The Latest News from Your Classmates

July / August 2025

1940s

1948

Your 102-year-old former class correspondent Ray Tuttle here, with some thoughts about the dramatic changes in lifestyle that occurred during my lifetime. Hopefully this may be of interest to some.

The Tuttle family landed in the U.S. in 1635, and migrated to central New York State, where they were farmers for six generations. My grandfather farmed, ran the town store, and was postmaster. He had four sons, who were the first Tuttles to go to college. None stayed at home—one went to Louisiana, another to Wisconsin, and my father all the way to Northern Michigan to become a mining engineer.

I was born up there, but when I was 6 we moved to Virginia, where Dad took a job building an ammonia plant for Allied Chemical but then lost it in the 1929 crash. We spent the next dozen years in jobs he managed to find in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York. I went to 13 schools before I graduated from high school in 1941 in Saugerties, NY.

In the span of two generations in our family, life changed from not moving at all to all kinds of travel!

Ray Tuttle ’48

I went to Cornell for two and a half years and then joined the Army, serving in the U.S., England, France, Germany, the Philippines, and Japan in 1943 to 1946. Then I went back to Cornell to graduate in 1948 with a five-year bachelor’s in chemical engineering.

My career consisted of jobs with five different companies, beginning as a process engineer at the first two companies in Pittsburgh, PA, and Tuscola, IL. Then I worked for IMC as chief engineer in Mulberry, FL, director of R&D in Chicago, IL, division manager in Bakersfield and San Jose, CA, and then general manager, in Chicago, of the company’s five chemical plants—then executive VP (when these plants were spun off into a Chemical International Trading Company in Boston, MA). For this company, I traveled to Europe, the Mideast, and the Far East and was president of a Dutch acquisition. Rather than moving back to Chicago, I retired from IMC and finished my career with a small specialty polymer company in Watertown, MA.

So in the span of two generations in our family, life changed from not moving at all to all kinds of travel! I guess that’s no big surprise, since I read that the population of the U.S., over time, went from 52% farmers to now 2% farmers, who now produce even more product. ❖ Ray Tuttle (email Ray) | Alumni Directory.

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1949

We hope this column finds you well, wherever you are. Please take a moment to fill out the online news form to let us know what you’ve been up to. What are your plans for the summer? Who from the Hill do you still keep in touch with? What was the most impactful thing you learned while at Cornell? We’d love to hear from you. ❖ Class of 1949 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1950s

1950

Alumni Affairs recently asked alumni to share about their volunteer activities, to understand and celebrate all the good that Cornellians can do. And Jim Brandt responded! “After I retired, I began working with Chicago’s Executive Service Corps, which assists nonprofit organizations with such work as board development, strategic planning, and other assignments. I have done this for more than 25 years; we give our time freely and it is very rewarding. I’m still doing this work, but at a slower pace.”

The Portsmouth (NH) Historical Society is proud to present “Cabot Lyford: Winds of Change,” a major retrospective on the life and work of sculptor Cabot Lyford, on view through November 2. “A WWII veteran who became a passionate anti-war advocate, Lyford fused bold artistic experimentation with a lifelong commitment to social and environmental causes. His sculptures—often drawing on marine life, mythology, and human vulnerability—reveal a deep reverence for nature and a belief in the power of art to provoke reflection and change. With over 100 works on display, many unseen for decades, the exhibition celebrates Lyford’s enduring impact as both artist and educator.” ❖ Class of 1950 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1951 & 1952

Happy summer! We don’t have any news to share from these classes, so if you are reading this please take a moment to fill out the online news form to let us know what you’ve been up to! How has your life changed—or not changed—lately? Who from the Hill do you still keep in touch with? What was the most impactful thing you learned while at Cornell? We’d love to hear from you! ❖ Classes of 1951 & 1952 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1953

Roberta “Bobbie” Pesner Becker writes, “Cornell didn’t want me when I first applied for my freshman year, but I guess I had proved that I could ‘hack it’ when I reapplied to become a junior. I was assigned a room in a triple with Barbara Zelfman and Elaine Green and that worked out fine, but for senior year they were both moving back to their sorority house. I opted for a single in Balch Hall. Imagine my surprise when I was shown my single with a telephone and informed that I was the dorm social chair! Seemed the two things went together, and the elected chair had married over the summer.”

Bobbie continues, “I had no idea what sort of social program was expected. Guidance was not to be found. However, it didn’t take long to figure out that what a dorm of senior women would want were guys. How did one attract guys? As a food and nutrition major, I stuck to the tried and true. Obviously it was food. My assistants and I arranged dinners for the various grad school students and professors, one of whom gave a short informative talk. Mingling followed, to the enjoyment of all. Lots of grad students; lots of dinners. No one complained.”

Imagine my surprise when I was shown my single in Balch with a telephone and informed that I was the dorm social chair! Seemed the two things went together.

Roberta “Bobbie” Pesner Becker ’50

Terri Ann Lowenthal ’80 sent an update about her parents, Mort and Eleanor Lowenthal. Terri writes, “Dad and Mom celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in September 2024, surrounded by family and friends at their (relatively) new home in a senior community in Stamford, CT, where they have lived for most of their married lives. Dad is now 94; Mom is 92. They have five grandchildren (four of whom are Cornell alums, plus another Cornell grandson-in-law!) and eight great-grandchildren, ages 2–8. In addition to welcoming family for visits, Dad and Mom continue to enjoy attending musical, cultural, synagogue, and community service organization events. Monday ice cream socials and Friday happy hours are also highlights of their week in their lovely community.”

William Johnson enjoys reading scientific publications and spending time with wife Patricia and the family. “We have a great-grandson now,” he writes. “We moved to the mountains of California to enjoy winter sports. I was a member of the National Ski Patrol for 25 years, traveled, played golf well, and had a successful career as a chemical engineer. I was deeply into polymer engineering and received an award for my work on the Alaska pipeline. At Cornell, I was on the varsity crew team four years and was a member of Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society.” ❖ Class of 1953 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1954

The night before I wrote this column, in early April, I enjoyed a few moments with Cornellians on my iPhone. I happened upon a story called “The Hill in Haiku: Alumni Wax Poetic about Their Alma Mater.” In honor of national poetry month in April, Cornellians were invited to submit verses channeling the Cornell experience. Two were composed by our own Allan Griff! I thoroughly enjoyed them and will share them here.

“More than memory / Something connects me to you / My home for five years.”

“I am moderate / See all sides and often why, / Learned at Cornell. Rare.”

Allan inspires and offers food for thought. The second haiku gives a powerful and timely message. Thanks, Allan.

Joanne Wilson Wietgrefe wrote, “My BFF, Melky Cabrera, had to be euthanized last month. He was a Havanese whom I trained to be a therapy dog. We went to various places including assisted living homes and a nearby prison. It is very difficult to accept the quiet days. On a positive note, I’m waiting for identical twin great-grandsons in June, making the total seven great-grands!”

Perhaps on one of her “quiet days,” Joanne participated in an Alumni Affairs project asking alumni about their volunteer activities. She wrote: “I’m 91 years old and I live in a retirement community, Southgate, near Shrewsbury, MA. My volunteering has shrunk considerably over the decades. My dinner companion is another resident who is 103 years old and legally blind. I help her with menu reading, talk about my current reading, and update her on the latest news in Southgate. I always carry a black-and-white purse so she can identify me when we meet in the lounge for drinks. I also head a poetry group monthly meeting for other residents, even though poetry was far from my college life. I’m continuing to write memoir essays.” Joanne, maybe you will feel inspired to compose a haiku about Cornell; we’d love to share it here.

I head a poetry group monthly meeting for residents of my retirement community.

Joanne Wilson Wietgrefe ’54

We also heard from Robert Friedman. He had a 54-year career carrying out research in virology and immunology (Robert, we need you now) and helping to educate future physicians for the military services. He and his wife, Harriet (Brooklyn College 1957), live in Garrett Park, MD. “We have four productively engaged children and 11 promising grandchildren. I spend much of my time taking courses in history and literature at the D.C. Osher Lifelong Learning Institute to make up for all I missed at Cornell because of all the science and math I had to take to apply to medical school.”

Recently, this column reported on an approaching 70th wedding anniversary celebration for Mimi Cohen Levine and her husband. After that appeared in Cornellians, we then heard the sad news that Mimi died on March 1. That led to a warm exchange of emails with one of her three Cornell sons, David ’78. (The others are Steven ’83 and Edward ’84.)

David wrote, “My mom’s favorite Cornell connection was Cornell’s Adult University (CAU). Our family went to the first six editions, when it was called Cornell Alumni University, starting in 1968. My parents continued to attend through 2022. They always looked forward to engaging with Cornell professors, attending the fascinating CAU courses, meeting up with CAU friends, being in Ithaca for a week in the summer, and meeting up with other Cornell relatives, including Mitch Frank ’75 with daughters Briana and Arielle and their mom, Serena. I have returned to CAU annually since 2001. I’ll be attending July 6–12 this year.” David also spoke with enthusiastic support for our new president, Michael Kotlikoff.

