On December 3, 2009, AEP will induct Nelson B. Heller, Ph.D., MDR; Michael Ross, Encyclopaedia Britannica; and Pleasant Rowland, Rowland Reading Foundation and American Girl into the Educational Publishing Hall of Fame. Here in his second installment, Michael Ross, Senior VP, Education General Manager for Encyclopaedia Britannica, discusses the greatest challenge he faced during his career and his proudest accomplishment.
What was the greatest challenge you faced in your career, and how did you handle it?
When my oldest daughter was four, her mother died suddenly. I was 36 years old, still very early in my career, and what was already a difficult job and huge responsibility—being a new father—now seemed like an impossible role to fill, alone, on top of the demands of my day job. As an editorial director for an educational publisher, I was required to travel, manage a team of in-house and freelance editors, meet budgets, train the sales force, and produce over 50 profitable titles a year. I couldn’t do all of that and take care of a young child who had just lost her mother, and I refused to compromise when it came to her comfort. So, in essence, I put my career on hold, traveled less, even turned down job offers that would have required me to move to other cities, and did what I could to fulfill my professional responsibilities while prioritizing my daughter’s needs. Continue reading ‘Hall of Fame Portrait: Michael Ross Part 2′
