Jacques Pépin (Hon.’11) with Rebecca Alssid, who worked at BU for 44 years before retiring in 2015. Alssid was instrumental in recruiting Pépin and Julia Child (Hon.’76) to teach at Boston University. Photo by Vernon Doucett

Tributes

Remembering Rebecca Alssid, Howard Leibowitz, Adrianne Rogers, and N. Paul Rosman

Rebecca Alssid
Metropolitan College

Rebecca Alssid, founding director of BU’s Food & Wine Programs, was pivotal to the establishment of many Metropolitan College programs, including the nation’s first Master of Arts in Gastronomy, the Professional Certificate Program in the Culinary Arts, the Elizabeth Bishop Wine Resource Center, and the Evergreen Program, an educational program for older adults that began in summer of 1980. She also played an instrumental role in recruiting two legendary chefs—Julia Child (Hon.’76) and Jacques Pépin (Hon.’11)—to teach in BU’s food studies programs, according to MET. 

Alssid died on February 17, 2026. She was 90 years old. 

She worked at BU for more than 44 years, retiring in 2015. She ran food and wine tours to other countries under the title of Culture and Cuisine Tours at Boston University and then on her own. 

In 2018, the nonprofit Oldways, which inspires people to embrace the “old ways” of eating, recognized Alssid’s lifetime of achievement with the K. Dun Gifford Local Hero Award. They wrote: “She didn’t just witness the culinary revolution. She has been part of it.” The organization noted that Alssid’s impact “goes way beyond local…she was ahead of her time. Thousands of students and food enthusiasts from all over the world have benefited from her kind, but tenacious, attention to bettering our knowledge of food and wine.”

—

Howard Leibowitz
BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Howard Leibowitz, a Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine professor and chair emeritus of ophthalmology, died on February 25, 2026.

Leibowitz had a lifelong commitment to advancing the care of the eye, caring for patients in Boston and beyond for more than six decades. He was an internationally recognized expert in the diagnosis and treatment of corneal disorders, according to his obituary. 

At BU, he worked to expand the ophthalmology department’s clinical reach and academic reputation. He published many journal articles and two editions of the textbook Corneal Disorders: Clinical Diagnosis and Management (W. B. Saunders Co.). 

—

Adrianne Rogers
BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Adrianne E. Rogers, a professor emerita of pathology and laboratory medicine who spent more than three decades at BU’s medical school, died on February 1, 2024. She was 90 years old.

Rogers, who joined the BU faculty in 1979, helped transform the study of nutrition, cancer, and toxicology. Her research contributed important insights into how diet and environmental exposures influence disease.

She advised agencies and organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the American Cancer Society. At BU, she served as associate chair for academic affairs, director of medical education, and associate dean for academic affairs. She was the first woman to chair BU’s Faculty Council. 

—

N. Paul Rosman
BU Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Norman Paul Rosman, a professor of pediatrics and neurology at BU’s medical school and a clinician, a mentor, and an advocate for children, died on March 18, 2026. He was 91 years old. 

Rosman helped shape modern child neurology, publishing more than 200 articles and book chapters, securing more than 30 research grants, and training nearly 100 pediatric neurologists. 

“Yet his greatest influence was at the bedside,” according to his obituary. “He often reminded trainees never to eliminate hope, believing that every child could be helped in some way. Families traveled from across the country and beyond to seek his care.” 

Students knew Rosman for his high expectations and standards, and in 1981, BU presented him with a Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching.