Thanks to the effort of three notable Cornell alumni, the College of Arts and Sciences is planning to establish the Clinton Rossiter Professorship in American Institutions in the Department of Government. Pending final approval by the Cornell Board of Trustees, the endowment for the Rossiter professorship is expected to grow to $3 million. The professorship is designed to strengthen the college's teaching and scholarship in American politics while advancing the university's effort to endow faculty positions through the Cornell capital campaign.

Clinton Rossiter '39 taught at Cornell from 1946 until his death in 1970. Like other revered Cornell faculty icons Walter LaFeber and Milton Konvitz, Rossiter is remembered for his ability to engage and inspire students, his dynamic scholarship, and his committed teaching of an introductory American government class, as well as upper-class seminars on the American presidency and political theory. Former students of Rossiter remember not only his skill in the classroom, but also his willingness to host students in his home to discuss American politics and current events over a home-cooked meal.

A historian and political scientist, Rossiter wrote some 20 books on American institutions, including "The American Presidency" and "Seedtime of the Republic," for which he won the prestigious Bancroft Prize and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award. He also wrote "A Revolution to Conserve," an article designed to introduce high school students to the origins of the American Revolution. His co-authored editions of the "Federalist Papers" continue to be used in high schools and colleges.

Rossiter graduated from Cornell in 1939 and earned his Ph.D. three years later from Princeton University. He was a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve and rose to the rank of lieutenant as a gunnery officer on the USS Alabama, serving for three years in the Pacific theater.

He taught briefly at the University of Michigan in 1946, moving to Cornell in 1947, where he rose from instructor to full professor in eight years. He served as the chair of the government department from 1956 to 1959 and was named the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions. He spent the 1960-61 academic year as the Pitt Professor at Cambridge University, England.

The story of the newly endowed Clinton Rossiter Professorship begins with Houston Flournoy '50, the former professor of public administration at the University of Southern California who ran for governor of California in 1974 but lost to Jerry Brown. More than 10 years ago, Flournoy created an endowment in Rossiter's memory, hoping the fund would be supplemented over time and eventually create a teaching position in Rossiter's name.

Enter Judy Biggs '57, another student of government at Cornell who also believed Rossiter's legacy should be commemorated in a lasting way. Biggs devoted herself to completing the effort that Flournoy began and enlisted the help of her classmate and friend Stephen Weiss '57, former chairman of Cornell's Board of Trustees. Biggs and Weiss both made personal commitments to enhance the Rossiter fund and identified others whom they felt might be similarly motivated. Recently, Biggs, who celebrates her 50th reunion this spring, made an additional gift to the fund that enables the College of Arts and Sciences to establish a full professorship in Rossiter's name.

"The beauty of this professorship is threefold," said Arts and Sciences Dean Peter Lepage. "First, it creates a lasting tribute to a great Cornellian and a world-renowned scholar. Second, it has brought together three former students with a common experience and vision, and it has inspired them to reach out to others to ensure that the Rossiter Professorship will become an important and prestigious faculty appointment at Cornell. Third, this endowment comes at a pivotal time for the Cornell government department. The Rossiter Professorship will allow the department to invest in an area of traditional strength by recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty in American government."

For more information about the Rossiter endowment, contact Lindsay Ruth, the college's assistant dean for alumni affairs and development, at (607) 255-9885.