Alan G. Gross (June 2, 1936 - October 16, 2020[1]) was a professor of rhetoric and Communication Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities where he also held appointments in the Center for Philosophy of Science, and in the rhetoric, scientific, and technical communication graduate program, the latter of which he was a founding faculty member.

Alan G. Gross
Gross, photographed in 2009
Born(1936-06-02)June 2, 1936
DiedOctober 16, 2020(2020-10-16) (aged 84)
Alma materPrinceton University
Children3
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions

Gross was a prolific author of dozens of articles, and author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books in rhetorical theory, rhetorical criticism, and the rhetoric of science, perhaps the most well-known being The Rhetoric of Science (Harvard University Press, 1990 and 1996) [2] which was reviewed by the historian and philosopher of science Joseph Agassi.[3][4]

In 2008, Gross and co-author Joseph Harmon won Best Book in Technical or Scientific Communication from NCTE for The Scientific Literature: A Guided Tour. In 2014, he was named Distinguished Scholar by the National Communication Association, their highest honor. 

An internationally recognized scholar, Gross held appointments at Australian National University; at the Centre for Rhetoric Studies, Cape Town;  at the Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften, Vienna; and at the Institute for Advanced Study, Hebrew University, Jerusalem.

A video of Gross discussing his scholarship and research, and the development of the Rhetoric of Science as a field, was produced by the Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology and can be found online.[5]

Gross received his Ph.D. in 1962 from Princeton University.

Selected books

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Star Tribune obituary
  2. ^ Contributors to rhetoric and incommensurability Archived 2010-09-23 at the Wayback Machine, Randy Harris, Univ. of Waterloo.
  3. ^ Philosophy of the Social Sciences, June 1999, volume 29, issue 2, pages: 329-336
  4. ^ IEEE Xplore[dead link] Professional Communication, IEEE Transactions on Volume 51, Issue 2, June 2008, Pages:235 - 236
  5. ^ Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology (ARST) Oral History Project--An Interview with Dr. Alan Gross, 2014 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXCZiYVroLc
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