Born and raised in the Joliet area, Foss lives on a farm where he raises grain and swine. After earning his associate degree in agriculture from JJC in 1966, he went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education from Iowa State in 1969. In addition to his teaching and farming careers, he has held various local, state and national positions in committees and agricultural associations. He helped to organize the Grundy County Corn Growers, and during his tenure with the National and Illinois Corn Marketing Boards, he assisted in obtaining federal funding for the Corn Genome Mapping initiative and traveled to Asia on a trade mission with the Meat Export Federation. Foss and his wife Yvonne have four children: Dee Anne, Brian, Anita and Kari.