Meet Dr. Robert A. Roosa
Dr. Robert A. Roosa was born on June 18, 1925 in Manila, Philippines to Albert Bergher Roosa of Kingston, New York and Jessica Donaldson McLeish Young of Dundee, Scotland. The family moved back to Meriden, Connecticut when Robert was nine. He is descendent from Aldert Roosa who came here from Holland on the “Spotted Cow” in 1660 and settled in Hurley, NY. He graduated from Cheshire Academy in 1943. He then joined the Navy as a pharmacist’s mate on the hospital ship the “USS Relief AH1” in the Pacific from 1943 to 1946. After Navy service he attended the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut and graduated in 1950 with a BA in Microbiology and then received his PhD in Medical Microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1957. After graduation he received a post-doctoral fellowship to study at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1960 he returned to Philadelphia to work at The Wistar Institute, where he stayed for 34 years, including a sabbatical year at the Virology Department of Glasgow. Upon his return from sabbatical to Wistar, he became the Scientific Administrator involved in managing all the science departments and was the Curator of the Museum for many years.¹ According to Dr. William Wunner, Wistar’s former Director of Academic Affairs, who joined the institute in 1976, Dr. Roosa had a passion for helping scientists as an administrator there. “He always answered the calls of scientists to do their work,” Wunner said. “He wore Wistar on his sleeve. He was a true believer in his place of work.”²
Mike Sidelsky, former Director of Wistar’s Animal Facility, stated; “Bob was the Science Administrator at The Wistar Institute.³ He served for approximately three decades in that capacity. In addition to that position, he was responsible for oversight of the research animal facility and was my boss for over twenty years. During his time as SA, he was involved in preparing federal grants to support research, including cancer and slow viruses. He directly reported to the world-famous Dr. Hilary Koprowski,⁴ the Director of Wistar.”⁵
Dr. Roosa was both a member of DVB AALAS, and National AALAS (American Association of Laboratory Animal Science). Dr. Roosa died on June 19, 2015 at the age of 90.
1 SOURCE: https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/obituaries/robert-a-roosa-wayne-pa/
2 SOURCE: https://share.inquirer.com/yEuA5r
3 The Wistar Institute is the oldest, independent, biomedical research institute in the country. The Wistar Institute is also; the first independent biomedical research institute in the United States (founded 1892), and the first NCI-designated Basic Cancer Center (with continued recognition
and support since 1971). (SOURCE: https://www.wistar.org/about-wistar/)
4 For additional information about Dr. Koprowski, refer to; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3719820/
5 SOURCE: Mike Sidelsky Text Message, dated 06-23-26
Dr. Robert A. Roosa was born on June 18, 1925 in Manila, Philippines to Albert Bergher Roosa of Kingston, New York and Jessica Donaldson McLeish Young of Dundee, Scotland. The family moved back to Meriden, Connecticut when Robert was nine. He is descendent from Aldert Roosa who came here from Holland on the “Spotted Cow” in 1660 and settled in Hurley, NY. He graduated from Cheshire Academy in 1943. He then joined the Navy as a pharmacist’s mate on the hospital ship the “USS Relief AH1” in the Pacific from 1943 to 1946. After Navy service he attended the University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut and graduated in 1950 with a BA in Microbiology and the received his PhD in Medical Microbiology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1957. After graduation he received a post-doctoral fellowship to study at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. In 1960 he returned to Philadelphia to work at The Wistar Institute, where he stayed for 34 years, including a sabbatical year at the Virology Department of Glasgow. Upon his return from sabbatical to Wistar he became the Scientific Administrator involved in managing all the science departments and was the Curator of the Museum for many years.1 According to Dr. William Wunner, Wistar’s former Director of Academic Affairs, who joined the institute in 1976, Dr. Roosa had a passion for helping scientists as an administrator there. “He always answered the calls of scientists to do their work,” Wunner said. “He wore Wistar on his sleeve. He was a true believer in his place of work.”2
Mike Sidelsky, former Director of Wistar’s Animal Facility stated; “Bob was the Science Administrator at The Wistar Institute3. He served for approximately three decades, in that capacity. In addition to that position he was responsible for oversight of the research animal facility, and was my boss for over twenty years. During his time as SA he was involved in preparing federal grants to support research, including cancer and slow viruses. He directly reported to the world famous Dr. Hilary Koprowski4, the Director of Wistar.”5
Dr. Roosa was both a member of DVB AALAS, and National AALAS (American Association of Laboratory Animal Science). Dr. Roosa died on June 19, 2015 at the age of 90.
1 SOURCE: https://www.mainlinemedianews.com/obituaries/robert-a-roosa-wayne-pa/
2 SOURCE: https://share.inquirer.com/yEuA5r
3 The Wistar Institute is the oldest, independent, biomedical research institute in the country. The Wistar Institute is also; the first independent biomedical research institute in the United States (founded 1892), and the first NCI-designated Basic Cancer Center (with continued recognition and support since 1971). (SOURCE: https://www.wistar.org/about-wistar/)
4 For additional information about Dr. Koprowski, refer to; https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3719820/
5 SOURCE: Mike Sidelsky Text Message, dated 06-23-26
