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In 1978, Henry Rosovsky was on a mission. Then the dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences and an economics professor, Rosovsky wanted to revolutionize the way Harvard taught its undergraduates. He drove the creation of the College’s Core Curriculum and the modern-day Department of African and African American Studies. Determined to see this transformation through, Rosovsky even rejected offers to become the president of Yale University and the University of Chicago.
Rosovsky, who served as the dean of the FAS from 1973 to 1984, died on Nov. 11 in his home in Cambridge.
He joined Harvard as a professor of economics from 1965 to 1996, became acting University President in 1984 and 1987, and served on the Harvard Corporation in 1984. As the first Jewish dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Rosovsky founded Harvard's Center for Jewish Studies in 1978. Harvard Hillel named its building Rosovsky Hall in his honor in 1994.
Harvard University President Lawrence S. Bacow described Rosovsky as “one of the foremost figures in academia.”
“An exceptional scholar of Japan and its economy, he was deeply respected by faculty and colleagues, and he had a unique perspective on Harvard, serving as dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, as a member of the Harvard Corporation, and as acting president,” Bacow told the Harvard Gazette, a University publication.