Alisa Ross constantly pushed herself to know more. An extremely driven individual, Ross was dedicated to helping her country and those in need.
Ross graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical science in 2010. She later re-enrolled to pursue a certificate in homeland security from the Bush School of Government and Public Service.
Bush School program coordinator Ashlee Treadway knew Ross through her work within the Office of Extended Education. As Ross’ advisor since 2016, Treadway recalls Ross’ constant curiosity and desire to learn more.
“She was an absolutely dedicated lifelong learner,” Treadway said. “She was very smart, very brilliant. She constantly pushed to know more and she wanted to absorb everything that she could.”
Interested in the agricultural aspect of homeland security, Ross aspired to help make policies to protect the country from diseases that could be transmitted by international travel. She hoped to mesh her knowledge of biomedical science with the policies of homeland security.
“She wanted to see how goods and services impacted homeland security for our country,” Treadway said. “So she was starting to get into that field, trying to understand the basics of homeland security.”
Ross always had a list of questions when she met with Treadway and often had background information about A&M’s rules and policies as well.
“Her demeanor was very serious and to the point,” Treadway said. “She always had a mission or a point to what she was meeting with you about.”
Passionate about helping others, Ross was involved in emergency management disaster recovery work with FEMA. Ross had worked with FEMA disaster relief training since 2014.
“She attended many conferences, she had a lot of advanced training from FEMA and she helped with exercises,” Treadway said. “She was very much involved.”
Treadway said Ross was very smart and was curious about every detail of each process.
“Sometimes she asked a lot of questions just one after another. She would say ‘I’m not trying to be difficult, I just want to understand,’” Treadway said. “She would always make jokes like that.”
Ross was enrolled in the first of five classes required for the Bush School’s homeland security certificate. Ross’ class was very reading and writing intensive and required a lot of thought, Treadway said.
“She was very intuitive, meaning she understood and grasped a lot of the rules and regulations,” Treadway said. “She crossed her t’s and dotted her i’s. It stood out to me because she took care of business.”
Treadway said Ross was constantly up-to-date, reading articles and keeping up with the news.
“Her outlook on life was ‘just keep learning,’” Treadway said. “I will remember her as driven, dedicated and strong-willed. She knew what she wanted, and she knew what she was doing.”