In Memoriam September 2025 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s The University recently learned of the passing of these Cornellians Editor’s note: Please submit notification of alumni deaths—including an obituary, if possible—to the University at cubio-deceased@cornell.edu. Once the University records an alumni death in its database, the relevant information is forwarded to Cornellians for inclusion in a future In Memoriam section; deaths are generally listed three to four months after the University receives notice. If you have questions, please contact Alexandra Bond ’12 at abb83@cornell.edu. 1940s ’46 DVM—Roger W. Batchelder of Cortland, NY, May 30, 2025; veterinarian; co-founder, Cort-Lanes Bowling Alley; member, Kiwanis; avid golfer; enjoyed boating; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Alpha Psi. ’46 BS HE—Frances Cassedy Hutton of West Chester, PA, April 17, 2025; hospital volunteer; docent, Rhode Island School of Design Art Museum; enjoyed international travel, gardening, flower arranging, reading, museums, theater, and music; active in community and alumni affairs. Delta Delta Delta. ’47 BEE—Eve Freyer Spencer of San Diego, CA, April 4, 2025; electrical engineer at Bell Labs, Philco, Westinghouse, and the Engineering Society; technical writer; performed consumer research for touchtone phones; enjoyed hiking in the Appalachian Mountains; active in professional and alumni affairs. ’49 BS CALS—Ned W. Bandler of Bridgewater, CT, May 5, 2025; senior vice president and director, Unilever United States; oversaw the purchase of Chesebrough Ponds and the acquisitions of Fabergé, Elizabeth Arden, and Calvin Klein; also worked at June Dairy Products Co.; veteran; served on the U.S. Department of Commerce Marketing Advisory Committee and the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad; senior advisor, Institute for Representative Government; enjoyed gardening; active in civic, community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. Alpha Zeta. ’49 BS Eng—Donald P. Feiman of Naples, FL, August 4, 2023; developer; built shopping centers, office buildings, and apartment houses in New Jersey; enjoyed tennis; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Alpha Epsilon Pi. 1950s ’50 BFA—Cabot Lyford of New Harbor, ME, January 21, 2016; sculptor; skilled watercolor painter; director of the art department and teacher of art history and sculpture at Phillips Exeter Academy; director, Lamont Gallery; wrote, directed, and produced television shows and commercials with J. Walter Thompson and NBC; helped establish WENH Channel 11 in Durham, NH; veteran; enjoyed skiing, sailing, and watching football; active in civic, community, and professional affairs. ’51 BS HE—Martha Palmer Leape of Lexington, MA, April 30, 2025; counselor, Harvard Office of Career Services and Off Campus Learning; author; enjoyed international travel, tennis, swimming, skiing, hiking, and biking; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Delta Delta Delta. ’52 BS CALS—Robert L. Pask of Medina, NY, April 21, 2025; farmer; enjoyed hunting, fishing, and taking care of his mules; active in community, religious, and alumni affairs. Alpha Zeta. ’53 BS HE—Judith Karkus Allen of Boca Raton, FL, and Morrisville, VT, March 2025; nursery school director and teacher; taught middle school cooking classes; enjoyed travel, skiing, tennis, and golf; active in alumni affairs. Sigma Delta Tau. ’53, BS ILR ’57—Lawrence M. Ginsburg of Atlanta, GA, formerly of Syracuse, NY, May 1, 2025; attorney; veteran; author; active in community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. ’53 BA—Caroline Mulford Owens of Bridgeton, NJ, formerly of Westport, CT, May 17, 2025; founder, Newsletters Plus, specializing in corporate communications for large firms; editor and publisher of the specialty fashion publication International Boutique Directory; also worked in the advertising department at DuPont; president, Connecticut Press Club; writer and editor, Upper Deerfield Township Environmental Commission; Girl Scout leader; Sunday school teacher; active in community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. Kappa Kappa Gamma. ’54 BA—Thomas W. Donnelly of Endicott, NY, May 7, 2025; geologist on deep-sea drilling projects and other field studies; professor of geology at SUNY Binghamton and Rice University; spent his retirement as an entomologist