 He had plans to attend Dartmouth College until his older brother died in combat during World War II.Rosencrans enlisted and served in the United States Army Air Forces, then earned bachelor's and master's degrees in economics from Columbia University in 1949.After several jobs in retailing, Rosencrans joined Box Office Television (BOT), which produced programming for hotels and wanted to offer closed-circuit programming, such as sports games and live theater, to movie theaters.