News
[Stuart Rojstaczer, 9/1/2011] Recently published article on American college grading is going to to be summarized by Science as an Editors' Choice. It's already been covered by the NY Times, Washington Post, Chronicle of Higher Ed, Inside Higher Ed, USA Today and a bunch of other places. Reading some background material on a couple of hydrology projects in Israel.
[Stuart Rosh, 9/1/2011] Working on new CD. Have about 30 songs written. Am starting to play out those tunes to gauge audience response and see which ones to include. Finished first draft of a novel. Should be done with version to show to friends by the end of October.
A little background
Up until about 1997, I was ostensibly a full-time geeky scientist and professor. I was good at it. I'd won lots of awards, received lots of grants, published widely in prominent scientific journals, yada, yada, But truth be known, I was always a closet writer and musician. For reasons I don't even understand myself, I decided to shed my scientist persona and be more public in my writing. I started writing op-eds mostly about higher education and then published a book on that topic in 1999. In 2001, I decided to gradually retreat from the world of academia.
Then in 2002, I started to go public with my music. I also decided to create a public name for myself, Stuart Rosh, that was easier to remember than my legal name. I've released three nationally distributed CDs so far, but the principal aim of my music writing and publishing is Film/TV and major record company placement (i.e., writing songs for the young, good looking, and talented to sing). While I do sing in public, I'm way too old to be a mainstream performer.
In 2005 I retired from my position at Duke. I decided to branch out with my writing and work on fiction. Strangely, the response by editors to this work has been very positive.
Nowadays, I still consult on water issues under my legal name. But when it comes to anything artistic, I use the name Rosh. Having an artistic alter ego has been a wonderful thing. I highly recommend it for anyone. If you're interested in my science and writings on higher education, use the impossible name Rojstaczer (pronounced Rumpelstiltskin). If you're interested in my music and fiction, use the name Rosh (also pronounced Rumpelstiltskin). Enjoy!