"It is impossible to express the loss our employees are feeling today," Hankowsky continues. "He cannot be replaced, but the culture of this company is indelibly stamped with his uniquely moral view of the individual's place in the corporation and the corporation's responsibility to the world."

With his friends George Congdon, David Hammers and Menard Doswell, Rouse founded Rouse & Associates, an industrial development company, in 1972. In 1994 it became Liberty Property Trust, one of the country's largest REITs with market capitalization of $4.6 billion. Rouse & Associates spawned many other ongoing businesses in the fields of construction, architecture and housing development.

Through his companies, Rouse was responsible for the creation of more than 50 million sf of office and industrial space in the US and UK, hotels, urban and suburban housing, and the redevelopment and restoration of Philadelphia landmarks. Among them are the 650-acre Great Valley Corporate Center in Malvern that is credited with establishing the Rte. 202 business corridor as a major employment center, and Liberty Place, the 3.4-million-sf, mixed-use Center City landmark skyscraper that dramatically changed the Philadelphia skyline.