Rose Juliet Forgione was born December 21, 1928 to Louis and Rose Sarne Forgione in New York. Her older brother Louis was born in 1926. Rose graduated from Furman University in 1948 with a B.S., and Louis graduated in 1949. In 1954 Rose received her Master’s in Nursing from Columbia University. She taught pediatric nursing at Duke University and from 1964-1988 was a professor at the University of Vermont, Burlington.

Rose passed away on May 1, 1997. Her brother Louis passed away October 10, 1994. The entire Forgione estate was bequeathed to Furman University. There is a Rose J. Forgione Chair in the Sciences and a Louis G. Forgione University Professor of Classics.