Kenneth R. R. (Richard Russell) Gros Louis was born on December 18, 1936 in Nashua, New Hampshire, to Albert W. and Jeanette Evelyn (Richards) Gros Louis. In 1959, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College, where he majored in both English and Mathematics. Concentrating on Renaissance Literature, he earned a Master of Arts degree, with honors, from Columbia College in 1960, and a Ph.D. with a concentration in Medieval and Renaissance Literature from the University in 1964.

Gros Louis began his career at Indiana University in 1964 as an Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature; he was later promoted to Associate Professor (1967) and full professor (1973). Aside from his teaching duties, Gros Louis was active in the administrative functions within the university, serving as Assistant Chairperson (1966-1968), Acting Chairperson (1968-1969), and Associate Chairperson (1969-1970) of the Comparative Literature Program; Associate Dean of the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences (1970-1973); and Chairperson of the Department of English (1973-1978). In 1978, the Indiana University Board of Trustees appointed Gros Louis to the position of Dean of the Indiana University College of Arts and Sciences. In September 1980, he was appointed Vice President of the Bloomington campus, and his title was updated to Vice President, Indiana University, and Chancellor, Indiana University Bloomington, in July 1988. Effective August 11, 1994, IU president Myles Brand expanded Gros Louis' role in the universities administration and changed his title to Vice President for Academic Affairs.

Gros Louis' primary responsibilities as Vice President and Bloomington Chancellor were aiding in the development of the university's academic agenda while engaging with students, faculty, and staff at IU. In order to strengthen IU's academic agenda, he often advocated that a stronger undergraduate curriculum would attract and keep good professors at IU. Issues such as racism, sexism, quality of education, faculty concerns, and student living were motivating factors behind many of his administrative decisions. In 1994, with a change in job title to Vice President for Academic Affairs, he was then responsible for faculty promotion and tenure decisions; academic planning and program reviews; major curriculum revisions; accreditation; and improved interaction with the universities deans. On top of these administrative responsibilities, he also made great strides in improving IU as an educational and social institution by creating the Herman B Wells Program for Outstanding Scholars; he championed the effort to open the Office of Gay, Lesbian, & Bisexual Student Support Services; influenced the founding of the Film Studies, Jewish Studies, & Afro-American Studies departments; and was instrumental in the development of the School of Journalism, formerly a department, and the School of Informatics.

Gros Louis' chancellorship may best be remembered by the ways in which he tried to expand the communication efforts of his office, which had been perceived as lacking throughout previous years by the public. In the early 1980s he set up a public telephone hotline for members of the public to call and speak with him concerning IU-related issues every Thursday between the hours of 2:30 and 5:30pm. This service was discontinued after three years because, according to him, the same people kept calling every week. On Thursday, September 2, 1993 he held the first "Meet Chancellor Gros Louis Day" as an attempt to increase his interaction with the student body. During these events, he used slides and humorous anecdotes to familiarize the university's new students with IU history and tradition and encouraged students to participate in university organizations, clubs, or other groups in order to take advantage of the experiences and educational opportunities that IU had to offer.

Aside from his involvement in the university community, he was also active in organizations and institutions in the Bloomington area, including the Monroe County United Way, the Monroe County Public Library; and The Associated Group (Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Indiana).

After 21 years of serving in the administrative upper echelon of Indiana University-Bloomington, Kenneth R. R. Gros Louis retired on June 30, 2001. In 2004, he rejoined the university administration as Interim Senior Vice President and Bloomington Chancellor and in 2006 he was renamed University Chancellor. In 2011, the Board of Trustees designated Gros Louis' position as University Chancellor Emeritus and closed the University Chancellor office.

In 1966 Gros Louis married Dolores K. Winandy, and the couple went on to have two daughters. Dolores Gros Louis, who spent much of her IU career as a faculty member in the Honors Division, died in an accident at home on June 19, 1993. Gros Louis later married Diana Mallory Hawes in Beck Chapel on the Bloomington campus in November 1996. He passed away in October 2017.