Ross, Nellie Tayloe (1876-1977), an American politician and public official, was the first woman governor in the United States. She was elected to succeed her husband, William B. Ross, as governor of Wyoming after his death in 1924. She served as governor from 1925 to 1927. In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt named her director of the United States Mint, a position she held until 1953. She was the first woman to hold that post. For several years she served as a vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee in charge of the activities for women of the Democratic Party. Ross was born on Nov. 29, 1876, in St. Joseph, Missouri. She died on Dec. 19, 1977.