Phillips Ruopp
Died in 2003. "Phillips B. Ruopp, who helped found the University of the Virgin Islands and the International Peace Academy, died on Thursday, June 19, in Tucson, Ariz. He was 77.
"Mr. Ruopp died of advanced heart disease. Following a heart attack and bypass surgery in 1988, his health was a source of continuing difficulties. Nevertheless, his family said he retained his zest for life and was actively involved in literary interests and volunteer work with children.
"He retired in 1988 from the Kettering Foundation, where he served as director of international affairs and vice president. One of his chief responsibilities at the foundation was the management of the Dartmouth Conference, a U.S./Soviet leadership dialogue initiated in 1960 with the support of President Eisenhower.
"Before joining the Kettering Foundation in 1972, Mr. Ruopp took part in organizing two institutions. In 1963, he was appointed first dean of the College of the Virgin Islands, located on a former Marine air base in St. Thomas. In 1967, Mr. Ruopp went to Washington, D.C., as director of institution relations for the Peace Corps. During this period he played a key role in the design of the International Peace Academy. He coordinated its first training projects for diplomats, military officers and others at the Austrian Diplomatic Academy in Vienna during the summer of 1970 and again the next summer in Helsinki, Finland.
"From 1956 to 1963, Mr. Ruopp was a faculty member and an assistant dean of students at Antioch College. He was also active in local government, serving on the Village Planning Commission.
"His interest in community development and the economic and social needs of developing countries was prompted by his experience in the World Federalist Movement after his discharge from the Army after World War II. At 21, he was appointed an associate editor of Common Cause, a monthly journal of international politics published by the University of Chicago. He later returned to college, completing his studies in economics, politics and anthropology at the University of Oxford. During this period, he came to the conclusion that economic disparities between rich and poor countries would have profound consequences on postwar international relations.
"Mr. Ruopp also edited the book Community Development in 1953, and published a volume of largely autobiographical poems, Notes for an Obit.
"He was born in Boston in 1926. He frequently returned to Boston to visit family and from 1979 to 1985, to attend meetings as a member of the board of Oxfam-America. " [1]
