Francois Robert Gros ’64

François died May 20, 2010, in São Paulo, Brazil, of a brain tumor.  

Born in Rio de Janeiro in 1942, he was the son of a French father and Brazilian mother, which explains his fluency in French and Portuguese (to which he added English and Spanish), as well as why some of us called him François and others Francisco (in fact, he also used the name Francisco Roberto André Gros). He came to Princeton from the Peddie School, where he excelled as a scholar and soccer player, as he did at Princeton.

Although François wrote in The Nassau Herald that he didn’t have “the vaguest idea” of what he would do after leaving Princeton, his Woodrow Wilson School thesis, “Mexican Expropriation of U.S.-owned Petroleum Companies in 1938,” evinced interest in natural resources, finance, and Latin American politics that foreshadowed his successful career. François twice headed the Brazilian Central Bank, both times in periods of economic crisis. He was president of the Brazil-

ian Development Bank, director of Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission, president of three natural-resources companies, and senior executive in two financial firms.  

A loyal alumnus, François helped rejuvenate the Princeton Club of Brazil.  

He is survived by his wife, Isabel, sons Franchiso and Carlos, daughter Alexandra, and five grandchildren.