When Harry Gross, ancient studies '70, chose to stay close to his Randallstown, Md., home for college, it may have seemed a
safe choice; it was actually a daring beginning to a life that reads like an adventure novel.
In 1966, when UMBC first opened its doors, the building construction was barely finished and footpaths, grass, trees and shrubbery
were missing. "We trekked through mud for quite a while," says Gross. Perhaps it was an omen. Less than two months after graduating
from UMBC, Gross found himself hiking through the Australian Outback.
According to Gross, he had no choice but to wind up in Australia; he followed a woman he had met shortly before graduating from UMBC.
"The chase ended successfully and Lori and I will celebrate 30 years of marriage next April," says Gross.
Gross and his wife have embraced magnificent topography all over Australia, thanks to his several career leaps that have taken them
to diverse parts of the country. "My job takes me to some amazing places like the outback areas where the earth is a powdery ocher red,
where walking on it feels like walking on fresh snow," Gross describes.
A degree in the classics may seem an odd beginning to a diverse career that includes information technology, engineering project
management and financial management. Gross explains his career path in a logical manner, as any student adept in the teachings
of the classics would do. "I feel that the curricula I followed taught me to think, and the logic process has guided me through the
various phases of my work," he says.
Currently, Gross is group capital controller for WMC Resources Ltd., a nickel, copper and gold mining company. His success has not gone
unnoticed. Recently, his adopted homeland honored him in a highly symbolic, public gesture.
Among a select few of his fellow Australian citizens (he now has dual citizenship), Gross was chosen to carry the Olympic torch in the
Summer 2000 Olympics on its journey around Australia. Nominations were based on contributions to society or personal achievement. In his
typical unassuming fashion, Gross remarks, "I still wonder how I was chosen."
"I donšt think my feet touched the ground during the run. I wish I could capture that feeling forever," says Gross before adding,
"Perhaps it was fitting for someone with a degree in the classics to be part of the Olympic Games."
Elizabeth Heubeck is a freelance writer and principal of Heubeck Communications.
