Dr. Rose Tilles

In 1985 Rose and her husband Gilbert made the first of what would be several major gifts to Long Island University to enhance and endow professional arts programming on the C. W. Post Campus. By the time of Gilbert’s death in 1990—just weeks after the historic pairing of Van Cliburn and the Leningrad Philharmonic at the Center’s 10th anniversary Gala—Tilles Center had clearly established itself as Long Island’s premier performing arts venue.

Over the two decades that followed, Rose served as Honorary Chairman of Tilles Center's Council of Overseers, focusing her energies on arts education. As a wife, former teacher and mother, she encouraged her family’s interests in the arts, and she felt that reaching young people was central to Tilles Center’s mission. She was delighted to see the expansion of family entertainment at the Center, and of outreach to area schools, now serving more than 10,000 students each year.

In 1998, the family created a Rose Tilles Professorship in the Performing Arts, which was initially filled by the distinguished jazz musician Dr. Billy Taylor. Over time, the program became more diversified, with a range of visiting Artists-in-Residence, including Yo-Yo Ma, Bobby McFerrin, Lynn Redgrave, Edward Villella, and the Shanghai String Quartet. Master classes, workshops, lectures, school performances, and scholarship assistance have provided inestimable benefits to both collegiate and K-12 students. Further gifts from the Tilles family led to the creation in 2008 of a special fund, the Gilbert and Rose Tilles Endowment for Arts Education, ensuring that Rose’s legacy will continue for future generations of Long Islanders.

We invite you to join us in remembering Rose, and in committing ourselves to carrying on the work which was so important to her—and to Long Island.