Ross Masood

Sayyid Sir Ross Masood (راس مسعود) (February 15, 1889 – July 30, 1937), was the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University starting in 1929.

Masood was the son of Syed Mahmood. His grandfather was Sir Syed Ahmed Khan. He had three children one daughter Nadira Beghum and two sons Anwar Masood and Akbar Masood (1917-1971). Ross Masood was educated at Aligarh Muslim University and Oxford University.

On his return from England, Masood was elected a trustee of MAO College and started his own legal practice in Patna. He then entered the Indian Education Service as headmaster of Patna high School, a professor at Ravenshaw College, Cuttack (Orissa), and a fellow of Calcutta, Madras and Osmania universities. From 1916 to 1928, he was Director of Public Instruction in Hyderabad. He became the Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University in 1929. He was knighted by the British Government in the 1933 Birthday Honours list.^[1] Here, he introduced new courses, upgraded the syllabi and established laboratories for various science subjects.^[2]

Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu published a biography of Masud in 2011.^[3] He was the president of Anjuman Taraqqi-i-Urdu.^[4]

A residential hall constructed in the year 1969 in Aligarh Muslim University is named after him.

References

1. The London Gazette, 3 June 1933
2. Matai-e Garan Baha Masood by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Souvenir Federation of Aligarh Muslim University Alumni Association of North America, USA, 2003
3. Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman (2011), Rās Masʻūd, Naʼī Dihlī: Anjuman Taraqqī-yi Urdū (Hind), ISBN 817160160X, 817160160X
4. “Ross Masud – Bahaisiyat Sadr-e Anjuman Tarraqi-e-Urdu” by Hakim Syed Zillur Rahman, Hundredth Anniversary of Anjuman Tarraqi-e-Urdu Hind, New Delhi, 28 February – 2 March 2003

External links

• Syed Ross Masud, Syed Ross Masud -Pursuit of Excellence in Higher Education
• Ross Masood Hall, Aligarh Muslim University