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.
