 21st century, and he made it.”
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