GROVE CITY, Pa. – Longtime Grove City College Trustee, former Board Chair and esteemed business executive J. Paul Sticht died the morning of March 27, 2007, at the age of 89.

Sticht was a 1939 graduate of Grove City College. He was named to the Grove City College Board of Trustees in 1963, became the sixth Chairman of the Board from 1998 to 2003 and served as a member of the Alumni Council. Sticht was chair of the presidential search committee in 2003 and dedicated many hours to the process that brought alumnus Richard G. Jewell ’67 back to campus as his alma mater’s President. Sticht continued to serve on the board as trustee emeritus and on the campaign steering committee until his death.

A memorial service is planned for 2 p.m. Sunday, April 1 at Grove City College’s Harbison Chapel.

Born on Oct. 3, 1917, he was raised in the western Pennsylvania town of West Elizabeth. As a student at Grove City, he was a member of the Epsilon Pi fraternity, president of his sophomore class and participated in several other college activities. In 1940, Sticht married his college sweetheart, Ferne Cozad ’38, and together they raised two sons: David and Mark. Sticht is also survived by two daughters-in-law, Karen and Delores; a sister, Jean Matthews; four grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Sticht had a successful career as an industrial engineer at U.S. Steel. To support the military effort during World War II, he worked with Trans World Airlines transporting critical military cargo. After the war, Mr. Sticht moved to the Campbell Soup Company, rising to the position of president of Campbell Soup, International in 1957. In 1960, he became vice president of Federated Department Stores and took over the presidency there seven years later.

After retiring at the age of 55 from Federated in 1972, Mr. Sticht served as Chairman of the Executive Committee at R.J. Reynolds. In 1973, Mr. Sticht was named president of the company, and after his retirement as a full-time RJR employee in 1984, Mr. Sticht remained on the board, served as a consultant and filled many leadership positions. Twice after retirement, Mr. Sticht was brought back to the company. The first time was in 1987 when he returned as Chairman of the company, which by then had become RJR Nabisco. He returned again as acting Chairman and CEO in 1989 following the acquisition of RJR Nabisco by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company.

Throughout his life, Mr. Sticht served on boards throughout the country, including Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University, Chrysler, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., Wachovia Bank and Trust, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States and the Caribbean/Latin American Action.

Grove City College conferred upon Mr. Sticht an honorary doctor of law degree in 1968. His service was recognized with the Grove City College Alumni Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and through the establishment of the annual J. Paul Sticht Lecture in Business and Ethics upon his retirement as Chairman in 2003. He received the Grove City College Alumni Achievement Award in 1967 and the J. Paul Sticht Lecture Hall in the Hall of Arts and Letters was dedicated in his honor in late 2003.

Sticht established the J. Paul Sticht Fellowship at The Fuqua School of Business of Duke University for seniors or graduates of Grove City College who exemplify excellence in leadership and have been accepted into the Duke M.B.A. program. The scholarship has been awarded 12 times since its establishment in 1984. The Fuqua School of Business has also established the J. Paul Sticht Professor of International Business. The Fuqua School of Business, established in 1970, is one of the leading business schools in the world and has an annual enrollment of approximately 1,340 students.

The J. Paul Sticht Center on Aging and Rehabilitation at the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C., was the first facility in the world to incorporate geriatric acute care, transitional care, psychiatry and rehabilitation under one roof.

A Winter 1999 cover story in the Grove City College Alumni Magazine details Sticht’s contributions as a businessman. “Describing the man who became RJR’s chairman and chief executive officer, writers for major newspapers and business magazines use a collection of words not commonly associated with corporate leaders. ‘Statesman,’ ‘soft-spoken,’ ‘courtly,’ ‘avuncular,’ ‘successful,’ ‘approachable’ and ‘bold’ are all found in the lexicon defining Sticht.”