Dr. Ross received his B.S. degree in Pharmacy (1966), Diploma in hospital pharmacy (1967) and M.S. in Pharmacognosy (1970) from the School of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut Egypt. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmacognosy and Chemistry of natural products (1976) from the Medical Institute in Kiev, Ukraine (former Soviet Union). He joined the School of Pharmacy, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt in 1967 as an instructor until 1972. In 1976 he was appointed as an assistant professor at the same school promoted then to associate professor: (1980) and to Professor of Phytochemistry and  Pharmacognosy in the same school in 1984. In 1979 he traveled to London University, School of Pharmacy (Chelsea College) and taught for six months. In 1984 he came to the United States of America on a Peace Fellowship for one year and worked with Professor Maurice Shamma at the University of Pennsylvania in the area of isoquinoline alkaloids. In 1986 he came again to the USA for two years to work with Professor S. W. Pelletier at the University of Georgia as a visiting professor in the area of diterpenoid alkaloids. In 1990 he returned to the USA to join Professor S.W.Pelletier for two years, then he joined the University of Mississippi in 1992 to work in the area of drugs of abuse with Professor Mahmoud A. ElSohly. He became research assistant professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Assistant Professor of Pharmacognosy in 1995. Finally he was promoted to research Associate professor in the Research Institute of Pharmaceutical sciences and Associate professor of Pharmacognosy in 2000.