Ned Arnold Rosen

He had recently celebrated his 95th birthday with a party attended by his children, grandchildren, friends, and many residents of Cascades at Delray Beach. He relished attending a birthday performance by his son Michael, jazz saxophonist, whose recorded music filled the room where Ned spent his final days.

Born on June 18, 1930, in Cleveland Ohio, Ned spent most of his childhood in Miami Beach, Florida where he developed a life-long love of boating. A standout baseball player in high school, he delighted in telling the story of how he came to play in a game with Joe DiMaggio and Fred Hutchinson. He went on to become a tennis player, a game which he taught several of his children and grandchildren, and later a golfer. He was a competitive sailor who spent many years racing on Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, NY and traveling by boat with his beloved wife Phyllis. He was an avid fisherman, a lover of dogs and a devotee of Haagen Dazs coffee ice cream. A fan of both the Cleveland Browns and Indians as well as the Miami Dolphins, he reveled in the defeat of sports teams favored by his children. He was a lifelong prankster and charmer who also appreciated when he fell prey to the jokes of others. He was occasionally known to have to hang up the phone because he was laughing too hard to continue talking.

Ned left Miami Beach to attend Antioch College where he developed an interest in industrial and labor relations. This led to a master’s degree from the University of Illinois’ School of Labor and Employment Relations and later a PhD in Industrial Psychology from Purdue University. In between degrees he served in the United States Army. Ned briefly began his teaching career at Purdue University but ultimately joined the faculty of Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations where he served as a tenured professor for over 20 years. A sabbatical year Fulbright Award in London led to connections that later formed the basis of his consulting career with the World Bank and other organizations. He was the author of several books about conflict negotiating and team building and an elected Fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society and the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology. His early life experiences and academic training informed his views on religion, politics, and social hierarchy. A lifelong Democrat, he attended the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in Washington, D.C. and volunteered for political campaigns well into his eighties to make the world a better place for his grandchildren.

Ned is survived by his former wife [Doris Rosen] and their three children [Karen Stetler (Ron), Alan Michael Rosen, and Beth Sheidley (Nathaniel), his three step-children [Alan Cohen (Dawn), David Cohen, and Ann Geismar (Todd)], eleven grandchildren [Riley, Sasha, Ella, Benjamin, Eric, Andrew, Emma, Lauren, Sarah Jayne, Allyn and Olivia, and six great grandchildren [Hudson, Rowan, Lucca, Davis, Grant, and Jayne].

He was preceded in death by his parents, [Josef Rosen and Frances Livingston], older brother [Frank Rosen] and wife of 43 years [Phyllis Rosen].

Ned and Phyllis’ family members will fulfill their wishes to be cremated and have their intermingled ashes spread in the Florida seas.

The family requests that those who wish to express sympathy consider donating to any of the following organizations in Ned’s name:

American Civil Liberties Union (www.aclu.org)

Southern Poverty Law Center (www.splcenter.org)

Lambda Legal (www.lambdalegal.org)

The Trevor Project (www.thetrevorproject.org)