Award winners (from left) Charles Stoppard ’82, BS ’83; Beth Anderson ’80; Nancy Sverdlik ’79; Terri Denison ’84; Ellen Perlmutter ’74; and Linda Jarschauer Johnson ’60, MS ’63. Not pictured: Marty Lustig ’63. (Rachel Philipson)

Bear Hugs

Meet the 2026 Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award Winners

The recipients of one of Cornell’s highest honors were recognized during the Volunteer Summit on campus in mid-October

“Bear Hugs” celebrates heartwarming stories of Cornellians on the Hill and around the world. Have an idea? Email us at cornellians@cornell.edu!

Editor’s note: This story was adapted from coverage on the Alumni Affairs and Development website; the full story on each winner can be accessed by clicking their name.

By Jennifer Wholey ’10 & Cornellians staff

Each year, a small group of devoted Cornellians is recognized with the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award. The honor, which goes to long-term volunteers who have dedicated themselves to a variety of Big Red alumni causes, is bestowed on a maximum of six people annually.

The award is, of course, named for Cornell’s ninth president.

Rhodes—who passed away in 2020 at age 93—was a beloved figure who retained close ties to the University and its alumni long after retiring with the title of president emeritus.

Cornell’s leader from 1977–95 (as well as a noted geologist, paleontologist, and Darwin scholar), Rhodes was the longest-serving president in the Ivy League when he stepped down.

At that time, almost half of the Big Red’s nearly 123,000 living undergrad alumni had attended while he was in office.

President Frank H.T. Rhodes — cornell university

The award in his honor was established in 1994—and for numerous years afterward, he and wife Rosa attended the celebration where it was presented.

Here’s a look at the 2026 winners:

Beth Anderson ’80

Anderson came close to attending Penn instead of Cornell—leaving her Cornellian parents wondering whether they’d be driving her to Philadelphia or Ithaca for her first semester.

She finally settled the debate by coming down to dinner wearing a Cornell T-shirt.

What began as a last-minute decision has since grown into a lifelong commitment to the University, including decades of volunteer service across numerous alumni organizations.

Anderson currently chairs the Library Advisory Council, serves on the 1980 class council, and is a member of Cornellians’ alumni advisory board.

She was an alumni-elected trustee from 2020–24 and is a University Council life member.

As an undergrad majoring in history in Arts & Sciences, Anderson—who swam and played rugby, soccer, and lacrosse—was president of the Women’s Athletic Association and represented undergrads on the Title IX committee, advocating for female athletes during the early years of the federal law.

After graduation, she moved to NYC, where she began volunteering by interviewing prospective students; she also reconnected with fellow alum Nancy Sverdlik ’79 (see below), who became her life partner.

Says Anderson: “We all have that love of the Big Red, an admiration for Cornell, and that recollection of hiking up icy Libe Slope together in our memory banks.”

Terri Denison ’84

Denison had never set foot on campus until she matriculated as a freshman, arriving in Ithaca after a 50-hour bus ride from her hometown of Corpus Christi, TX.

After majoring in government in Arts & Sciences, she went on to a long career with the federal Small Business Administration, eventually serving as its Georgia state director.

After becoming involved with the Cornell Alumni Association of Atlanta, she was asked to oversee its scholarship efforts.

Denison went on to become president of the association, helping make it one of the University’s leading scholarship fundraisers on Giving Day.

“Looking back on my journey getting to Cornell, it seemed like that was the perfect opportunity for me to give back,” says Denison, “because I know what it’s like to wonder, ‘Am I going to have the resources to continue at Cornell?’”

Her volunteer involvement also extends to the University Council, which she joined in 2014. She has since served on its administrative board and as chair of the engagement committee.

“I think sometimes people think ‘I’ve got to be able to give a lot of money,’” she observes of alumni engagement. “It has its place, but if you give the best of your talents, the best of your efforts, the best of your concern for your fellow alums and current students, that to me is doing the greatest good.”

Linda Jarschauer Johnson ’60, MS ’63

Because the pandemic hit during their final semester on the Hill, the members of the Class of 2020 were unable to enjoy numerous Big Red traditions. But when it came time for their first official Reunion five years later, Johnson and her 1960 classmates stepped in to help make up for that loss.

They contributed $25,000 toward their younger counterparts’ 5th Reunion celebration, allowing the 2020 grads to enjoy extra festivities like a belated Slope Day-style concert.

“It’s like we’re their grandparents,” says Johnson, who studied child development in what was then the College of Home Economics (now Human Ecology). “We thought, ‘Let’s help them have something really special because they’d missed out.’”

The gesture is one of many ways Johnson has helped strengthen connections among Cornellians.

A former president and Reunion chair for her class, she received the William “Bill” Vanneman ’31 Outstanding Class Leader Award in 2022. She has also served on the Cornell Club of Washington board and spent 12 years on University Council, where she is now a life member.

Her involvement also extends well beyond volunteer service. Johnson spent 25 years as executive director of Cornell in Washington, beginning with the program’s launch in 1983.

