ROCHESTER, N.Y. — RIT is mourning the loss of a former president.

M. Richard Rose died on Saturday at his home in Florida. 

Rose was the seventh president of RIT from 1979 to 1992. 

Rose is credited with helping to build the university's reputation and also expanding its curriculum.

He also worked to launch the university's first doctoral program in 1990, which offered the country's only imaging science PHD at the time. That initiative helped put RIT on the path to adding more doctoral programs and leading to it becoming one of the nation's leading research universities.

Rose is survived by his wife and three sons. He was 88 years old.