Maurice Grossman

American, (1928–2010)

Grossman was born in Detroit, Michigan, to a Jewish family stricken with hardship by the Great Depression. However, he was able to attend Wayne State University and Ohio State University, where he studied the arts. In 1955 he moved to Tucson and founded the ceramics program at the University of Arizona, where he taught for the next thirty-five years and eventually retired as an emeritus professor. A lifelong traveler, Grossman incorporated ideas from Buddhism into his work and philosophy of life, and drew inspiration from the architecture of Europe and Asia. He was a tireless creator, educator, and social activist until his death at 82 years of age.