Dick Rosston

Dick Rosston moved to Anchorage in 1977 following his graduation from UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law and deciding between opportunities in San Francisco versus Anchorage. After creating a list of pros and cons, the mountains of Alaska won out and Anchorage has been thankful ever since! Dick is an attorney with Dorsey & Whitney, LLP, where he practices merger, acquisition, corporate, real estate, finance and Alaska Native law. He is most importantly the proud father of three children! He has a fourteen year old daughter Jean in eighth grade and twenty-four-year-old twin sons, Matt, a banker for Wells Fargo in San Diego, and Ryan, an engineering management graduate student at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.

The mountains of Alaska beckoned Dick for an obvious reason; he is an avid skier -a passion of his since the age of seven! As a member of the National Ski Patrol, he volunteers three days a month at Alyeska Resort.  He also spent eight years as the national ski & toboggan proficiency advisor for the National Ski Patrol System and a year doing avalanche control work in Bozeman, Montana. His journey to Alaska included experiences which highlight some of his other passions. He backpacked through Nevada and Wyoming, caught up with friends in Bozeman, Montana, and finally bid farewell to his car in Seattle where he put it on a ship to Anchorage and flew the rest of the way to begin his new adventure. Upon arriving in Alaska he immediately went backpacking...the blueberries were in season!

A Californian by birth, Dick was raised in Lafayette and much of his family remains in the Bay Area. Growing up in the Bay Area afforded him the opportunity to experience a myriad of arts and culture, including the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. Perhaps this is where he learned of the importance that arts and culture play in quality of life, or perhaps it was his 7th grade school play appearance in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dick is currently president of the Board of Directors for the Anchorage Concert Association and has been an annual supporter of the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts since 1988.

When asked why he supports the PAC, Dick said, "I believe having quality, vibrant arts available improves our quality of life. It was one of the things I was looking for when deciding to move here. Before the PAC, visiting musicians and theater groups usually performed in a small downtown theatre or at West High.  The existence of the PAC helps define Anchorage as a first class city with a first class venue for presenting world quality performances."

Dick's hope for his legacy is first and foremost that his children will be happy, confident and contributing members of the world. And with that in mind he said, "I love helping people achieve their goals, whether it be my family, my clients, or the greater community we live in--including teaching someone how to use a ski patrol toboggan and supporting the arts to improve the quality of life in Anchorage for all of us."

Alaska Center for the Performing Arts, Inc. would like to thank Dick Rosston for seventeen years of continued and generous support. Dick for all you do to make Anchorage a better place... thank you.

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