Priva B. Gross was the founder and first chairperson of the art department at Queensborough Community College, CUNY, where she taught for twenty years before retiring in 1981. She was born in Cracow, Poland and came to the United States in 1941, graduating from the Institutes of Fine Arts, New York University. Her concentration was in medieval art. Priva B. Gross played an integral role establishing the QCC Art Gallery.
