Nancy Sverdlik ’79 was familiar with Cornell long before she applied. 

Nancy’s aunt, uncle, and three cousins attended Cornell—almost all in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations—which gave her an early introduction to the Hill. Nancy also attended a Cornell summer session between her junior and senior year of high school—solidifying Cornell as her number one choice.

As she describes it, “Once I mastered the layout of the campus, I didn’t want to go anyplace else! And the added benefit was that I made friends fast freshman year because I knew my way around.”

Nancy chose to go to the ILR School, but by first semester sophomore year, the labor emphasis seemed so overwhelming that she wanted to transfer. Two things changed her trajectory: she realized that she couldn’t transfer before the semester was done—and by then, the worst would be behind her; and she took a personnel management class and thought, “THIS I can do!” Nancy’s entire career was in Human Resources and, she says, “I actually did what I went to college for.”

After graduation, Nancy moved to New York City and completed a master’s in business administration from New York University. In NYC, she also reconnected with a Cornell acquaintance, Beth Anderson ’80, who became her partner and fellow FHTR awardee.

Once Nancy felt her career had found its footing, she turned her attention to volunteerism. She said that New York’s dynamic and vibrant Cornell alumni community made it easy to get involved, and her HR background from ILR gave her a natural way to contribute.

“I wanted to be able to do something for Cornell because I knew how much it did for me,” she said.

Nancy started her volunteer journey doing phonathons and became involved with the Class of 1979 through Class Council and as a Cornell Fund Representative. From there, she served on the ILR Advisory Council, the Cornell Adult University (CAU) Advisory Board and the Cornell Association of Class Officers (CACO) Administrative Board, including as vice president.

A long-time member of Cornell University Council (CUC), Nancy was appointed to the Council’s Administrative Board and became vice chair of the engagement committee, where she helped launch a council newsletter. “It was kind of a blue-sky project, so it was ours to define, and I was very proud of what we accomplished,” Nancy said.

Currently, Nancy is a member of the Committee on Alumni Trustee Nominations (CATN) and, in July, joined the Grinspoon Hillel Board of Trustees.

Much of that willingness to dive in, Nancy said, comes down to being willing to say “yes” and be open to new experiences.

When her class organized a pre-game dinner before the first Big Red hockey game at Madison Square Garden, she was paired with two classmates she barely knew to scout out restaurants. Twenty years later, the group remains close friends. 

“I feel like I’ve gotten so much out of Cornell, it’s pretty easy for me to give back,” Nancy said. “If you don’t give it a try, you don’t know what you might be missing out on.”