Dr. Steven S. Gross
May 16th, 1951-September 1st, 2025.
Pioneering scientist and mentor,
beloved husband, father, brother, uncle and friend.
Funeral Service Livestream, 1:00pm Sunday, September 7: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81349933362
Born in Brooklyn, NY in 1951, Steven was utterly unique, a once-in-a-lifetime soul whose spirit touched everyone who knew him. To know him was to understand what it means for a person to be irreplaceable; a one-of-a-kind human whose legacy lives on in all who loved him.
Steven dedicated his life to advancing medical knowledge and nurturing future generations of scientists. He served as Professor of Pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medical College, where he was also the Director of the Mass Spectrometry Core Facility. His research made groundbreaking contributions to the understanding of nitric-oxide signaling, cardiovascular biology, and cellular metabolomics, helping shape the field of modern pharmacology.
Over the course of his distinguished career, Steven authored numerous influential scientific papers, mentored countless students and postdoctoral fellows, and received wide recognition for his contributions to biomedical science. His work has been cited worldwide and continues to inform cutting-edge research.
Beyond his professional achievements, Steven will be remembered for his passionate approach to all he did, his wit, his unmet generosity, his love of story telling and sharing a good meal with family and community.
He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Kandy Gross, his children, Nicole Bruckner, Noah and Ethan Gross, his two sisters, Fern Gross and Carla Lerner, as well as a huge community of colleagues, students, and friends who will continue to carry forward his spirit of curiosity, and lust for adventure.
Funeral services will be held on Sunday, September 7 at 1:00 pm at Orland’s Ewing Memorial Chapel, 1534 Pennington Road Ewing Township, New Jersey 08618. Interment is private.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor’s choice.
Dear Kandy & family, so sorry to hear of Steven’s passing. He was truly a remarkable man. I hope you will ultimately find comfort in the many wonderful memories you have shared together.
Fran Kesch(cousin)
Early mornings we were up and out, sometimes before dawn cracked,with our dogs at NYC’s east-side piers, including pier 17, wherever we were meeting-up and recreating with our beloved dogs. Steven bicycled to the pier on different bikes but there was one that stood-out as a beast of a bike. He always rode with joy. The dogs typically watched him and ran up to him. We met Steven through our great friend and his wife, Kandy Gross, and their great dog, Ollie. Steven enjoyed his dog friends, and we, of course, loved him. That joy came through when we a bit too routinely although it was anything but routine, elegantly dined in the amazing and elegant private dining room of Wall Street’s Capital Grill, particularly, under the portrait of the smiling gaze of Lady Astor with the portraits of Lady Astor’s beloved companions. Steven was amused dining in Lady Astor’s private dining room with our companions. One of many interesting convos included whether he was enjoying and appreciating the fine food as much as our dogs, particularly, in light of some of their better and particularly suited senses while our senses were less and even “dulled,” by wine and other libations. Probing discussions, science and smirks and laughter aside, we never ended our discussion. Steven’s rugs deserve some mention. At least 50 maybe a 100. Can I finally get one? Only kidding. Steven was to a certainty a one-of-a-kind but he was absolutely one of us whom we immensely enjoyed. We love you Steven and will always love you.
When I started my lab at Cornell, he was such a generous mentor and helped us at any time, with any problem. This includes giving us some of our first tardigrades and helping with our 2011 iGEM project! We got to work on many projects together over the years, and he will be sorely missed:
https://2011.igem.org/Team:NYC_Software/TheTeam
Steve was generous and warm hearted and his lab at Cornell was a joyful international diverse community. I remember being welcomed by him to New York and am very grateful to have had the opportunity to be mentored by him. Steve was a ground breaking scientist, driven by new ideas, not metrics, and enthusing those who worked with him. Steve took his lab on camping trips, white water rafting and welcomed us into his home for the NYY ticker tape parade celebration. His love of his family shone through and he was so proud to announce the births of Noah and Ethan at the NO conference he had organised. Sincere condolences to Kandy, Nicole, Ethan and Noah and Rachel, his niece.
I spent a few months at Dr. Gross’ lab as a graduate student years ago. I had such a fond memory of those months. Besides sciences, I also learned about his adventure travel. His curiosity, open-mindness and generosity truly impressed me. He will be missed by many of us who are fortunate to meet and know him. Rest in peace!
I knew Steve from the Program project grant days, many years ago. I always admired his incisiveness, clear mind getting to the crux off the matter in a scientifically sound manner. And he was a true human, kind and helpful. An admirable mentor! Too soon a soul lost.
We were deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Steven Gross. Steve was not only a brilliant mentor but also a wonderful friend who opened doors, introduced me to people and places around the world, and profoundly shaped my life, career, and family. His kindness, generosity, and wisdom will always be remembered, and I feel truly grateful to have known him.
Our thoughts are with Kandy, Nicole, Ethan and Noah at this sad time.
Mark and Christina x
My deepest condolences to all that knew and loved Steve, especially Kandy, Nicole, Ethan and Noah. Dr. Gross was a one-of-a-kind person and mentor. I was incredibly fortunate to get my doctorate under his guidance. Steve taught me more than just about science and Nitric Oxide. He led by example demonstrating acceptance, interest, and unwavering support for all of his students and everyone he met. His genius was matched by his genuineness. I am so grateful to have known him.
My deepest condolences – I had just met Dr. Gross while riding a bus on Labor Day. He was seated next to me and we had a wonderful conversation about medicine, research, his recent adventures, and his future plans with family. I took down his number, hoping we’d be able to reconnect back in NYC but learned of his passing here. I am so glad to have met him, and my heart goes out to those he has left behind on this earth.
On behalf of our metabolomics community at large we send our deepest condolences to Steve’s family and to all his loved ones. We will miss you Steve very much as you have touched and enriched our lives. We will celebrate your life and contributions to science in our upcoming meetings. Be assured you will always have a front seat reserved at all our meetings.
Steven Gross was my thesis committee chair for all 5 years of my graduate school career and was, and will always be, an essential part of my growth into a PhD scientist in the Pharmacology program at Weill Cornell. Having his kindness and support during my time in grad school truly shaped me into the scientist and person I am today and who I strive to be. A brilliant man who was so generous with his time and knowledge, I feel so grateful every day to have had been influenced by him. He brought so much life and joy to our department, being an essential faculty during our first year classes and of course complementing Dr. Sammie Jaffrey’s intensity during our class Critical Analysis with his calm and supportive nature. My deepest condolences, love and support to his family. He was an unbelievable scientist and an even more unbelievable person and I feel so honored to have him as a mentor. I was so excited to crochet him a hat to match his iconic sneakers and it was a joy to come up with the color scheme together. He was always my favorite professor to run into around campus. I will truly miss him and think of him everyday as I continue my growth as a scientist, now in a post-doc lab, specializing in Mass Spec. Dr. Gross I wish so much that I could tell you about my new project and show you my MS data, you are such a special part of my grad school memories and I’m so honored and grateful to have known you. It feels like just yesterday I saw you at my thesis defense this past March, I will always cherish the picture my husband took of you on that day pondering my data slides. Your love of science was only matched by your love of life and I will carry that with me always. I am sending all my love to your family as I know they must be as special and amazing as you.
Dear Kandy & Family,
I was saddened to hear about Steven’s passing. Sending my sincere condolences. I have wonderful memories of our childhood & the closeness that Ira & I had with him, Fern & Carla. Unfortunately, the last time I saw Steven was at your boys Bar Mitzvah. Steven was a wonderful man and may his memory be a blessing…
Fran Gross Rand
Rest in peace, Dr. Gross!