studying dragonflies and damselflies, discovering and collecting new species throughout the world; helped found the Dragonfly Society of the Americas; enjoyed international travel; active in professional affairs. ’54 BS ILR—Donald K. Miller of Palm Beach, FL, and Greenwich, CT, May 10, 2025; chairman, Axiom International Investors LLC; chairman, Greylock Financial Inc.; also worked at Blyth, Eastman, Dillon & Co., Paine Webber, Walmart, and G.H. Walker & Co.; veteran; lifelong learner; enjoyed playing squash and tennis; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Psi Upsilon. ’54 BS CALS—William W. Pinchbeck of Berlin, VT, and Guilford, CT, April 18, 2025; wholesale florist and rose grower; veteran; Rotarian; avid reader; enjoyed international travel, music, and swimming; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Alpha Chi Rho. ’55 BA—Nathaniel R. Bowditch of Kennett Square, PA, May 3, 2025; vice president and stockbroker, Smith Barney; vice chairman, First Pennsylvania Bank; advocate for Black economic development; veteran; avid reader; enjoyed travel; active in civic, community, professional, and alumni affairs. Sigma Phi. ’56, BME ’57—Gregory A. Hill of Mount Juliet, TN, April 16, 2025; worked at Lukens Steel and other steel companies; served in the Environmental Protection Agency under the Presidential Executive Interchange Program; veteran; lifelong learner; master gardener; enjoyed international travel, sports cars, model airplanes, stamp collecting, music, theater, and art; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Theta Xi. ’57—Joyce Dudley McDowell of Hermosa Beach, CA, formerly of Kilauea, HI, April 26, 2025; worked at IBM on natural language processing; founder, Amazing Taste; enjoyed international travel, cooking, birding, history, theater, opera, reading mysteries, and collecting art and Chinese snuff bottles; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Surviving spouse: Edward R.H. McDowell ’54, B Chem E ’55. ’57, B Chem E ’58—William J. Schmidt of Rockville, MD, April 6, 2025; internationally renowned plein air and landscape painter; nuclear engineer; co-founder and president, Industrial Training Corp.; consultant; mentor; enjoyed international travel, tennis, museums, galleries, fine wines, good food, opera, ballet, and theater; active in professional and alumni affairs. ’58, BCE ’60, MBA ’61—Robert E. Claypoole of Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, March 30, 2025; President of Terminals, GATX Corp.; enjoyed international travel, tennis, golf, fishing, crossword puzzles, and Sudoku; active in community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. Pi Kappa Phi. ’58 BA—William T. Cotton of New Orleans, LA, November 18, 2024; professor of English, Loyola University of the South; recipient, Dux Academicus Award; fencing coach; enjoyed classical music, badminton, and tennis; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Kappa Delta Rho. ’58 BS Hotel—Benjamin H. Walcott of Cotuit, MA, April 26, 2025; assistant director of food services, Purchasing and Dining Services Department, Harvard University; veteran; avid skier, sailor, and tennis player; enjoyed international travel, classical music, fishing, swimming, vegetable gardening, cooking, and reading; active in professional and alumni affairs. Delta Kappa Epsilon. ’58—John F. Wysard of Westfield, NY, January 19, 2024; commercial airline pilot, Pan Am and United Airlines; veteran; avid model shipbuilder; enjoyed flying and boating; active in community and professional affairs. ’59 BA—Coleman H. Burton of Columbia, MO, March 21, 2023; director of university communications, University of Missouri; active in professional and alumni affairs. Chi Phi. ’59, BEE ’60—David A. Hodges of Berkeley, CA, November 13, 2022; professor emeritus and dean of the College of Engineering, UC Berkeley; pioneer in integrated circuit design and semiconductor manufacturing; also worked at Bell Labs; author; editor; active in professional and alumni affairs. Telluride. ’59 BA—Kenneth T. Steadman of Williamsville, NY, formerly of Geneva, NY, May 1, 2025; obstetrician/gynecologist, Geneva Medical Associates; veteran; Rotarian; enjoyed international travel; active in community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. Sigma Pi. 1960s ’60—Judith Ravinett Blau of Eastchester, NY, May 4, 2025; toy designer; children’s author; illustrator; environmental