We plan to continue these columns as long as you help us by sending some thoughts. We don’t need NEWS. (We’re buried in that.) Just simple anecdotes and maybe a favorite quotation that you find helpful and comforting.

Here’s a paraphrased quote from Vaclev Havel, for all Cornellians working “to do the greatest good”: “Hope is to work for something because it’s good, not just because it has a chance to succeed.” ❖ Ruth Carpenter Bailey (email Ruth) | Bill Waters, MBA ’55 (email Bill) | Class website | Alumni Directory.

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1955

Richard Perry recently made the move to assisted living at the Residence at Charles Meadow in Millis, MA. He notes that his family has now grown to include eight children, 16 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren.

As they head toward their 68th wedding anniversary, Jim, MD ’59, and Mary Martin Van Buren ’56 write, “We moved into King’sBridge Retirement Community in January 2025 and are dealing with the difficulties of downsizing from our home of almost 53 years. But we also enjoy being in essentially the same neighborhood!”

Phyllis Birnholtz Melnick is happy to say that she’s still able to drive, during the day and at night! “I’m still volunteering one day a week. I spend an hour tutoring at the state women’s prison and then the rest of the day at court community service, which administers a program for offenders sentenced to work. My children are happy and healthy, so I am very grateful. My son in California is a busy birdwatcher and my daughter in Minnesota still works in legal service. Both my grandchildren and their spouses are in St. Paul, MN.” Phyllis shares that Cornell taught her how to study in a beautiful and encouraging environment.

Ruth McDevitt Carrozza writes, “Now that I have relocated to Pennsylvania, I am happy to be closer to my family in New Jersey, Maine, and New Hampshire. Florida was great for 20 years, but too far away from everyone. Now I enjoy making new friends at my retirement community, where I live in a cottage. There are lots of activities to keep a 91-year-old busy. Bus trips, bingo, crafts, and more, and I don’t have to cook if I don’t want to.”

Ruth adds, “I experienced two accidents with my leg that required that I sleep in my recliner for three months. But now I can go camping this summer! I’m sorry to miss our 70th Reunion.” Ruth says that Cornell taught her to appreciate so many diverse people and what they had to offer to the Cornell experience. “I am thankful I was able to attend through the work-study program!”

I surprised myself by taking a philosophy course, which meets for two hours every Monday morning. So not ILR!

Barbara Loreto Peltz ’55

Emilyn Larkin Jakes greatly enjoys helping members of her family who still live nearby in Sylvania, OH. She writes, “2024 was a hard year since we said goodbye to Jerry ’53. He was 93 and we had 70 years of a good marriage. Yes, even though I really miss my friend, I realize how lucky we were!” At Cornell, Emilyn writes, “we were both very lucky to have an excellent and diverse education that gave us a very fulfilling life!”

Barbara Brott Myers is enjoying 70 years of a wonderful marriage and time with her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.

Barbara Balsam Brown gets great satisfaction from her “healthy, happy family and good connectivity. I am living in a continuing care retirement community with a swimming pool that allows me to swim my 50 laps three mornings per week. As a result of COVID, our travel has been limited, but we get together as often as possible. We’re within two hours of each other, but the grandchildren and great-grandchildren are far away. It was wonderful to be with a best friend who became my husband; we shared a wonderful life together.”

Barbara Loreto Peltz greatly enjoys “waking up pain free! In addition to two book clubs and playing bridge twice a week I am on various committees at my church. I surprised myself by taking a philosophy course, which meets for two hours every Monday morning. So not ILR! I am also Zooming with our class president, Bill Doerler, every month to discuss our upcoming 70th Reunion.” She fondly recalls the teachings of Prof. Milton Konvitz, PhD ’33!

Susan Hurd Machamer writes, “I enjoy so much keeping up with the amazing activities of our daughters, Amy, Mary ’81, and Molly, and grandchildren. I am an active partner (with Amy) of our family fruit and flower market. The world comes to visit us—what a privilege. We invite you to come too!” When asked what she learned at Cornell, Susan replied: “Thanks to the wonderful diversity of our student body, I felt in touch with the whole world.”

Frank Baldwin has been planting trees and doing trail management in the Pine Tree Wildlife Preserve on East Hill, plus attending a folk song club on Sunday evenings. ❖ Class of 1955 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1956

Jon Lindseth reports that he and Ginny (MacDonald) hope to attend at least a portion of the class’s 70th Reunion in June 2026. Jon may even follow up the presentation he gave at our 60th Reunion (“Alice in a World of Wonderlands: The Translations of Lewis Carroll’s Masterpiece”). He was introduced at that talk by the then-University Librarian, Anne Kenney, who said he was the second-largest library donor, exceeded only by the first president of Cornell, Andrew Dickson White.

Jon has proposed a new talk about the expansive Jewish fables collection he has just gifted to Cornell. The collection has been on loan to the library since 2018, and it published a catalog of the collection in 2023 titled Fables in Jewish Culture: The Jon A. Lindseth Collection. The National Jewish Library Curators organization named it the best Jewish bibliography of the year.

The Jewish fable collection adds significantly to Jon’s gifts to Cornell’s collection, which also include a large women’s suffrage collection, Russian fables, and gifts towards numerous other collections and works, including the papers of Cornell alumnus Kurt Vonnegut ’44. Jon’s renowned Lewis Carroll Collection found its permanent home this past winter at Christ Church Oxford, Carroll’s own college, an event that drew Carroll scholars, collectors, and experts to the college to celebrate the gift.

Mary Ellen Bunce Reed greatly enjoys being mobile! She is living in a continuing care retirement community that she calls “outstanding” and enjoying all its amenities. She still returns to New Hampshire every summer, from her home in Atlantic Beach, FL.

Susanne Kalter DeWitt has stayed active with volunteerism, mentoring undergraduates, connecting with Jewish communities, gardening, participating in civic government, and public speaking for Israel. “My oldest granddaughter is now a medical doctor, and my other grandchildren are in graduate school. My published memoir, I Was Born in an Old Age Home, is available on Amazon.”

Leo Convery loves waking up feeling good every day! He has been building and making wood carvings of fish and birds, and shares that he has a new pacemaker.

Jon Lindseth ’56 has gifted an expansive Jewish fables collection to Cornell.

Stanley Komaroff, JD ’58, enjoys when his family comes to visit. He writes, “I am retired after a long career at Proskauer Rose and Henry Schein. Now I see friends, watch TV, and go for walks. At Cornell, I learned thoughtfulness, friendship, and wisdom.”

Bernard “Skip” Ross enjoys sleeping late, but is still going to the office one to two days per week. “I mountain bike, play tennis, ski, and spend time with my three grandkids, of course.” The most impactful thing he learned at Cornell? “How to dress for winter!”

Betsy Steuber Gaidry is involved with church activities and the League of Women Voters. She also enjoys finding and cooking healthy and great-tasting recipes. “My twin granddaughters are college juniors, and my step-granddaughter is working at a theme park in Beijing, China, for a year as Elphaba, the green witch from Wicked.” At Cornell, Betsy learned that there’s always more to learn.

Judith Cimildoro Jones writes, “The Super Class of 1956, making it to our 90s! My parents and Cornell guided me into a wonderful life. After graduating from Cornell with a Bachelor of Science degree (chemistry major), I worked in hospital laboratories. I went to University of Michigan and earned a master’s in biochemistry, which led to four years in the toxicology laboratory at the Dow Chemical Company.

“We moved to Toledo, OH, where I was a full-time mom. I have two children, Amy and Peter. Soon, schools became very important. I served four years on the Toledo Board of Education. Then I served 10 years on the Toledo City Council and 10 years as commissioner on the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio.

“My husband, a chemical engineer who was a professor for 32 years and a supporter of my political career, and who had Parkinson’s disease for 14 years, passed away in February 2020. Now I’m still a mom and grandma, blessed with an eventful life! Today, there are three graduates from Cornell (1955, 1956, and 1958) at Revel Rancharrah Independent Senior Living Community in Reno, NV!” ❖ Class of 1956 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1957

Great news! Congratulations to Dori Goudsmit Albert, who was recently notified that she has been chosen to be a recipient of the 2025 Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award. She is the eighth member of our class to be so honored. This award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated extraordinary service to Cornell through long-term volunteer activities. Since its inception in 1994, awards are limited to a maximum of six individuals annually. With so many active alumni in each graduating class from which to choose, the committee has recognized the outstanding contributions of time and talent from our eight men and women in the Class of 1957.

