Oscar Ruebhausen, advised Rockefeller

NEW YORK -- Oscar M. Ruebhausen, an adviser to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller and a former president of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, died Tuesday. He was 92, said Bevis Longstreth, a retired partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, where Mr. Ruebhausen had been presiding partner.

Mr. Ruebhausen was said to be a silent but major influence on Rockefeller, who offered him positions serving in government and Rockefeller family foundations, which he turned down.

Mr. Ruebhausen was born in Manhattan in 1912 and grew up in Vermont. He graduated from Dartmouth College and Yale Law School. In 1937, he joined Debevoise, Stevenson, Plimpton & Page, an 11-partner firm that now employs more than 450 lawyers.

During World War II, Mr. Ruebhausen worked as a lawyer for the Lend-Lease Administration, providing supplies to American war allies. In 1944, he was general counsel for the Office of Scientific Research and Development, which directed projects from the atomic bomb to antimalaria drugs.

After the war, Mr. Ruebhausen returned to his firm and worked in various fields, including foreign policy issues and real estate development.