educator; active in professional affairs. Sigma Delta Tau. ’60 BS Nurs—Civianne Rubin Bloch of Canton, MA, August 19, 2023; nurse; worked at Diet Center of New Haven; active in alumni affairs. Surviving spouse: Eric F. Bloch ’58, BME ’59. ’60, BS HE ’61—Rita Schwartz Brody of East Falmouth, MA, January 11, 2025; real estate broker; enjoyed dogs, knitting, and cooking; active in professional and alumni affairs. ’60 LLB—A. Douglas P. Craig of White Plains, NY, and New Harbor, ME, May 3, 2025; corporate attorney; also worked at the U.S. Patent Office; veteran; active in professional and alumni affairs. ’60 BS CALS—James R. Hazlitt of Hector, NY, May 20, 2025; pioneer in the Finger Lakes wine industry; president, Sawmill Creek Vineyards Inc.; board member, Farm Bureau, Schuyler County Soil and Water, and the New York State Wine Grape Growers trade organization; president, VLH Fire Co.; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Sigma Phi Epsilon. ’60—Janis Mitchelhill Leas of High Falls, NY, November 8, 2024; homemaker; teacher; Scout leader; enjoyed international travel, lifelong learning, music, and gardening; active in community, religious, and alumni affairs. Pi Beta Phi. ’60, BS CALS ’65—David T. Smith of Mechanicville, NY, April 16, 2025; worked at the Internal Revenue Service; veteran; avid reader; tractor enthusiast; enjoyed gardening and crossword puzzles; active in community and religious affairs. ’60 BS ILR, MBA ’62—Harry S. Welch of Jupiter, FL, April 4, 2025; founder of a high-tech communications company; also worked at Sprint International; veteran; active in alumni affairs. Sigma Chi. ’61 BA—Ted W. Mihalisin of La Jolla, CA, November 17, 2023; professor of physics, Temple University; author; active in professional affairs. Delta Phi. ’62 PhD—Richard W. Robinson of Geneva, NY, March 22, 2024; professor emeritus of plant science, Cornell University; research specialist, Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station; developed new varieties of squash, cucumbers, lettuce, and eggplant; veteran; author; helped establish the Geneva Early Childcare Center; enjoyed international travel, reading, gardening, and camping; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. ’62 DVM, PhD ’68—Fredric W. Scott of Brooktondale, NY, April 24, 2025; veterinarian; professor emeritus, Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine; director, Cornell Feline Health Center; researched feline viral diseases and vaccine development; author; enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing, genealogy, and sports; active in community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. Alpha Psi. ’62 BS CALS—J. Philip Tierney of Canandaigua, NY, September 28, 2013; teacher, Cardinal Mooney High School; active in alumni affairs. ’63, BS CALS ’64—Bruce A. Ferguson of Salem, NY, December 1, 2024; dairy farmer; realtor; New York State assessor; also raised beefalo; town supervisor and councilman, Salem, NY; licensed EMT; helped establish the Georgi Museum; enjoyed the Grand Ol’ Opry, local history, and picnics at Scott Lake; active in civic, community, professional, and alumni affairs. Delta Tau Delta. ’64 MS—Harry R. Albers of La Mesa, CA, July 17, 2024; vice president for university relations, San Diego State University, and general manager, San Diego State University Foundation; physicist, Smithsonian Institution; author; active in professional and alumni affairs. ’64 BS CALS—Daniel J. Clements of Danby, NY, May 21, 2025; worked at Agway. ’64—W. David Temel of Mount Pleasant, SC, September 18, 2024; entrepreneur; chairman, Economy Realty Services Inc.; president and CEO, Economy Lodging Systems Inc.; executive director, Hospitality Management Service; chairman and CEO, Knights Lodging Inc.; enjoyed dogs and golf; active in professional and alumni affairs. Surviving spouse: Cornelia Akelaitis Temel ’63. ’65—Stephen D. Butts of Homer, NY, May 12, 2025; dairy farmer; enjoyed fishing and hunting; active in civic and community affairs. ’65 BA, JD ’68—Stephen A. Hurwitz of Wayland, MA, April 26, 2025; attorney; partner at Choate, Hall & Stewart; specialist in U.S.