Our class has been fortunate to have loyal members through these many years. Sadly, we have lost three members recently, all of whom have served in roles noted on our ’57 letterhead. Jan Charles Lutz passed away in January. Jan was very active in our class, having served as one of our early Reunion co-chairs and continuing as a longtime member of the class council. She and Bill met at Cornell and continued their Cornell involvement throughout their 68-year marriage. They were very active in the Philadelphia, PA, community, where Jan enjoyed many cultural activities, lending her leadership ability, enthusiasm, and dedication to enhance her many community organizations. Jan and Bill owned a company, Security On-line Systems. Once they retired, they particularly enjoyed their travels. Jan is survived by Bill, three children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Also in January, Adele Petrillo Smart passed away. She began with our class, met Burt ’55, and married him upon his Cornell graduation. She later completed her BA at the University of Iowa while Burt earned his master’s degree. Burt became a petroleum geologist for Texaco and they settled in Lafayette, LA. Adele and Burt traveled to Cornell often for the Reunions held by both the Class of 1955 and the Class of 1957. Adele even volunteered to be our regional vice president for Louisiana and Mississippi. She shared her organizational talents with many of her local groups. Playing tennis and being involved with tennis organizations was her special focus. In 1992, tennis great Arthur Ashe presented Adele with the Louisiana Tennis Association Outstanding Service Award. Burt predeceased Adele in 2020. They are survived by two children and seven grandchildren.

Another past Reunion co-chair, Charlie Parker, BME ’59, died in December 2024. He followed up his Cornell degree in mechanical engineering with an MBA in finance from Seton Hall. He worked for several firms before founding Separation Technologies Inc., a leader in recycling fly ash for green energy solutions. His later work championed carbon credit markets and environmental sustainability. He was deeply involved with his community, in both local government and in support of local theater and music endeavors. He and his late wife are survived by two children and six grandchildren. His pride in his Cornell connection was enhanced by knowing he was one of 12 in his family over four generations to attend Cornell. He was our regional vice president for New England.

Each summer Bob Shirley ’57 spends 11 days serving as the horse show announcer at the Maryland State Fair; he has been doing that for over 40 years.

How about some updates? Gerald Rehkugler, MS ’58, is marking 30 years of retirement from the Cornell faculty. As professor emeritus, the memoir he wrote titled From Farm to Academia is retained in the Cornell Archives, an honor he treasures. His most recent interaction with his Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering was to complete a display of the Rau Model Plow Collection in Riley-Robb Hall. The collection was acquired by A.D. White in 1868 with the endorsement of Ezra Cornell. Another historical activity of his is to volunteer as a docent at the Living History Center of Central New York in Homer, NY.

During the COVID pandemic, Gerald rode his e-bike and photographed all the remaining silos in Cortland County to document the past glory of the dairy industry. He considered those silos monuments to the past. The photos are now compiled and published in a booklet he wrote titled Silos of Cortland County: Monuments of our Dairy Farming History. Not one to sit still, he enjoys tennis and biking in the summer and downhill skiing in the winter. He and Nancy enjoy their blended family and the challenges of keeping up with grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Nancy, a retired Methodist pastor, continues to fill in as an interim at local pulpits, delivering uplifting sermons. Gerald said, “All of the above brings me untold satisfaction.”

Bob Shirley sent a note about his amazingly longtime volunteer commitment to the Maryland State Fair. Last summer marked his 78th year of working in the horse department. He began as the office boy in the Draft Horse Department in 1946. Each summer he spends 11 days serving as the horse show announcer and has been doing that for over 40 years.

A snail mail letter requesting our modest class dues may be on its way to you by the time you read this. It is very important that we have both your accurate current residence address and your email address. You may submit your dues online by going to this website. Also, please take a moment to fill out an online news form to update your news for a future column. I look forward to hearing from you. If I contact you by email, the clue to my email address is knowing that, for four decades, I was the official scorebook keeper for Shenendehowa boys basketball. ❖ Connie Santagato Hosterman (email Connie) | Alumni Directory.

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1958

Three classmates joined hundreds of mostly younger (no surprise) Cornellians at the annual Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference in Philadelphia last February. Class president Meyer Gross and Reunion co-chairs Dick and Connie Case Haggard enjoyed the updates from campus, the mingling with other avid Cornell supporters, and especially hearing from Mike Kotlikoff, who had reassuring words for Cornell’s future in these troublesome times.

We sadly report that our well-known active classmate John Baker Denniston passed away peacefully at Georgetown Hospital on April 12. He is survived by his wife of 34 years, Susan Russell Denniston, his children, and his grandchildren. John was an engineering physics major, active on campus throughout his time at Cornell with SAE, class council, the judiciary committee, and Quill and Dagger.

John later went on to Harvard Law School and was a Fulbright Scholar. He first put his engineering physics training to use as a rocket scientist with Rocketdyne in Pasadena, CA, before spending his following legal career with Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, DC, specializing in government contracts. John was an adventurous traveler, including expeditions to the Himalayas, Andes, and South Georgia Island. He enjoyed the outdoors, paddle sports, skiing, biking, and good food. He is greatly missed by his numerous family and friends.

I am having a ball being my son’s ‘junior partner.’

Leonard Harlan ’58

We will watch for news coming in via responses to Carol Boeckle Welch’s annual membership letter from April. We heard from Leonard Harlan, who updates us with the following note: “Even though our new ‘home base’ is Palm Beach, FL, I still am working. After retiring from Castle Harlan, my oldest son, Josh, invited me to join his firm, which had moved to Palm Beach.

“I am having a ball being my son’s ‘junior partner’ in investing in smaller cash flowing entities, which have nothing to do with the stock market. Josh and his family, including two daughters, live two miles up the road from us and the office is two miles down the road from us. We are very lucky. I continue to actively serve on the board of Weill Cornell Medicine, which I have done since 1998, and just retired as the co-chair of the dean’s council, which I co-founded almost 20 years ago. The dean’s council over the past 20 or so years has raised almost $200 million for Weill Cornell Medicine.”

Thanks for your note, Len, as we watch for more to come from others to fill this column. ❖ Dick Haggard (email Dick) | Barbara Avery, MA ’59 (email Barbara) | Alumni Directory.

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1959

Continuing the theme from our previous column, here are thoughts and updates from additional ’59 Phi Beta Kappas:

“I was delighted to become a member of PBK in my junior year,” writes Mary Ella Harman Feinleib. “After I graduated as a zoology major, I went to Harvard to earn my doctorate in biology. I then spent 30 rewarding years at Tufts, as professor, department chair, and, for 12 years, Dean of Liberal Arts. I complained about it constantly—it was extremely challenging—but I absolutely loved it. Throughout the years, I traveled almost all over the world, so, in my retirement, I became a travel agent; I’m still working at that at a modest level.”

Beyond work, Mary Ella has done a fair amount of acting, first at the Georgetown Theatre Workshop in northern Massachusetts, and now at the Carleton-Willard Village retirement community, where she has lived since last year. “Another major interest of mine is in languages. Having been born in Europe, my first language was Polish. I still speak it. I also participate in a French conversation group and take courses in German.”

“I was dumbstruck and probably shrieked in the Sage Hall mailroom when I opened the letter,” recalls Carole Kenyon, who too was admitted as a junior. “A shriek and then a feeling of ‘See, I told you so!’ Despite having had the highest grade on the NYS Scholarship Exam, I had been only waitlisted for admission to Cornell. Once on campus, I worked hard; indeed, through the years, ‘I will work harder’ became my mantra. And so, for example, I passed the Florida Bar, flew back to New Jersey arriving at 3 a.m., then passed the New Jersey Bar exam that began early that morning. Professionally, I think being a PBK helped me obtain my teaching job at Livingston (NJ) High School, and I’m sure the honor helped with my application to night law school at Rutgers. I set a good example, too: my daughter Judy Friend Popik ’84, DVM ’88, is also a PBK.”

I spent 30 rewarding years at Tufts, as professor, department chair, and Dean of Liberal Arts. I complained about it constantly but I absolutely loved it.

Mary Ella Harman Feinleib ’59

Since the 1960s, Carole was among the most committed alums in the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN). Over the years, she met or had telephone conversations with hundreds of high schoolers who were applying to the University. “Talking with the applicants, listening to their passions, interests, and questions, and, for foreign applicants, learning about their home countries, were positive times for me.” Carole remains in touch with many of these folks who went through Cornell and are now scattered across the globe.

“I have lived a reasonably quiet life as a chemistry professor at City College of New York, where I taught for 52 years before retiring, more or less, in 2018,” says Michael Green. Now professor emeritus in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Michael continues to work on ion channels (specialized proteins in cell membranes that provide a pathway for ions to cross the membranes). “I got my doctorate from Yale, postdoc’ed for a year at Caltech, then spent two years (1964–66) in Turkey, teaching at Middle East Technical University in Ankara as a Peace Corps volunteer, before coming to CCNY. I’m afraid PBK did not play a significant role in any of this, though I vaguely remember going back to my high school and showing the key to my last high school English teacher. What happened to the key after that, I have no idea.”

“I have had an interesting professional life, since it tracked the women’s movement!” writes Jan Maleson Spencer. “I was one of the early women at Harvard Law School and my career since then has been centered on labor and employment law. As I have practiced my specialty in many ways over the years, my Phi Beta Kappa membership featured a special place on my résumé numerous times. I know it has been a terrific asset as it has relieved me of the burden of having to prove my intellectual worth at every step in my career.”

