Chief Golden Gate Bridge Engineer Joseph B. Strauss (1870-1938) asked Ellis to join his staff, then a professor of structural and bridge engineering at the University of Illinois, to help draw up plans for the Golden Gate Bridge and to calculate the forces of compression and tension that the structure's design would need to withstand. Ellis did this, and produced a structural design for the structure, but was fired from the project in late 1931. He was replaced by Charles Paine, an engineer already working for Strauss's bridge-building firm. Subsequently, Ellis's name was erased from the records of Golden Gate work.

Professor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; Professor, University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, c. 1930; Professor, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN.

Born in Parkman, ME, Ellis led a an active professorial career at several universities including the University of Michigan, University of Illinois and Purdue University. His professional papers were deposited at Purdue.