Campus and community mourn beloved professor

In recent weeks, the CSB+SJU community has joined together to celebrate and reflect on the life of beloved accounting professor Warren “Boz” Bostrom.

Bostrom’s death was announced on Oct. 9, after a battle with end stage liver failure.

In response to this news, the CSB+SJU community came together to honor and remember the impact Bostrom had on faculty and students alike.

An initial prayer gathering took place the evening of Oct. 9 outside of Simons Hall with hundreds of students coming to a Celebration of Life occurring this past weekend on Oct. 19.

Professor Kari-Shane Davis Zimmerman put together the Celebration of Life gathering, honoring Bostrom’s contributions to the campus community.

The gathering, which took place at Clemens Stadium, featured a variety of testimonials, allowing the community to share what made Bostrom special.

“People needed a way to grieve this loss because it was so sudden. And by people, I mean students, faculty, alums, and anyone in the accounting realm.” Zimmerman said.

Community members that were impacted by Bostrom had the chance to commemorate his life and reflect on how to continue his legacy.

A 1995 graduate, Bostrom held a deep connection to the CSB+SJU community, embodying the Bennie Johnnie spirit in a variety of endeavors.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in accounting, Bostrom earned a master’s degree from the University of Minnesota in business taxation and had held a CPA license since 1997.

Upon completing nine years in Big 4 accounting, he joined CSB+SJU as a faculty member in 2004.

Throughout his teaching career, Bostrom taught and mentored students in areas focusing on accounting principles, tax, private equity, leadership, and financial modeling.

Bostrom was also an offensive lineman for the St. John’s football team during his time as a student at St. John’s.

He was a part of the 1993 team that set four Division III football team records including most touchdowns scored per game by rushing and passing (8.4), most points per game (61.5), most touchdowns per game (8.9) and highest scoring margin (51.8).

The offense is often cited as one of the greatest Division III football offenses of all time.

For CSB senior Grace Fitzgibbons, Bostrom was her biggest supporter and mentor.

He was a shoulder she could lean on and someone who would continuously instill confidence in his students.

“My life and career path wouldn’t be the same as it is today if I hadn’t taken that Principles I class with Boz Bostrom my freshman spring. His love for Bennies and Johnnies was undeniable as he continuously showed up for his students in every way possible.” Fitzgibbons said.

She also said she will miss his presence in the Simons classrooms and hopes that his gift to connect with anyone he met will remain a part of the CSB+SJU community forever.

CSB Senior Reagan Joseph, an accounting student, was deeply impacted by Bostrom throughout her learning career.

She spoke about how Bostrom was the definition of a “servant leader” as he had his door open constantly, ready to assist students with anything.

Joseph shared a memory regarding Bostrom’s ACCOUNTING merch in which she requested the shirts to be made with pink lettering.

Without hesitation, Bostrom said “yes” and asked her to send him a potential color palette.

Bostrom consistently made an effort to connect with his students no matter the subject.

“[Boz’s]impact on me and all of us students will undoubtably live with us forever.” Joseph said.

Not only did Bostrom create strong relationships with his students, but he also made connections with his fellow faculty members.

Accounting professor Lauri Miller spoke upon her connection with Bostrom, explaining how they had a shared vision regarding student success and how to properly care for their students.

When asked to describe Bostrom in three words, Miller chose integrity, love, and generosity.

“I don’t know anybody who had more integrity than Boz. He lived it.” Miller said.

She also said that he always acted with integrity; when he said he was going to do something, he would always follow through.

Miller explained how generous Bostrom was with his time, especially when it came to his students.

Bostrom’s door was always open to not only accounting and finance students, but all students within the campus community.

Bostrom continued to refine his coursework and create a teaching environment that focused on the students.

“Bostrom’s impact on the community was profound and indescribable,” Miller said.

Accounting professor Brian Rademacher reflected on sharing a teaching environment with Bostrom and how they learned through each other.

“It’s wonderful when you have someone you can share ideas with… have someone that’s so encouraging and wants to learn with you and wants to figure out how not only to help me improve but how to improve themselves too.” Rademacher said.

He said that having an office next to Bostrom was a great experience as they would chat and have conversations regularly throughout the day.

Rademacher said that Bostrom was “larger than life” and passionate about everything he did, never doing anything halfway.

Professor Rademacher shared how Bostrom held a special place for his students.

“The thing I’ll remember is how proud he was of the students and how invested he was in the students. In the discussions we always had, they were about the students and how to make their lives better in general. That’s the thing I’ll miss the most.” Rademacher said.

Rademacher said that whatever a student’s passion was became his passion.

When Bostrom talked about his students, he was energized and excited about their futures.

“Even at the end, that’s what gave him joy.” Rademacher said.