Leon A. Bosch, professor emeritus for Kellogg School of Management and former associate dean of the master’s in business administration program at Northwestern, died Dec. 22 at his home in Holland, Mich. He was 96.

As associate dean of the MBA program at NU’s School of Commerce from 1953 to 1962, Bosch helped develop a policy and environment program that was incorporated into the curriculum when the school moved to focus only on graduate studies in 1979 and was renamed Kellogg School of Management.

“He sort of laid the foundation for some of the things that Kellogg did when it was started,” said Charles Loebbaka, a spokesman for the university.

After his years as assistant dean, Bosch taught business policy and became known as one of the experts in business policy eduction, said Donald Jacobs, dean emeritus of Kellogg and a close friend of Bosch’s.

“He was absolutely dedicated to education,” Jacobs said. “That was his life, that was his interest.”

Bosch, a “world-class academic,” loved to travel and taught in classrooms all around the world, including Venezuela, Switzerland and Egypt, Jacobs said.

Before he retired in 1978, Bosch was NU’s faculty representative in the Big Ten, in addition to serving as chairman of the finance committee. An avid sports fan, Bosch also was an honorary member of the N Club, a group of Wildcat athletic supporters.

“Whatever he did he did intensely,” Jacobs said. “So when he was on that committee, he was deeply interested in (athletics).”

Bosch received his bachelor’s degree from Hope College in Holland, Mich., his master’s from the University of Illinois and his doctorate from NU in 1948.

In addition to his work at NU, Bosch also served as a consultant for several businesses and as a 20-year member of the board of trustees for Hope College.

During World War II, Bosch worked for the Office of Price Administration, a government program that rationed meat and dairy products.

After he retired Bosch and his wife moved to Laguna Hills, Calif., where he was active in the community and served on the board of the University of California at Irvine.

Bosch is survived by his wife, Virginia. The family asked that memorial contributions be sent to Kellogg or to the Leon A. Bosch scholarship at Hope College.