University Times

Guy Rossetti, vice president for administrative affairs at the Greensburg campus (UPG) since 1994, died Nov. 5 after a long illness. He was 55.

Rossetti held a bachelor's degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master's and a Ph.D. from Pitt. Rossetti began his career at UPG in 1969 as assistant professor of Hispanic languages and literatures. He was awarded tenure in 1974 and later progressed to full professor. In 1981, he was named director of student affairs and became dean of administration the following year. During his tenure at Greensburg, Rossetti served as adviser to the Student Government Association and to the Pitt-Greensburg Alumni Association. He was an ex officio member of the advisory board and assistant treasurer of the UPG Foundation.

Rossetti was a member of the Business Policy and Practices Working Group at the Pittsburgh campus and served on search committees for the University's vice provost and UPG president positions.

Rossetti was the principal architect for a property acquisition plan for UPG that eventually expanded the campus to 217 acres.

Greensburg President Frank Cassell said, "Dr. Rossetti's death is a great loss to all of us — he was a vital force on this campus since 1969 and was responsible for the rapid development of this school's facilities during the past 20 years. Dr. Rossetti worked tirelessly to create the beautiful campus we see today. He was an excellent teacher and scholar as well as an effective administrator." Active in community affairs, Rossetti worked with the Westmoreland Columbus 500 Scholarship Committee and the Scholarship Committee of the Western Pennsylvania Golf Association. He served as campus representative to the Central Westmoreland and Latrobe Area Chambers of Commerce and as a celebrity chef for the American Heart Association.

Rossetti and his family emigrated from Italy to western Pennsylvania in 1956 to join his maternal grandparents in Sutersville on the Youghiogheny River. He played a significant role in telling the world about his hometown, the only village in Europe that was destroyed during World War II and not rebuilt on the same site, by translating "Lettopalena: A Town, A History." Rossetti's translation from Italian into English of Matteo Cosenza's account of the fate of the village destroyed by the German army in November 1943 is particularly important because there are now more natives of the town and their descendants living in the United States than in Italy. Most of those Lettesi, as the villagers are called, live in the western Pennsylvania area where as many as 250 gather annually to reminisce. "The book is really the history of a group of humans being put under incredible hardship and yet, in the end, they survive," Rossetti said. The Rossetti family has requested that memorial contributions be made to the American Cancer Society.