Jan continues, “I am currently working as a labor and employment arbitrator, having started down this path while teaching at St. John’s University School of Law—important to note as a rarity in both positions as a woman. I feel quite blessed at being able to do good professional work at my age. I cannot fail to mention that I have been married to Ronald Spencer, an art lawyer, for over 50 years and have wonderful children and grandchildren, some here in New York and some in Vermont. Life has been good to me, for which I am so grateful.” ❖ Jenny Tesar (email Jenny) | Alumni Directory.

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1960s

1960

Donald Milsten (Pikesville, MD) gets great satisfaction from the success of his children and grandchildren, from holding friends close, and from study and learning. In retirement, he writes, “I am annoying my three children and nine grandchildren. I enjoy working with the class council and CACO. I am also supporting medical establishments with successful surgeries, Medicare, and BC/BS. My oldest grands (triplets) are doing well: one has a film in the latest Tribeca Film Festival, another has a PR career, and the grandson (five years in the U.S. Army) practices law. His ‘baby sister’ is a rocket scientist working for a tech outfit (‘I can’t tell you what I do, Grandpa’) near Fairbanks (yes, that Fairbanks). The rest are in college or high school.”

Walter Williamson writes, “I welcomed a grandchild since our last Reunion, now 3-year-old Rose, who lives six blocks away from us on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. I’m enjoying all the great opportunities available to the educated retired. Since retirement in 2017, I’ve developed an interest in forest conservation. I completed Cornell’s Master Forest Owner training program and have made regular volunteer visits with forest owners in Columbia County (where we have a second home) who are seeking guidance in reaching their goals for their forested property. I’ve also been serving on the Town of Ancram Conservation Advisory Council since shortly after retirement. Cornell provided a solid foundation for the trajectory I took.”

Tom Wheatley hopes that all those who attended had a great time at Reunion! “I will not be attending, but Jack Keefe will be my surrogate. Wife Nancy and I are living together in a nursing home.”

Alan Krech, MA ’63, gets the most satisfaction from his “good marriage, good health, and good family—including a married son and daughter, two fine grandsons, and one great-grandson. I enjoy taking part in activities at the retirement home and am looking forward to a family week at the beach in June.” When asked about the most impactful lesson he learned at Cornell, Alan replied: “Great teamwork as coxswain of the crew.”

Jessie Barker Hill loves “seeing the wonderful success of my three children and eight grandchildren. With so many in the medical field, I finally have another attorney: my youngest grandson. I spend six months in my small house on Nevis, an island in the Caribbean. I am enjoying becoming immersed in the ‘local’ life and the friendship with Nevisians.” Her most impactful lesson from Cornell? “As so many have commented, the ability to balance many disciplines/issues. I would love to repeat that experience with the focus on hindsight.”

I’m enjoying my volunteer work as a gardener’s assistant in Central Park a couple of days a week.

Ginny Seipt ’60

Peter Rodgers, BEE ’62, gets the most satisfaction in life from “grandkids and their growing families, being with my wife, a good round of golf, and/or a fun bike ride. I’m still riding 100 miles per week, albeit now with a bit of an assist from a road e-bike. Cornell taught me that I can always do more than I think I can. My crew experience taught me that!”

Linda Miller Kelsey, MS ’65, writes, “I’m enjoying the community of retirees at Covenant Living at Windsor Park, and the wonderful resources and programs available. I also enjoy being close to family (two active professors) in nearby Wheaton, IL. I also have a son in San Francisco, which is a fabulous place to live. I am currently active politically, since chaos prevails. I am a constant reader, enjoying my Kindle with an unlimited source of books.”

About Cornell, Linda reflects, “My BS and MS from the then-College of Home Economics provided the resources for me to be able to obtain a wide variety of educational jobs when my husband, a Methodist minister, moved to a new community. I retired from Cornell Cooperative Extension, still obtaining more education from Cornell.”

Ginny Seipt writes, “I’m enjoying my volunteer work as a gardener’s assistant in Central Park a couple of days a week. I’m also starting to clean out ‘stuff.’ All three of my siblings are still around! The youngest is 73! We are spread around, but all four got together for Christmas in ’24—first time all together in a while.” Cornell taught Ginny how to manage a group of people—“which was very helpful in my TV career!”

Merrill Burr Hille writes, “Retirement includes travel twice a year—recently to Northern Spain with a Cornell group and to Peru. Next year to Greenland and the Silk Road. At home we garden, especially on the Burke-Gilman Trail, which I helped facilitate. We have five grandkids, ages 26, 15, 9, 5, and 6 months. They are fun and a great pleasure. With them we hike in our local Cascade Mountains. Cornell made me a chemist, which resulted in me being a professor of biology with a specialty in cell biology and protein functions in cells.” ❖ Class of 1960 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1961

Bruce Herbert is living the good life in retirement. He writes, “I was very delighted to see that Larry Wheeler, a fellow ChemE, has been doing mediations for quite some time. I also started doing mediations through a community dispute resolution center located here in Northern Michigan. This will be my 24th year. Most of my mediations are for divorce, parenting time, and child protection. It has been an interesting and challenging experience. I never know what to expect once the mediation starts.

“When COVID hit, we changed from in-person to Zoom mediations. We continue to do most of our work via Zoom. Participants seem to be a little better behaved on Zoom. I think it has to do with the fact that they can see themselves and their reactions on the computer screen. My wife, Joyce, and I continue to love living in a small resort town near the top of Northern Michigan. We do, however, escape the weather for February through April by going to Fernandina Beach, FL, on Amelia Island.”

In a previous column, Gerold Yonas was acknowledged for the publication of his recent book, The Dragon’s Brain. His book has now been recognized with a first-place award in the fictional novel for adult readers category from the New Mexico Press Women 2025 Communications Contest. This contest honors “outstanding communications and media produced in 2024.” In awarding the prize, the judge wrote, “Once picked up, difficult to put down.”

At Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, NM, Gerold led the pulsed power fusion program and several weapons-related programs in the role of vice president of systems, science, and technology, and went on to create the advanced concepts group and explore new opportunities including brain research. Following his retirement from Sandia, he joined the Mind Research Network as the director of neurosystems engineering, where he explored the link between neuroscience and systems engineering.

Recently, Alumni Affairs asked alumni about their volunteer activities. The following response from Jerry Elbaum, JD ’64, is interesting. Many of us, on our travels, have seen these life-size, fiberglass dairy cows on exhibit. Now we have the rest of the story.

I am the founder of CowParade, recognized today as the world’s largest and most imaginative public art exhibit.

Jerry Elbaum ’61, JD ’64

“I am the founder of CowParade, recognized today as the world’s largest and most imaginative public art exhibit, benefitting nonprofits and artists in 35 countries. The 103 events to date have raised over $50 million for the beneficiaries and put smiles on the faces of tens of millions of people worldwide. More than 10,000 artists, sculptors, architects, and others with artistic talents have participated, including many of global repute. Millions of dollars have been produced by the exhibits for the local artists in the event venues.

“In 2000, CowParade New York captivated the city with nearly 500 of the artistically enhanced, life-size fiberglass canvases on view everywhere over a period of three months, seen by an estimated 40 million people. CowParade returned to New York in 2021 to benefit God’s Love We Deliver, for which the exhibit raised over $1 million. In 2023, CowParade partnered with the world famous Dana-Farber Cancer Institute to stage CowParade New England in greater Boston. It was our second exhibit with Dana-Farber; the first was in 2006. Each event benefitted Dana-Farber by more than $1 million and created wonderful group painting opportunities for some of its young cancer patients. CowParade San Antonio will open in the spring of 2025 to benefit CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital there. CowParade has a 25-year storied history and will continue for many years to come under the guidance of my son-in-law, Ronald Fox.

“CowParade cities in this country, in addition to New York, Boston, and San Antonio, include Atlanta, Kansas City, Houston, Austin, Denver, Portland (OR), Chicago, Stamford, West Hartford, Madison (WI), Raleigh-Durham, and Harrisburg. Outside of this country, it has been to dozens of cities including London, Paris, Edinburgh, Barcelona, Rome, Moscow, Cape Town, Mexico City, Rio, Buenos Aires, Sydney, Shanghai, Tokyo, and many more.

“Three different, stylized cows (head-up, head-down, and reclining) are the only canvases used. The cow is important to virtually every culture in the world and, as such, is a unifying, universal symbol for artists and viewers to relate to everywhere. The cow does good things for us, is friendly, and has a quirky, likable personality. Artists love the challenges of these unique canvases.

“CowParade has been my life’s work since leaving the practice of law 25 years ago. It has been quite a ride. Now, at the age of 84, I am immensely proud of what CowParade has accomplished and, in particular, all of the good things it has done around the world. Among other things, it created a new niche in the world of art.”

Lastly, I would like to recognize the passing of classmate Scon Boccuti. Scon and his wife, Jean (Travis), were fine friends and class supporters. I believe they attended every one of our Reunions since graduation.

Send your emails to us. ❖ Doug Fuss (email Doug) | Susan Williams Stevens (email Susan) | Alumni Directory.

