Robert Adams Moss

~•From a Princeton Alumni publication:

Robert Adams Moss '38 Bob Moss died July 24, 1995, of heart failure. He spent his entire career in many different aspects of education but always called himself simply "a teacher." Bob majored in history and was a member of Theatre Intime. Upon graduation he began 20 years at Groton School, where he taught religion and became senior master. In 1958 Bob became head of St. Andrew's School in Delaware, to which he brought coeducation, racial integration, and an expanded arts program. In 1976 he began teaching religion at Westtown Friends and later at Lincoln Univ. In recent years Bob was a volunteer administrator at a hospital, where he developed the ethics and quality assurance programs. In all his work, Bob was guided by his deep religious faith. In 1984 Bob found his real mission in Kenya, in a visit to Nangina Girls Primary School, a rural school struggling with inadequate facilities and teaching materials. He helped build up the school with teacher-training seminars, a library, and his own inspiring teaching. Today Nangina School is a top ranked primary school in Kenya. Bob is survived by his wife, Maria Cattell, son Robert A. Jr., daughters Heidi Moss and Majorie Moss Coane, Maria's four children and their combined 10 grandchildren, brother Hunter '35, sisters Anna Spiller and Sarah Lorimer, and former wife Huldah. We join them in celebrating Bob's life. The Class of 1938 PAW - 06/05/96

Robert (Bob) Adams Moss was the second appointed headmaster of St. Andrew's School. He arrived in 1958 during the school's 28th year at the age of 43. Bob attended Princeton University and the University of St. Andrew's. Prior to his position at St. Andrew's, Mr. Moss had previously served as assistant Headmaster at Groton School in Groton, Massachusetts. During his administration, not only was the first male employee of color hired, but the first student as well. The campus also brought girls into the residential mix. It has been written that he told the trustees of SAS not to employ him if they were not interested in integration or coeducation; those were his priorities as a head of school and he worked tirelessly to achieve those goals. Bob Moss brought St. Andrew's into the 20th century, making it academically distinctive as well as fiscally sound. Invested in his faculty, he implemented a lecture series and made sure they were attending seminars and conferences. Bob, along with his wife Huldah and their three children, Heidi, Bob, Jr. and Marjorie (aka Marty Moss Coane of NPR Radio Times fame) resided in the Headmaster's house. In 1972 he authored a book, "Look to the Future." Bob was an avid sportsman enjoying tennis and sailing and the family spent their summers in Cape Cod. Moss retired from St. Andrew's in 1976. He went on to help revitalize the Nangina School in Kenya and taught part-time at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania as well as Westtown School in West Chester, PA. Bob passed away in 1995 at the age of 80. Moss Hall and Moss Annex, located next to Pell Hall, houses IV form girls.