Born in Iowa on 27 September 1838, Sul Ross moved with his family to Texas the following year. He attended Baylor University in 1856, then graduated from Wesleyan University at Florence, Alabama in 1859.

Ross earned early recognition as captain of a ranger company that attacked a large Comanche village in 1860 and recaptured the long lost Cynthia Ann Parker. He led this most famous ranger mission at the age of twenty-two.

The following year Ross resigned ranger service and joined the Confederacy. In the war, he gained rapid promotions, advancing to the rank of Brigadier General. He commanded a brigade of Texas Cavalry renowned for its fighting abilities. It was composed of the 3rd, 6th, 9th, 11th, and 27th Texas Cavalry Regiments. Soon after the war ended, he entered politics and advanced from the office of sheriff of McLennan County to that of State senator in 1880.

Ross was elected governor of Texas in 1887, and was the first governor to occupy the newly completed capitol building in 1888.

Ross served two terms as governor, and is well remembered for his devotion to the advancement of higher education in Texas. The University of Texas was founded with his assistance, and Ross also firmly believed in educational oppurtunities for blacks.

After completing his second term as governor, Ross briefly returned to his home in Waco. But soon, the Texas legislature offered him the Presidency of of the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas in 1891. While at A&M, he was popular with the students and was responsible for numerous improvements. He saw to the development of a curriculum with more emphasis on engineering, thus greatly improving the quality of the educations received by the students. He personally interviewed each prospective student prior to his acceptance into the school. During his tenure as President, the school developed the Band and the Cadet Corps. Ross helped design the uniforms for the Cadet Corps, which were based on Confederate Army uniforms.

Because of the ideal location of College Station in the rail system, Ross made the facilities of the school available for reunions of aging veterans of the Texas Revolution. They were held annually at A&M for many years.

Ross died on 3 January 1898 as the result of an illness acquired during a hunting trip. He is buried in Oakwood Cemetery in Waco. At a rededication of his gravesite in 1996, the Aggie Corps of Cadets was forbidden from attending, even though the ceremony was scheduled on a weekend that the entire Corps was in Waco for a football game against Baylor.

An elite unit of cadets of the Corps still calls itself the Ross Volunteers to this day. Named during Ross' tenure, their name was briefly changed during the tenure of a later President but was soon changed back. They serve as the honor guard for the Governor of the State of Texas during inauguaral parades.

One former member of the Ross Volunteers is MG Ted Hopgood. General Hopgood thought an appropriate way to remember Sul Ross was to unveil new regulations banning the Confederate Flag from unit logos in the Corps of Cadets created by General Ross over 100 years ago. History is full of ironies.