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1962

From Mike “Mickey” Miller comes news that he “gave a talk to the ‘Schmooze and Schmear’ group of ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out) on financial planning, including investment, estate, and charitable planning. I skipped retirement planning, hoping that has already been done.”

After a thankfully mild winter in Allentown, PA, where he lives, Mickey was planning on going to NYC for the Cornell’s Adult University Spring Theater Seminar in May. “I am so happy that two of my daughters, Laurie Miller Brotman ’86 and Amy Sams, will be joining me. In July, I am off to Chautauqua, NY, for a theme week on the Future of the American Experiment, in partnership with American Enterprise Institute and Brookings Institution.”

From Larry Kirsch: “I was inspired to write by a recent note from Phil Bereano ’61, BME ’62, MRP ’71, mentioning his anti-apartheid activism, as well as his more recent contributions to GMO policy. Having lived in South Africa, his experience resonated. I was also very pleased to learn that he has kept in contact with mutual friends, including an old roommate, Joe Geller ’61, and Burt Neuborne ’61. Please share greetings with the whole gang! I am in close touch with Paul Marantz, who is retired from the political science department at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

“My wife, Karen, and I moved to Portland, OR, in 2025 after many years in Boston and New Hampshire. We are very fond of the ‘Left Coast,’ although it’s put a crimp on our regular Columbus Day trips to Ithaca.

“Here in Portland, I’ve published a couple of books about the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—the first of which discussed the efforts of advocates to pass the original CFPB legislation—inspired by U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren. So we will soon be trying to salvage the remnants of its extraordinary contribution. More recently, I’ve been working with the new Brooks School of Public Policy to help students in their clinical program engage with policymakers in New York State and Oregon on consumer protection and antitrust. I’ve found serving as a mentor, leading informal tutorials, and helping wherever I can to be extremely rewarding.”

Making up for lost time, Helen Chuckrow, MA ’66 (Ossining, NY) sends the following: “I majored in literature as an undergraduate and did a year’s graduate work in Greek and Latin classics, working at the then-brand-new Olin Library in between. I heard a lecture on Russian childcare by Urie Bronfenbrenner 1938 and switched to child development. Got my MA in that and got married the day I handed in my master’s thesis.

Dave Duffield ’62, MBA ’64, has made news again with his historic $100 million investment to expand Engineering’s Duffield Hall!

“After two children and a divorce, I then worked part time at six different libraries as a circ clerk, as well as at six different synagogues, preparing children for their bar/bat mitzvah, using the Hebrew I had learned in high school (Erasmus Hall). I then got two jobs: working at the Westchester Community College Library full time and reading Torah at a synagogue in Norwalk, CT. I did that for 10 years, which meant I sat for 10 years while commuting, sitting at my desk at the library, and sitting at home studying for the Torah readings.

“I then retired and wrote a book, Interpreting the Bible with Chutzpah, which is available on Amazon! I’m still tutoring children for their bar/bat mitzvah via Zoom but otherwise am enjoying (or sometimes bored with) all my free time. I loved Cornell and Ithaca. No place is more beautiful. And I’ve been to a lot of them, having hitchhiked through Europe in the early ’60s and been driven cross country, on a lark, by my wonderful companion—a man who keeps me laughing and who introduced me to hockey and baseball. What more could I ask!”

After 35 years of practicing tax and estate law, Aline Holstein Lotter (Manchester, NH) retired to devote herself full time as a painter. She writes, “My good news: I’m alive and healthy except for the cancer I must beat back. Multiple myeloma. Treatable for years to come. I have opened my house to both my granddaughters, Tabitha and Natalie. But I still do for myself, so far. I don’t paint much or even read. For caretakers, I have my two tuxedo cats. For socializing, I look back to the artists of the younger generation and a very special cousin for whom I painted a 4×6-foot closeup of three elephants talking at a watering hole. Her image. She’s an elephant scientist.”

In January, John Curtis, BCE ’64, MS ’65 (Rockwall, TX) and wife Janie set sail on a Viking World Journey from Los Angeles to London, westward across the Pacific and Indian oceans and northward in the Atlantic from the Cape of Good Hope. “We will be home again in mid-May, having made calls in two dozen countries along the way. We are in Namibia at present (March 2025), preparing for a dinner party in the Namib Desert. When we reach London, we will visit with friends from our years of living there before returning to the States. We are moved by the many cultures we have experienced as we travel around the world. What a planet!”

Dave Duffield, MBA ’64, has made news again with his historic $100 million investment to expand Engineering’s Duffield Hall! “Dave Duffield is an extraordinary philanthropist and a truly visionary Cornellian,” said University President Mike Kotlikoff. “His generosity has already immeasurably enhanced the quality of the university’s research, education, and campus life, and he continues to find and pursue new avenues for advancing Cornell’s mission.”

According to a media release from Cornell Engineering, “Duffield’s latest gift will expand Duffield Hall to encompass the space currently occupied by Phillips Hall, an adjoining building that has housed the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering since it opened in 1955, having been built with funding from the Ellis L. Phillips Foundation. With the endorsement of the Phillips family, the school’s directorship and the Engineering Quad’s largest auditorium, located in the expanded Duffield Hall, will be named in honor of Ellis L. Phillips Sr., Class of 1895, who was among the school’s earliest and most prominent graduates.” Construction is scheduled to begin this year and be completed in 2027, hopefully in time for our 65th Reunion.

Take a moment, please, to send along news and updates (photos, too!) of what’s happening with you and your family. And check out our class website for timelier information. Send your entries to: ❖ Judy Prenske Rich (email Judy) | Alumni Directory.

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1963

Marty, BEE ’65, and Dianne Flannery Lustig ’66 celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary last July. Marty wrote, “We celebrated by reminiscing about the one-car-garage-size apartment we had in a professor’s home in Cayuga Heights the first year we were married (1964) while still students at Cornell.

“After 20+ years of leading the Cornell Club of Mid-America (and having started it in 1983), I have retired from that role, leaving it to younger alumni to lead. One last activity we started that might be of interest to others: modifying a traditional book club into the Cornell Club of Mid-America ‘Banned Book Club.’ We are using a long list of banned books curated by Ali Velshi of MSNBC.

“Many years ago I located John Rasmus, who lives in a senior living community, John Knox Village, which is about 15 minutes away from where we live. He was in Arts & Sciences while I was in Engineering, and he went on to law school at the University of Virginia. John has added a great deal to the success of the Cornell Club of Mid-America. We help each other to try to understand what is happening in the world today.

“Dianne and I continue to live in our home in Prairie Village, KS. Yes, it’s Prairie Village. No, it’s not on the prairie … it’s an area like Cayuga Heights, and it’s not flat (but we don’t have gorges). We have reached the point, which I imagine many of my classmates have already reached, where we are looking at senior living communities. But I can still shovel snow, and I can push a snow blower and run a lawn mower, so we’ll put off the decision about senior living for a while.”

We celebrated our 60th anniversary by reminiscing about the one-car-garage-size apartment we had in a professor’s home in Cayuga Heights the first year we were married.

Marty ’63, BEE ’65 & Dianne Flannery Lustig ’66

Jim Byrnes, MBA ’64, and wife Terry are still living in Vero Beach, FL, but have rented a duplex in Ithaca so as to spend more time there in a second home. They missed living in the area and enjoying all the campus and other interactions that make it such a great community. Long term they hope to reside in Kendal at Ithaca, which has many Cornell-related residents. They hope to see some classmates in Ithaca from time to time (odds are higher from June–October).

Jim Billings, MBA ’64, writes from Sarasota, FL: “Last week, my wife, Karin, and I had dinner with John Kennedy, MBA ’65, and his wife, CeCe. After dinner we enjoyed the music of the Jersey Tenors, who sang many of our beloved ‘old’ songs. A couple of years ago we gave up our flat in Hamburg, Germany, and are now full-time Florida residents.

“I remain active both mentally and physically. On a good day, a very good day, I shoot my age on the golf course. That is one of the few benefits of getting older. I have nine grandchildren; three of them are in college. None are attending Cornell—two are at Stanford and the third is a chemical engineering student at Rice. There are six more opportunities to get at least one of them to Ithaca. One can only hope.”

Warren Icke ’62 and I are moving into our new apartment in a retirement community called La Posada at Pusch Ridge in Oro Valley, AZ. It is 45 minutes from where we live now and is on the northwest side of Tucson. We will be 45 minutes closer to two of our children. We sold our house, which was a great relief during these difficult times. We are really looking forward to the change and I am especially excited to have less cooking to do.

Send me news for future columns, please. ❖ Nancy Bierds Icke (email Nancy) | Alumni Directory.

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1964

I begin this bi-monthly class news report with a thumbs up and thank you for your responses to a request from the Alumni Affairs office for discourses on your volunteer activities.

