Leonora Myles Gross, a resident of Harwood, Maryland, preceded the big push to interest girls in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). She was born September 6, 1935 and passed away on Saturday, February 17, 2024.
The trailblazer who lived a full life exemplifies that it is possible to shatter glass ceilings against the odds. Gross became a successful mathematical statistician, while retaining community leadership ties.
“Black women were not really taught to pursue a career in the field of science or mathematics. My grandmother had a vision of what she wanted to do. Her aunt talked to her about Morgan State University [then Morgan College], which is in Baltimore, Maryland. She had gone to school there and graduated and thought that it may be a good fit for my grandmother to study,” Gross’ granddaughter, Shanita Wilkins said.
Gross was educated at Wiley H. Bates High School, located in Annapolis, Maryland. The public, segregated school was “the only high school for African Americans in Anne Arundel County from 1933 to 1966,” according to information provided online by Wiley H. Bates Legacy Center’s website.
“My grandmother and her older brother had to walk from where they lived in Harwood, Maryland out to near Route 2, which is located also in Harwood, Maryland, but it’s on a different street. They lived on Sands Road but walked to what is now the Hardwood Post Office near Route 2. They had to walk about 7.5 miles. From there, they had to catch a bus into Annapolis, Maryland to Bates,” Wilkins said.
Wilkins noted that the disciplined students repeated the process to return home.
Gross graduated from Bates cum laude in 1953, illustrating academic excellence as an honor student, before applying to Morgan College. Gross earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and a minor in physics, back in 1957.
After marrying Samuel Gross, the budding mathematician eventually applied to work at the Census Bureau in Suitland, Maryland.
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Wilkins explained, “My grandmother was hired as a mathematical statistician in the Construction Statistics Division. By that time, she was responsible for counting the number of new constructions for the Census, but doing it more from a statistical standpoint, to understand demographics and information that could be used to make decisions.”
According to Wilkins, Gross worked there her entire career and retired in 1990. Her excellence was recognized by the Census Bureau through highly coveted awards.
“I think it should be noted that she reached the highest level possible in the government, which is the Senior Executive Service. That is beyond the general schedule scale. Why that is so significant is because she was the first Black female in the Census Bureau to rise to that level,” Wilkins said.
Gross invested in the success of others, even when she was a student who stayed on campus at Morgan State University.
“When she had breaks, she would come home and work in the field. Her father passed away when she and her siblings were very young, so a part of her responsibility was supporting the family,” Wilkins said. “During her last year of school [college], when she started internships, she put money towards her sister’s education, so she could become a teacher. She also did the same for her youngest sibling as well.”
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Wilkins also benefited from Gross’ hands-on nurturing. When she was in the eleventh grade, Gross transported her to the Secret Service’s James J. Rowley Training Center to enable her granddaughter to start her career. She taught Wilkins how to network and present herself with grace and poise.
Wilkins followed in her family matriarch’s footsteps by exhausting the pay scale to reach the GS-15 in the federal government.
“I have a certificate that states that I am qualified to be an executive within the government. Right now, I’m just looking for the right job to get that appointment,” Wilkins said, crediting her grandmother with planting seeds for her to excel in her career.
Gross was a generous, wise woman who reached back to uplift other people and community youth. She was a longtime member of House of Prayer Church of God No. 1.
“If you came to my grandmother seeking something, you were always going to walk away with something, whether it was intended or not,” Wilkins said, reflecting on her grandmother’s legacy. “She was just so generous. When they say, ‘God loves a cheerful giver,’ I think she may have taken that and just multiplied it by a million.”