Peter Grose ’57

Peter Bolton Grose ’57, Honorary Fellow ’87, award-winning author, foreign correspondent, editor, public servant, and founding president of the Pembroke College Foundation, died of complications from a stroke on December 31, 2022. He was 88.

Peter’s storied career led him to cover some of the most historic events of the 20^th century as a foreign correspondent, first for the Associated Press and then for The New York Times. He succeeded his good friend, the legendary David Halberstam, as the Times chief correspondent in Africa in 1962, and then again as its chief correspondent in Saigon in 1964, just as the U.S. was escalating its involvement in the war there. He served as Moscow Bureau chief for the Times in 1966-1967.

Peter Grose Times Saigon Bureau 1965

The Times brought him back stateside in 1967 to serve as its Washington-based chief diplomatic correspondent, before sending him overseas again to serve as its Jerusalem bureau chief.  Peter was subsequently elevated to the Times Editorial Board, helping to steer the editorial policies of the Times and writing editorials from 1972-1976.

After retiring from daily journalism, Peter served for many years as managing editor and then executive editor of Foreign Affairs magazine. After his retirement from Foreign Affairs, he was a Research Fellow in the International Security Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and taught at Yale.

In between his journalism assignments, he served as deputy director of the Policy Planning staff in the State Department during the Carter administration under his close friend, director Tony Lake.

Peter was born in Evanston, Illinois, in 1934. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Yale in 1956, he came up to Pembroke to read PPE. He was a member of the Pembroke College Boat Club and coxed for the men’s first VIII in the year the crew bumped into the first division for the first time.

Peter Grose (left) with Sir Roger Bannister, Lady Bannister and Honorary Fellow Damon Wells

“Peter was the heart and soul and champion of the Pembroke College Foundation as its founding president,” said Tom Herman’ 71, current PCFNA president.  “Working closely with then-Master Sir Roger Bannister, Peter foresaw the benefits of knitting together Pembroke’s North American alumni, not only for their financial support for College, but even more important, in his view, for nurturing a Pembroke American community.”

Peter was the author of numerous books and scholarly articles, including Israel in the Mind of America; Gentleman Spy: The Life of Allen Dulles, and  Operation Rollback: America’s Secret War Behind the Iron Curtain.

“Although quite serious in his scholarly work, Peter was much fun to be around,” recalled Herman.  “For years he happily hosted a drinks party after the Foundation’s annual Trustees meetings (then held in the U.S. Senate office of Sen. Richard Lugar ’54) at The Monocle, Washington’s legendary Capitol Hill restaurant, a favorite watering hole of politicians and journalists, energetically regaling us with tales of reporting the Vietnam War from Saigon and Cold War-era Soviet Union from his perch in Moscow.”

Peter’s wife, Claudia, died in 2021. He is survived by his daughters, Kim Grose Moore and Carolyn Grose, and four grandchildren.

Pembroke is flying its flag at half-staff in his honor.