 |
STEWARD: Rosse’s vision
for the University “nurtured maximum success.”
Courtesy Freedom Communications |
James N. Rosse was a deliberate
man. He wore both a belt and suspenders, favored a beret
because it fit in his pocket and sported running shoes
because they were comfortable. In his role as the University’s
eighth provost, serving from 1984 to 1992, his leadership
was similarly careful. In the wake of the indirect cost
dispute with the federal government, the Loma Prieta
earthquake and a slow economy, Stanford faced a $43
million budget deficit. Rosse directed the process to
eliminate that shortfall. He presided over the $1.2
billion Centennial Campaign, the creation of the Stanford
Institute for International Studies, a University committee
study on minority issues and the revamping of campus
science facilities.
A dedicated administrator, an innovative economist
and an expert on communication industries, Rosse, 72,
died of pulmonary illness in Newport Beach, Calif.,
on February 16.
“Jim was careful about how he expressed his views,
and I think some mistakenly thought him cautious or
even conservative,” says biological sciences professor
emeritus Donald Kennedy, who served as president when
Rosse was provost. “But he had an imaginative
vision about what the University was for and what it
should do.”
Born in 1931 in Nebraska, Rosse earned degrees from
the University of Minnesota and joined the Stanford
economics department in 1965. As provost, the University’s
chief academic and budget officer, “he missed
many aspects of being a professor,” says his daughter,
Anne, ’86. “But he felt he was serving Stanford
in a different capacity by making sure his colleagues
and students were in an environment that nurtured maximum
success.”
“He was enamored with all things Stanford,”
says Rosse’s son Stuart, ’80, remembering
how his father arranged to hand him his diploma on graduation
day. “He was very much the captain of his own
ship, a man of unbending moral and ethical character.”
After retiring from Stanford, Rosse became the CEO
and president of Freedom Communications, which owns
the Orange County Register and radio and television
stations.
Rosse is survived by his wife, Janice; children James
J. Rosse, Stuart and Anne; six grandchildren, including
Sasha Rosse, ’06; and his parents, James and Shirley
Rosse. His daughter Janice, ’76, died in 1983.
|