Gary Cocks writes, “I gave blood regularly, starting at Cornell. I think I was close to five gallons over my lifetime. For a couple of years I taught English to adult immigrants once a week. I served on the board of my employer’s credit union. Twice I volunteered (nominal pay) at voting sites. For two years I was a Cub Scout den leader. I’m a dues-paying member of numerous environmental organizations, such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. I’ve also volunteered at many running club road races.”

Marjorie Rosen Harris writes: “For the past 12 years, I have been a volunteer at the local courthouse, officiating at civil wedding ceremonies. Great fun and great satisfaction.”

Elliot Gordon, our class president as of last June, adds: “My ‘first job’ after Cornell (thanks to my Navy ROTC enrollment) was aboard a landing ship tank (LST). After two years of active duty, I obtained a master’s at Adelphi University and a PhD from New York University. I had one course in toxicology. But, while the course was elementary, when the Frederick Cancer Center called and said they needed a toxicologist, I replied (to myself), ‘Well, I took a course.’ Fast-forward through my career as a toxicologist. With my risk assessment background, I was recruited to participate on the Township’s Environmental Commission. For more than five years, I’ve helped advise the mayor and town council of Princeton Junction, NJ, on a number of environmental issues.”

Ivan Rosenberg, MS ’66, shares: “About 10 years ago I founded the Uniquely Abled Project, a nonprofit that creates career vocational opportunities for the over 80 million individuals with mental, physical, and experiential employment obstacles. Using tools from my Cornell engineering education, I analyzed why the 60–90% unemployment of this group has not improved for decades. Based on this analysis, we have established 26 Uniquely Abled Academies (UAA) throughout the country, which have trained and graduated over 250 individuals with autism as Computer Numerical Control machine operators, giving them an independent and fulfilling life. UAA’s average job placement is 85%, compared to the 20–25% of most programs.

For the past 12 years, I have been a volunteer at the local courthouse, officiating at civil wedding ceremonies. Great fun and great satisfaction.

Marjorie Rosen Harris ’64

“We will establish a UAA in Oman in July, beginning an international expansion. We are now expanding to other vocations for people with autism and other employment challenges. This success is based on creating mind shifts in employers, parents, individuals, social agencies, and the community from ‘disabled’ to ‘uniquely disabled.’”

Ed Gurowitz, who lives with wife Emy in Reno, NV, writes, “Just a note to say I’m still working and just published my third book, Transformation: From Potential to Practice. I’m also doing executive coaching and organizational consulting.”

Ralph Cerny is active. “I have been retired from a career in hospital administration for 20 years and enjoy life in two wonderful locations: Traverse City, MI, and Sarasota, FL. I stay in touch with several Sigma Chi fraternity brothers, including Mike Strick, Charlie Luther, Burns Roensch, Fred Engstrom, and Tim Pierie. I enjoy playing golf several days a week year-round, and I play piccolo in the Scottville Clown Band in western Michigan in the summer. I was married in October of 2024 to Carol Polston, a good friend of my late wife, Maureen. We feel fortunate to have found love again at our age.”

Ann Sirrine Rider writes, “We had a pretty hard winter here 10 miles from Ithaca, but the daffodils and forsythia are out and it’s going to be spring, even though it’s been faltering for the last month. I’m still able to get out and do some volunteering here in the country and am looking forward to another day lily season.”

That’s all for now. As for your news, please keep it coming! Update me by email, regular mail, our class website, or our class Facebook page. ❖ Bev Johns Lamont (email Bev) | 720 Chestnut St., Deerfield, IL 60015 | Alumni Directory.

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1965

These notes will have been posted after our Class of 1965 60th Reunion, which took place June 5–8, 2025. Our Reunion committee, headed by Liz Gordon and Myron Jacobson, planned a rewarding program for our classmates, including: a Saturday night dinner at the Statler, discussions dealing with the mental health and wellness of Cornell students (with a panel headed by Dr. Bruce Smoller), and information about the climate-related sustainability efforts of the Cornell Atkinson Center and the 2030 Project. As of mid-May, at least 70 of our classmates were signed up to attend Reunion. Look for further Reunion coverage in upcoming notes.

Please remember that our 60th Reunion class gift is supporting a Well-Being Program to promote mental health throughout the Cornell community. The class gift committee, chaired by Jeff Kass, has worked diligently to make our efforts a success. Our initial funding financed the pilot program to provide coaching from specially trained Cornell staff. As of mid-April, our classmates had raised over $300,000 for the program fund, one of the largest amounts raised for a Reunion-related project. Since our Reunion gift has been deemed a Legacy Gift, you can donate during the Reunion year and afterward. There are numerous ways to contribute, including online, to the Class of 1965 Student Mental Health Fund.

Stephen Appell had the good fortune to keep up his frequent attendance at Cornell basketball games in the 2024–25 season, both in Ithaca and on the road, and at both women’s and men’s contests (four and five, respectively). Especially rewarding were a weekend up at Cornell for three games (two women’s, one men’s) on February 28 and March 1, and a trip to see the men’s team play in the Ivy tournament at Providence, March 15–16, where they won the first game before succumbing to Yale in the final. Steve will especially miss seeing the graduating stars of each team: Nazir Williams ’25 and Summer Parker-Hall ’25. He also salutes the successful first-year coaches of the hoops programs, Jon Jaques ’10 and Emily Garner.

Please keep the news coming to us. People love to hear about your doings, via our column. ❖ Stephen Appell (email Stephen) | Joan Hens Johnson (email Joan) | Alumni Directory.

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1966

Ah, spring in Ithaca … remember how much we waited for it? You should receive this note when it’s warm and sunny. Hope that wherever you are, you’re feeling warm and sunny, too. And, just a year from now, our class can return for our 60th Reunion and experience that weather! Hope to see you there!

Joel Edelstein wrote, “In December 2023, I retired from long-term psychiatric and psychoanalytic treatment of adults, children, and adolescents in a variety of settings. I maintain a small private practice one to two days per week.” In regard to the question about volunteer and civic activities, he said, “Despite (or perhaps due to) my vigorous efforts, our local food co-op failed, but I continue to fundraise for our volunteer fire company. I am active in community chorus and my synagogue.”

Joel is also catching up with many deferred books and films. He also has a modest-sized wine cellar, accumulated slowly over the years by reading about and buying when the vintages were young. He closed by saying that he and his wife, Betsy, are slowly taking trips of increasing length and spending time with distant family and friends. They recently “discovered” Letchworth State Park on the Genesee River, a place he did not know of while at Cornell.

Charles Schaefer retired in January 2019 and is now a volunteer guide at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. He’s also a docent at the Point Lobos State Nature Reserve. In order to increase his knowledge, he is learning about marine biology, conservation of the ocean, and marine ecology. He and his wife have three daughters and six grandchildren!

Gary Haight wrote, “I have been doing taxes for AARP for 20 years now. This free service benefits low-income taxpayers. I also direct and play for two singing groups that entertain in local retirement homes. A lady in one audience who hadn’t spoken for years was inspired to start singing while we were performing. Music soothes the soul!” Gary has also been a member of his neighborhood Handy Helper service, which helps people with minor household items such as sprinkler controllers, smoke alarms, air filters, minor repairs, etc.” He’s been “p(l)aying” it forward.

Francine Blau was featured in a Cornellians “Ask the Expert” article about the gender pay gap. She is Frances Perkins Professor Emerita of Industrial and Labor Relations and Professor of Economics in Cornell’s ILR School. She has taught and written on the gender pay gap—how it has narrowed and why it persists. Her book, The Economics of Women, Men, and Work, is now in its ninth edition. Fran said in the story: “When I started out, women—on average, working full time, year-round—earned about 60% of what men earned. Now we’re in the low 80%—and that’s not 100%, but it’s a big gain.”

Joseph Lai ’66 engaged in pioneering research on the development of the first portable pulse oximeter and a non-invasive blood pressure monitor.

Joseph Lai was honored at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering celebration earlier this year. He engaged in pioneering research on the development of the first portable pulse oximeter and a non-invasive blood pressure monitor.

Ted Mandigo lives in Elmhurst, IL, and is “still taking on an occasional project—selectively!” He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Illinois CPA Society. He has been traveling worldwide: “Dubai last fall, Japan last summer, and Norway is scheduled this spring.”

Larry Herlacher, MS ’68, is still working full time at the Mitre Corporation, “where I started in May 1968 upon graduation from Cornell with my MS. I provide engineering technical services to international customers and do a fair amount of travel.” Among the things Larry never imagined doing back in 1966: “Playing and traveling with my six grandchildren.” Larry wrote that he’s been to more than 60 countries, recently to Aruba, Jordan, Australia, Canada, Morocco, and France. And he enjoys time with his wife, Jane (Wells College ’68), daughter Laura (Bryn Mawr ’99) and her husband, Chris (University of Michigan ’88), and son Gregg ’04, ME ’05, and his wife, Ellen Miller ’05.

Jeffrey Konvitz writes from Beverly Hills, CA, that he is still financing and producing movies, and that his law practice continues with financing, trial work, and appellate work in California state and federal courts. “My new novel, The Circus of Satan, will be published June 17, 2025. It’s a historical novel about the destruction of Irish power and mob rule from 1900–13 and the rise of Italian and Jewish organized crime. This is my fourth novel.” Jeffrey is also working on book three of “The Sentinel Trilogy.”

