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Inspired by life lessons, Strauss built a career on caring

A noted dentist, medical sociologist, professor and administrator, Ron Strauss has spent four decades on Carolina’s faculty mentoring students.

Ron Strauss speaks into microphone
Ron Strauss, a noted dentist and professor, has spent four decades mentoring diverse groups of students at Carolina. Photo by Donn Young.

Some students cross county lines to get to Carolina, while others cross oceans.

Ron Strauss is behind them all.

A noted dentist, medical sociologist, professor and administrator, Strauss has spent four decades on Carolina’s faculty mentoring first-generation college students, scholars in the Carolina Covenant program, students in the Latino/a Peer Mentoring Program, dental and medical students, international students and more.

For all of them, his door has been open, a return, he said, on all the doors that have been opened for him.

“You look out at these students, the future of the nation and world, and they are so very motivated,” said Strauss, executive vice provost and chief international officer. “It’s important for me to show them that I see that.”

That’s because, while kindness might seem like a small thing, for a young Strauss, it was everything.

It started with his mother and father, immigrants who met in America after fleeing persecution in Nazi Germany. Though neither had the benefit of higher education, they worked hard and prospered while raising two boys in New York City.

“Still, it was a struggle,” said Strauss.

“My parents didn’t have the ability to provide much guidance when it came to talking to me about college, or to provide financial support.”

When Strauss was a senior in high school, he told his father he wanted to pursue a higher degree.

“He said to me, ‘Why don’t you just join the union with me?’ I told him, ‘Pop, that’s not my dream.’”

Strauss’ father had a simple reply: “You can always come home for dinner.”

It was more a caring gesture than a dismissal – his father was leaving open the door to the things he could provide: a warm house, meals, a place to go and be cared for.

“My parents were true survivors, and they had seen so many losses in the Second World War. Their world view was very much defined by a painful history, and they just wanted their children to do well in America,” said Strauss. “I understood that.”

Finding his way

Once at college, Strauss was on his own. He realized immediately his chosen school was the wrong fit, but he wasn’t sure how to fix it. He took a chance and called Queens College, a college of the City University of New York, which had previously accepted him.

“I asked if they would still take me. They said if I could get there by the next morning, I was in,” said Strauss. “Right then, I packed my bag and got on a train.”

To keep reading this story, visit the University Gazette.