Remembering Ada Rossin

Ada E. and Peter C. Rossin ’48 ’99H believed that helping others was a given, that a commitment was meant for life, and that family came first. Ada Rossin, wife of the late Peter Rossin for whom the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science is named, passed away on November 17, but the legacy of the Rossin’s values and actions will remain part of Lehigh University in perpetuity.

A strong family as the foundation for success

Ada and Peter were married 57 years when he passed away in 2003. Hometown sweethearts, they wed after Rossin returned from serving as a navigator in World War II, as he was completing his first year at Lehigh on the G.I. Bill. They lived in an apartment in the Lehigh Valley, while Peter completed his studies in metallurgy and materials engineering a year early.

Soon, the family grew to include son, Peter Jr. ’71, and daughter, Joan. Ada was by Peter’s side when he started his early career in the metals industry and was steadfast when he began his own titanium business at age 44.

Joan shared in an interview that her childhood was very idyllic in a 1950s style, with her mom taking care of home life and her dad going off to work. She recalled the family meeting when her dad discussed starting his own business. He wanted it to be a family decision.

“He said it was something that he always wanted to do, so we were behind him,” said Joan.

A visionary in business and beyond

The innovative business was called Dynamet and started with one employee – Peter C. Rossin – and the financial help from 23 investors who believed in his vision of filling the need of a growing titanium market. At its peak, the company was an international supplier of titanium bar, wire, and forged products for the aerospace, medical, and sports industries. After 30 years, the sole employee who started the company in a basement was overseeing 425 workers who operated four plants across the country.

In 1997, Rossin sold Dynamet to Carpenter Technology Corporation in Reading, Pennsylvania, for $150 million. The following year, Ada and Peter made a $25 million gift to Lehigh University – the largest gift in the history of the university at that time –to support the “people and programs” of Lehigh’s renowned engineering school. Because of this landmark donation, the College of Engineering and Applied Science was named in his honor.

Discussing their decision to make the gift, Rossin was quoted in the fall 1998 issue of the Lehigh Bulletin as saying that he credited his Lehigh undergraduate training for much of his professional success and wanted to provide students with innovative and enhanced learning opportunities. He explained it was a way to say “Thank you.”

“Ada and I believe strongly in supporting educational endeavors,” said Peter, who also shared that they wanted to leave a more permanent legacy behind – one that would impact positively on bright, talented young people in the communities in which they work and live.

The legacy lives on

John Coulter, interim dean of the P. C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, says “The Rossins’ generosity lives on at Lehigh through the work of our faculty and students and is brought to the forefront through the Rossin Fellowship Leadership Program.”

Each year, Ph.D. candidates, assistant professors, and undergraduate students who excel academically or have contributed to Lehigh and the community are selected for this prestigious recognition. Since the Leadership Program’s inception in 2005, 131 Rossin Doctoral Fellowships, 41 Rossin Assistant Professorships, and 237 Rossin Junior Fellows have been awarded.

In addition to their gift, the Rossins also provided the engineering college with an additional $2.5 million that helped hire new faculty and create new programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The Rossin legacy will continue to advance Lehigh engineering. Provost Patrick Farrell explains, “The university continues to benefit from the tremendous generosity of Ada and Peter Rossin. Lehigh engineering is at a pivotal point, with the arrival of our new president and the anticipation of a new dean. The Rossins’ investment enables our leadership to make strategic investments to take Lehigh’s engineering heritage in new directions for the 21st century and beyond.”

Story by Dawn Thren

Images courtesy of the Office of University Advancement