Russell Lidman retired in 2017. “In that year, my last Fulbright, I taught at the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México in Mexico City, in the San Ángel municipality. After intensive investigation I found the best tequila.” He serves on the board of Heritage University in Toppenish, WA. Russell has traveled with a friend from the Class of ’67 in the last year, visiting Victoria, BC, Vietnam, and Cambodia. What did he never imagine back in 1966? “I never imagined I would be 80.”

Ralph Janis shared, “I am very much retired. My fancy title is director emeritus, Cornell’s Adult University, 1983–2008.” Ralph serves on the Class of 1966 Leadership Committee as campus liaison and has been part of Reunion planning since our 20th. He enjoys exploring Ithaca, visiting family and friends, and serving on committees for village and campus organizations. “I never imagined living in Ithaca the past 42 years! Nor having both my sons become Cornellians!” Ralph’s reply when asked about his recent and favorite vacations reflects his role as CAU director: “Maine, Florida, Ontario, and Boston. Favorites? Oh my—Antarctica, Galápagos, Africa, and India! And family reunions with my grandchildren.”

About a year from now, in June 2026, our class will celebrate its 60th Reunion. I look forward to returning to Cornell and Ithaca, and to seeing many of you. However, I do not want to drive from the D.C. area to Ithaca, so I’m going to fly to an airport in or near Ithaca and rent a car … just an idea to consider! Start planning: June 4–7, 2026! ❖ Pete Salinger, MBA ’68 (email Pete) | Susan Rockford Bittker (email Susan) | Alumni Directory.

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Julia Blank Bentley-Macdonald (Ithaca, NY) writes: “On March 7, 2024, my husband, Jerry, passed away at the age of 73. On June 3, I moved to Longview, a senior residence, where I participate in many activities such as a memoir-writing group led by a retired IC professor. I also facilitate a monthly book club at Lifelong, an active senior center in Ithaca. In 2023 I was given their volunteer of the year award. I enjoy walking the paths here and making new friends at Longview, as well as welcoming new residents who are often overwhelmed when they first move in. I would like to be in touch with former roommates and fellow classmates from Human Ecology.

“My son, Andrew Bentley, who received his PhD in natural resources from the University of Idaho, owns a business in Castleton, VT, called Ribbon Trails & Property. He and his wife have two bright girls who are 10 and 12. My late husband and I enjoyed river trips in nearby Oregon when Andrew and his wife lived in Idaho. My daughter, Karen, passed away in 2022; I have six loving grandchildren in Israel who visit yearly. I had the opportunity to visit Israel 18 times in past years. I have three great-grandchildren in Israel, the latest of whom was born last February.”

Several classmates answered a request from Alumni Affairs about their volunteer activities. Kenneth Fields, BS ’69 (Decatur, GA) wrote: “Despite being an operations research/industrial engineering major in the late ’60s, I took almost all of my last undergraduate year courses in the Department of City and Regional Planning out of a desire to somehow address the issues of revitalizing and improving America’s cities, then a major issue facing the country. Before I left Ithaca, one of my ORIE professors, Ken Kortanek, told me he was leaving Cornell to join a new School of Urban and Public Affairs at Carnegie Mellon University (now Heinz College) in Pittsburgh, PA.

“Amazingly, as a VISTA volunteer (the domestic Peace Corps) I was assigned to Pittsburgh. During my year of service, I contacted Ken and he encouraged me to apply to the first master’s class that would be starting as my year of service ended. The Carnegie Mellon curriculum combined the quantitative approach acquired at Cornell with the political and public analytical skills needed to operate in the public sector. Ken was joined on that faculty by another Cornell engineering alumnus, Al Blumstein ’51, PhD ’60, who became one of my mentors in the field of public safety.

In 2023 I was given the volunteer of the year award at Lifelong, an active senior center in Ithaca.

Julia Blank Bentley-Macdonald ’67

“After getting my graduate degree, I began a career of public service, including serving as budget director for the City of Pittsburgh, consulting to state and local governments, working as a university administrator, and serving as a city and tribal manager for over 25 years before retiring. I created emergency medical and fire-rescue departments, improved drinking water and wastewater treatment facilities, upgraded police departments, and helped create visionary development plans for stagnant communities.

“Serving in local government is immensely rewarding, as the impacts and results of the policies and projects you implement can be seen and felt immediately. Federal and state actions can take a long time to filter down to everyday life, but it was not uncommon for one of my neighbors to come up to me and complain or compliment me on some action I had taken the day before that affected them directly. I take satisfaction in the fact that I can point to improvements in the quality of life in every locale I served over my career, and that’s the best feeling in the world when looking back.”

Toby Tucker Hecht (Bethesda, MD) wrote: “Several years ago, when immunotherapy burst onto the scene for cancer treatment, it was clear that researchers needed better immunocompetent animal models with diseases and living environments similar to those of people to understand how these new biological agents work in living beings. With the support of the National Cancer Institute (where I work), I arranged for the funding of a series of clinical trials of pet dogs (patients) with cancer to test and refine immunotherapy agents and combinations for use in humans. In this way, both dogs and humans benefitted.”

Susan Plesser Brenner (Stevenson, MD) wrote: “I serve Christmas dinner at Our Daily Bread. I am also a member of Baltimore Women’s Giving Circle, where I am on the donations, grant-reading, post-grant, and other committees. BWGC supports women and children in Baltimore City and Baltimore County, helping them to become independent and secure.” ❖ Richard Hoffman (email Richard) | Alumni Directory.

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1968

More news to share with our classmates as we enjoy the summer months! We always want more news and updates from you, so please let us know where you are and what you are doing or share your reflections on your years at Cornell with our classmates!

Greg Plank writes about his volunteer work through a rescue dog, Dolly, they took in. “When I attended Cornell, dogs roamed free on campus, many attending classes and taking their uninvited place next to the professor. As I age, I realize that life changes for many of us. Memories fade, friends and family members pass on. For many it becomes a lonely time as we enter senior facilities for needed care. Those in memory care facilities are particularly separated from loved ones and, in many cases, from the pets that gave them companionship and love.

“When we rescued Dolly, she was 2. We realized she had had very little contact with people and needed socialization. I thought memory care would be a good place for her to meet humans and provide a service at the same time. We joined the Alliance of Therapy Dogs and got her approved and certified. Since then, Dolly has made over 200 visits to senior and memory care facilities, interacting with a few thousand people. Many cannot remember her name, but it makes them recall their dog when they were a child. Some just sit and pet her with a smile on their face. Some just sit and watch her with a kind loving look. Each visit is special and touching.

“The canine-to-human relationship is thousands of years old and it endures for so many of us. Of all those visits and people met, I have only heard three people say they don’t like dogs. When we meet others with friendly and affectionate dogs, we suggest that they join a therapy dog group and spread the love and bond that most of us have with dogs. It’s not expensive and it pays you back in special memories of the smiles from those who need a special friend in their twilight years.”

Richard Bowker writes about his wife, Margaret Higgins Bowker, a biology major at Cornell, and her remarkable work with women in very remote and poor villages in Kenya. Five years after graduating from Cornell, Margaret “was studying antelope behavior in Kenya for her doctoral research. That research year instilled a lifelong love for the biodiversity and peoples of Kenya. Back in Kenya almost 30 years later, Marghe returned again to a tent in the remote bush, this time as a part of an anti-poaching team. The goal was to restore native animal populations so the local women could establish an ecotourism industry and thereby generate some desperately needed revenue. The enigma is that poaching destroys the very wildlife that ecotourists seek in the wilds of Kenya: how to help break this cycle?

“Marghe soon connected with groups of local women who tended their subsistence crops, carried water for miles each day, and raised their children in the midst of an AIDS epidemic. Her challenge was to find ways to help the women improve their lives, to help their children find schooling, and ultimately to become self-sustaining. Initially, Marghe focused on supplying water and generating revenue.

Greg Plank ’68 and his therapy dog, Dolly, have made over 200 visits to senior and memory care facilities, interacting with a few thousand people.

“These women also had a tradition of weaving baskets from sisal fibers and natural dyes; it was lovely handcrafted work, but their remote villages offered no opportunity for marketing or direct sales. Marghe adopted a simple plan: purchase baskets from the women at a fair price; sell the baskets in the U.S. at local markets and craft fairs; and then return all the profits directly to the women on her next visit. Thus, the women essentially get paid twice for their baskets. She soon started purchasing large water storage containers for the villages and for individuals. This meant that women no longer had to walk many miles carrying water each day and could focus on farming, family, and basket-making. To maximize returns to the women, Marghe always pays all of her own travel and living expenses.

“She established a nonprofit company and soon added handmade jewelry made by Kenyan artisans to diversify her products. She works tirelessly selling baskets and jewelry at flea markets and church fairs throughout Virginia. Marghe also sells a book she wrote with drawings by local schoolchildren describing their life. In addition, Marghe pays school fees for numerous needy children, built a room on the local schoolhouse, and provides funds for widows who can no longer farm.

