We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and former head of the American Studies Program, Associate Professor Octavian Roske, who passed away earlier today, at the age of 67. A graduate of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, where he majored in English and Romanian (1977-1981), Professor Roske started teaching in the English Department in 1993. He was an immensely popular teacher, rigorous but also encouraging and patient, with impressive knowledge of American history, the American political system, and the American constitution. Professor Roske’s research interests were vast and diverse, and they went beyond the scope of American studies. His work for the National Institute for the Study of Totalitarianism resulted in an impressive number of books and collections of documents that made an important contribution to the memory of the repressive totalitarian regime from Romania before 1989. During the communist regime, he co-wrote (with Daniel Barbu and Radu Ciuceanu) two clandestine studies that were sent to and broadcast by Radio Free Europe in 1981 and 1985, respectively. From 2000 to 2004, he was vice-dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, and from 2008 to his retirement in 2021, he was head of the English Department of the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures. From 2012 to 2021 he was also head of the American Studies Program. We miss his leadership and generosity, his resourcefulness and ingenuity. May he rest in peace.
Professor Roske is survived by his wife, daughter, and grandson. Our thoughts are with them at this very difficult time.
