  Suppose that p is an odd prime and G is a finite group having no normal
non-trivial p'-subgroup. We show that if a is an automorphism of G of p-power
order centralizing a Sylow p-group of G, then a is inner. This answers a
conjecture of Gross. An easy corollary is that if p is an odd prime and P is a
Sylow p-subgroup of G, then the center of P is contained in the generalized
Fitting subgroup of G. We give two proofs both requiring the classification of
finite simple groups. For p=2, the result fails but Glauberman in 1968 proved
that the square of a is inner. This answered a problem of Kourovka posed in
1999.