Johnson’s Big Red ties run deep within her own family, too. Both of her children—Seth Johnson ’89 and Suzannah Johnson Creedon ’92—attended, as did granddaughter Eleanor Creedon ’24.

Marty Lustig ’63

Lustig and his future wife, Dianne Flannery Lustig ’66, met in Mann Library his junior year, on a serendipitously inclement evening. “I saw Dianne come down out of the stacks and I ran over and offered her a ride home,” he recalls.

“And I was lucky it was a very cold, wet night, typical Ithaca in the fall, and she accepted the ride.”

After living in Rochester, NY, following graduation, the couple moved to suburban Kansas City in the early 1980s.

They discovered there was no alumni club in the area—so they started one.

The couple have helped lead the Cornell Club of Mid-America for much of the past 43 years, including raising funds to support a regional scholarship that was recently renamed in their honor.

Those fundraisers have sometimes entailed hosting Big Red luminaries at their home—such as Prof. Robert Baker ’43, inventor of the chicken nugget, who grilled on the Lustigs’ back patio while Marty fetched ingredients for Baker’s famous Cornell Chicken marinade.

Marty has also served as chair of what became the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN); the electrical engineering alum sits on the 1963 class council and is a University Council life member.

In addition to his Big Red contributions, Marty—who earned a master electrician license after retiring from the corporate world—volunteers to do electrical work in his local community.

Ellen Perlmutter ’74

For Perlmutter, what began as a volunteer opportunity to interview prospective students eventually led to a career in undergraduate admissions for her alma mater.

Perlmutter first volunteered with CAAAN in Los Angeles, where she built a career as a psychologist.

Wanting to better understand the University and its offerings for current undergrads, she immersed herself in its history and campus life, eventually taking on leadership roles with the CAAAN advisory council and the Cornell Club of L.A.

Her involvement led to a position as assistant director of admissions for the West Coast, which she held for 12 years before retiring in 2019.

Following her retirement, Perlmutter resumed her volunteer leadership roles, serving on the University Council administrative board, the President’s Council of Cornell Women steering committee, and the Cornell Club of L.A. board. She has also served as vice chair of the CAAAN advisory council and the alumni trustee nominations committee.

A former psychology major in Arts & Sciences, Perlmutter is married to a fellow alum, Ed Jones ’74. The couple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2026.

“I have met the nicest people. I have made the most lovely friends,” Perlmutter says of her relationship to her alma mater. “My engagement with staff, alumni, and students has enriched my life in an intellectual and social way beyond anything I could have imagined.”

Charles Stuppard ’82, BS ’83

Stuppard has held numerous leadership positions within the alumni community—but for the retired U.S. Navy captain, his time as president of the Cornell Military Network stands out as particularly meaningful.

As he notes, while Cornell was ranked 47th among military-friendly universities when he took office, it has since risen to become the nation’s top-ranked university for military veterans.

Stuppard has also spent 15 years as co-president of the Class of 1982 and held leadership positions with the Cornell Association of Class Officers (CACO) and the University Council.

He serves as director-at-large of the Cornell Engineering Alumni Association and co-founded the Cornell Club of Hampton Roads to connect alumni in the Virginia Beach area.

Born and raised in Haiti, Stuppard immigrated to the U.S. with limited English proficiency and initially failed to gain admission to the University.

After two years of community college, he transferred to Cornell and pursued a double major in mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Following graduation, Stuppard worked in military aircraft design before beginning a 30-year career in the Navy.

He and his wife of 41 years, Nidda Melendez ’85, met on the Hill. He calls her the “best gift I got from Cornell, other than my degree.”

Nancy Sverdlik ’79

A career human resources professional, Sverdlik has put her people skills to work in decades of volunteer service that started with alumni phonathons.

She served on her class council and as a Cornell Fund representative and assumed leadership roles with the ILR advisory council, Cornell’s Adult University advisory board, and the CACO administrative board, where she served as vice president.

A longtime member of the University Council, Sverdlik served on its administrative board and became vice chair of its engagement committee, where she helped launch a newsletter to keep alumni informed and connected. Today, she continues her involvement through the alumni trustee nominations committee and the Grinspoon Hillel board of trustees.

As an undergrad, Sverdlik followed in the footsteps of several relatives in matriculating at the ILR School. Her sophomore fall, she was contemplating transferring to another Cornell school or college when a personnel management class helped her find her calling in HR.

After graduation, she moved to NYC, where she reconnected with a fellow Cornellian, Beth Anderson ’80 (see above), who became her life partner.

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

Top: Award winners (from left) Charles Stoppard ’82, BS ’83; Beth Anderson ’80; Nancy Sverdlik ’79; Terri Denison ’84; Ellen Perlmutter ’74; and Linda Jarschauer Johnson ’60, MS ’63. Not pictured: Marty Lustig ’63. (Photo by Rachel Philipson; all other images provided, unless otherwise indicated.)

Published October 27, 2026