-Canada cross-border transactions; co-founder and partner at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault; student of Middle Eastern history; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Alpha Delta Phi. ’65 DVM—J. Allen Leslie of Christiana, PA, April 3, 2025; veterinarian, Delaware Equine Center; U.S. Eventing Team Veterinarian at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics; enjoyed international travel and horseback riding; active in professional and alumni affairs. ’65 BA—George C. Norman of River Forest, IL, July 16, 2022; commercial realtor; also worked at Owens Corning; veteran; enjoyed tennis; active in professional and alumni affairs. Psi Upsilon. ’65 BEP—Allen S. Weinrub of Oakland, CA, August 30, 2023; co-founder, Science for the People; worked with Fortune 500 computer technology companies; first vice president, National Writers Union; recognized as a Lifelong Energy Justice Champion by the California Alliance for Community Energy; human rights and climate justice advocate; enjoyed international travel; active in civic, community, and professional affairs. ’66 PhD—Robert A. Guyer of Reno, NV, May 3, 2025; theoretical physicist; taught at UMass Amherst and Duke University; researched low-temperature physics, neutron star phase dynamics, polymer science, materials science, seismology, and geophysics; also worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of Nevada, Reno; author; recipient, Alexander Von Humbolt Fellowship; enjoyed reading, classical music, tennis, and racquetball; active in professional affairs. ’66 BA—Elbert Hargesheimer of Hamburg, NY, February 21, 2023; attorney; Diamond Life Master, American Contract Bridge League; active in civic, community, professional, and alumni affairs. Theta Chi. ’67 BS CALS—Donald E. Harner of Lansing, NY, May 5, 2025; founder, Harner Design & Construction; enjoyed the family cottage and fixing broken items. ’68 MAT—Ruth Poppens Sherbon of Mason, OH, formerly of Ithaca, NY, April 13, 2025; teacher, Northeast Elementary School; active in community, religious, and alumni affairs. ’69 BS CALS—Linda Pearce Kabelac of Ithaca, NY, May 29, 2025; major gifts officer, Cornell University; avid gardener; enjoyed travel, floral design, classic cars, dancing, raising purebred Korat cats, and collecting American Brilliant cut glass; active in community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. Surviving spouse: Edward L. Kabelac ’67. ’69 BS CALS—Robert C. McGuinn of Toronto, ON, April 10, 2025; senior executive at Philips, a multinational technology giant; member of both the 1967 Cornell men’s hockey NCAA championship team and the Canadian CIAU championship team; enjoyed golf; active in religious and alumni affairs. 1970s ’70 BS HE—Ruth D. Palombo of Arlington, MA, July 13, 2024; senior health policy officer, Tufts Health Plan Foundation; assistant secretary for program planning and management, Executive Office of Elder Affairs, and state nutrition director, Massachusetts Department of Public Health; assistant director for Patient Services, Frances Stern Nutrition Center; assistant professor, Tufts University School of Medicine; author; editor; mentor; active in civic, community, professional, and alumni affairs. ’71—Nancy Hinkel Florian Abdalla of Amherst, MA, April 17, 2025; founder, Thandi Trading Co.; administrative director, Crossing the Waters Institute for Cultural Exchange; executive director, Fort River Elementary’s multicultural youth after-school program, Capacidad; founder, InterSkate 91 and Roots Up Green Jobs; co-director, Hampshire Educational Collaborative’s 21st Century Learning Centers; council member, Temenos Retreat Center; active in civic and community affairs. ’72 BS CALS—Daniel E. Galusha of Cortlandville, NY, April 24, 2025; farm business consultant, First Pioneer Farm Credit; enjoyed travel, cooking, boating, and watching wildlife; active in professional and alumni affairs. Sigma Nu. ’74 JD—Edward P. Potanka of Westbrook, CT, formerly of Simsbury, CT, May 13, 2025; attorney; chief counsel at CIGNA; veteran; active in community and professional affairs. ’75 JD—Charles K. Meuse of Chatham, NJ, December 23, 2024; attorney; senior litigation counsel, CNA Insurance; assistant attorney general, State of Delaware; author; volunteer law reader for Recording for the Blind; avid reader; enjoyed travel, classic rock, and recording audio and video news broadcasts; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. ’75 BS CALS—Haskell A. Yancey Jr. of Croghan, NY, November 25, 2024; dairy farmer; maple syrup producer; agricultural agent, Lewis County Cooperative Extension; carpenter; Croghan town supervisor; active in civic, community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. Cayuga Lodge. Surviving spouse: Jane Weise Yancey ’75. ’76 BS HE—Mary Benning Hopple of Cincinnati, OH, May 9, 2025; president and CEO, M. Hopple & Co.; also worked at A.B. Closson Co. and Marshall Field’s; avid tennis player; enjoyed needlepoint and sewing; active in community, professional, and alumni affairs. Kappa Kappa Gamma. Surviving spouse: William H. Hopple III ’75, BA ’76. 1980s ’81 BS Hotel—Ruth M. Nichols of Naples, FL, April 9, 2025; worked in administrative management and hospitality; advocate for wildlife and the environment; fought against elephant poaching and tiger habitat encroachment; enjoyed international travel and cooking; active in community and alumni affairs. ’81 PhD—Jeffrey P. Shapiro of Gainesville, FL, April 19, 2025; research entomologist, USDA Agricultural Research Service; social and environmental activist; musician; enjoyed photographing insects, hiking, scuba diving, kayaking, and sailing; active in civic, community, professional, and alumni affairs. ’82 BA—Craig Fishman of Falls Church, VA, April 7, 2025; attorney; founding partner, Chapman and Cutler LLP; enjoyed tennis and running marathons; active in professional and alumni affairs. Phi Sigma Epsilon. ’84 MS, ’86 PhD—Peter A. Braell of Palmyra, NY, April 19, 2025; worked at the Geneva Agricultural Experiment Station, PepsiCo, Bausch & Lomb, and Medeva Pharmaceuticals/CellTech; enjoyed reading Tolkien, action movies, puns, classic ’70s rock music, and learning about wildlife, marine biology, and deep-sea exploration; active in community and professional affairs. ’84, BS CALS ’85—William O. Sherbon of San Jose, CA, April 2, 2025; worked in the computer and food industries; volunteer fireman; enjoyed bicycling, music, and building computers; active in community affairs. Phi Kappa Psi. ’86 BS Hotel—Jason P. Smith of Arlington, VA, April 30, 2025; vice president of marketing communications, Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International; active in professional and alumni affairs. ’87 MS, PhD ’88—Marilyn Leet Ray of Brooktondale, NY, May 19, 2025; executive director, Finger Lakes Law and Social Policy Center; founder, North Country Legal Services; enjoyed architecture; active in civic, community, professional, religious, and alumni affairs. ’88 MS, PhD ’94—Lois C. Levitan of Ithaca, NY, May 14, 2025; environmental risk analysis program lead, Cornell University Center for the Environment; disseminated public information on the West Nile virus and created the Recycle Agricultural Plastics Project; taught undergraduate science writing at Cornell; author; peace and environmental activist; enjoyed international travel, gardening, and birdwatching; active in civic, community, professional, and alumni affairs. Surviving spouse: Martha J. Armstrong, MRP ’96. 1990s ’90 PhD—Rakesh Gupta of Corvallis, OR, April 4, 2025; professor of wood science and engineering, Oregon State University; researched the behavior of wood-frame structures under extreme loads; active in professional and alumni affairs. 2000s ’05 BS HE—Christina O’Herron Regula of Big Flats, NY, April 30, 2025; registered nurse, Guthrie Clinic; nursing instructor at GST BOCES and Arnot-Ogden Hospital; also worked at the cardiac step-down unit at the University of Rochester/Strong Memorial Hospital; active in professional and religious affairs. 2010s ’17 PhD–Amy E. Engelbrecht-Wiggans of Brighton, NY, April 4, 2025; assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology; researched unidirectional composite failure;recipient, National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award; avid knitter and equestrian; enjoyed travel, dancing, curling, kayaking, gardening, and birdwatching; active in professional and alumni affairs. Surviving spouse: Andy Poshadel ’08, PhD ’15. Editor’s note: Please submit notification of alumni deaths—including an obituary, if possible—to the University at cubio-deceased@cornell.edu. Once the University records an alumni death in its database, the relevant information is forwarded to Cornellians for inclusion in a future In Memoriam section; deaths are generally listed three to four months after the University receives notice. If you have questions, please contact Alexandra Bond ’12 at abb83@cornell.edu. Top: Photo by Jason Koski / Cornell University. Published September 1, 2025