“Now she is trying to establish a web presence so that the women can handle the sales themselves. A local high school student was so taken with the project that she wanted to help; she is designing a webpage and often joins to help with sales. This young woman started at Cornell this past fall.” Richard concludes, writing, “Although Marghe will say, ‘It’s the story that sells the baskets, not me,’ nonetheless, one woman continues to make a huge difference in the lives of others less fortunate.”

Following up from last July’s Class Notes, which mentioned that Jerry Kreider, MArch ’71, was awarded Habitat Philadelphia’s Patrick F. Monaghan Good Neighbor Award, we now share a link to a wonderful video about Jerry that Habitat prepared for the event. The award is given to a Habitat champion who has displayed their unwavering commitment to Habitat’s mission of building and repairing more homes alongside families in Philadelphia.

Mark Good (Annapolis, MD) writes, “I am thankful for my BA in mathematics from Cornell; which opened the door to teach math and physics in German at a gymnasium in Nürnberg in the ’70s; which propelled me to earn a PhD in clinical social work in the ’80s; leading to 45 precious years working with couples and individuals; which formed the basis for my book, Real Talk: Creating Space for Hearts to Change; which I am teaching for the third time in the Philippines to doctoral students in psychology. Throughout all this, my wife and I survived the first half and thankfully have grown much closer during the second half of our marriage of 53 years. God is good.”

David Weber reports that he and his wife, Claudia, went on a wonderful cruise to Norway and Spitsbergen and now are looking forward to an Arctic cruise along the west coast of Greenland and into Baffin Bay in the Canadian Arctic. He and his wife enjoy going to concerts and recitals of students at the Eastman School of Music who they have helped to support through endowed scholarships.

I look forward to receiving more updates from all of you! Please email me about you and your family with news you would like to share with our classmates. ❖ Steve Weinberg, MBA ’70, JD ’71 (email Steve) | Alumni Directory.

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1969

This column is being written in April 2025. By the time you read it, you should have received word from Cornell about the annual request to pay your class dues. Unlike everything else, our annual dues amount hasn’t increased for many years: it is still only $30 ($45 for a couple, if both are Class of 1969). I urge you to support our class by paying your dues.

A number of our classmates have published books in their fields. A recent example is Robert Weisberg. At Cornell, he received a BS in materials science and engineering and met Cynthia, a Cortland grad, to whom he has been married for 55 years. He admits he didn’t foresee his future career path then, but the courses and work ethic instilled on campus led him to do graduate work at the University of Rhode Island, where he received an MS in ’72 and a PhD in ’75, each in the field of physical oceanography.

That set Robert on his way to a very productive career in research and teaching. He currently holds the title of distinguished university professor, emeritus in the College of Marine Science at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg campus. While he still engages with students and associates, his emeritus status allows him to enjoy more personal time and travel, unencumbered by academic and research responsibilities.

Robert has recently had a book published titled Climate to a Fish Sandwich: Why We Study the Ocean’s Circulation. The book is intended for a general layperson audience, or as a non-science major undergraduate text, to explain how ocean circulation and the ocean’s interactions with the atmosphere provide the basic underpinnings for global climate and ecology. It is his hope that the subject matter covered may inspire youth, including Cornell undergraduates, to consider a career in science—maybe even ocean physics.

Rich Nalevanko ’69 won an election in November 2024 to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, where he will be a member of the House Finance Committee.

Some of you may already know that our classmate Rich Nalevanko (University of Pittsburgh MBA ’71) won an election in November 2024 to the New Hampshire House of Representatives, where he will be a member of the House Finance Committee. Rich emphasized that this victory came on his fourth run for office, that he unseated a 26-year incumbent Democrat, and that he is “looking forward to an exciting 2025.”

Rich and his wife, Joy, continue to enjoy life in rural New Hampshire and are happy to report they enjoy good health and an active life. Keeping track of his family members may be more work than will be required in the legislature. According to Rich, “Our five kids, including four Cornellians and three Cornell spouses (Dan ’94, MAT ’96, and Meg Nalevanko Falcone ’95, DVM ’99; Ethan ’98, PhD ’04, and Amanda Nalevanko Settembre ’99; Katherine Nalevanko Baker ’01; Dan ’04 and Jillian Nalevanko Ward ’03) and 15 grandkids are all healthy and thriving. He said that anyone visiting New Hampshire is welcome to visit. His address is accessible via the Alumni Directory.

The last submission comes from Kent Nadbornik, who is living with his wife, Nina, in Helsinki, Finland. Kent says he spends his time on the island as long as the sea is open. Although retired and working “as little as possible,” he says he is still involved in hospital care of the elderly and is striving to teach his 3-year-old grandson (one of 21 grandchildren) to play the piano. Kent reported that there was a Cornell Hotel Society European chapter meeting arranged by Deiv Salutskij ’71 scheduled in April in Lapland, Finland. (Forty people had enrolled when he sent in his note. Maybe he can provide a report on how that event went in a future Class Notes column.)

Lastly, provoked by the news from Rich above, I think it would be interesting to know if any of our other classmates currently hold elective office at the local, state, or national level or have done so earlier in their lives. As one of the members of the Class of ’69 correspondent team, I am happy to be the collector of this information and will share what I learn from you in a future Class Notes column. Thanks. ❖ Greg Baum (email Greg) | Alumni Directory.

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1970s

1970

Similar to last time, I’m writing in the midst of oncoming holidays and holy days, with Passover beginning in days, Palm Sunday this week, and Easter Vigil and Sunday to follow. Not like last time, spring seems to be trying to arrive, with some sun, leftover March winds, and intermittent April showers. It rains as I review this column for submission!

Of interest, although it will also have passed when you read this, is our upcoming 55th Reunion, June 5–8. As I write this, 30 classmates have already registered, and I’m hoping for many more, especially as we missed meeting in person for our 50th. (Just in case you wonder about how big our class is, the current listing contains nearly 2,400 individuals!)

Expectations were high for both our women’s and men’s NCAA hockey teams this year. Our women stepped into the playoffs in the regional final, and outlasted Minnesota Duluth 1-0. In the semifinals, against Ohio State, the Big Red scored two, but the defending champions scored four. Perhaps to save some face, and have the red-attired team the victors, the University of Wisconsin Badgers edged Ohio State 4-3 in the championship game.

In men’s hockey, our ECAC champions edged number-two Michigan State 4-3. Unfortunately, that put them opposite old foe Boston University. Cornell scored at 14:30 of the third period to even the score at 2-2. Then BU went on to score in minute six of the overtime to move on to the semifinals, where they defeated first-timers Penn State. In the other semi, defending champion Denver lost to Western Michigan 3-2. In the final, Western Michigan dominated BU six goals to two, for their first-ever national championship.

Again, you will see this column after Reunion. Hopefully, you will have received a News and Dues mailing, which I would encourage you to return so I have things to write about!

Larry Kraft (North Springfield, VT) writes the following: “My short play, Reunion, will appear in the spring issue of online literary magazine Confetti. It takes place in 1980 at a 10-year college reunion at an unnamed university. Since the staged reading of my full-length play Waiting for a Eulogy last summer, I have also published a short story, a long poem, and several opinion pieces. I left my computer long enough to attend Cornell men’s basketball games at Dartmouth and Brown.”

Lucinda Briggs (Seattle, WA) takes lots of “retiree” classes at the local colleges in Seattle. She’s currently taking one on U.S. history from the 1930s to the 1960s, partly to fill in gaps as she wondered about what it was like for her mother to live through the Great Depression. Her mother, Virginia Yoder Briggs ’35, MEd ’66, lived to over age 100, but Cindy never thought of asking her about how her parents could possibly have afforded tuition, since her mother was a homemaker and her father worked at a hardware store in Syracuse, NY.

Lucinda Briggs ’70 speaks lovingly of one night being allowed out past curfew, to lie on the grass and admire the northern lights overhead.

So Cindy consulted Cornell expert Corey Earle ’07. Tuition in the Ag College was free for New York State residents until the 1960s. For non-New York residents, it was $200 when her mother graduated (and also in 1931–32, when she presumably first enrolled). Other fees included a $10 matriculation fee, a $5 per term infirmary fee, a $1 per term physical recreation fee, a $5 per term Willard Straight Hall membership fee, a $10 graduation fee, and occasional laboratory fees.

Cindy’s mother lived in the original women’s dorm, Sage College, now rebuilt as the Johnson Graduate School of Management, and previously a graduate student dorm, where your correspondent lived while working for his MBA (!). For Cindy’s mother, room and board was a few hundred dollars, which included the opportunity to send in 15 items of laundry each week. In addition, Sage also included “the gymnasium and swimming tank for the student women of the University.”

Cindy wonders if perhaps some things were better during the Great Depression, and also wonders if subsidies from New York State or maybe FDR’s New Deal programs may have covered tuition, and whether that extended to other schools in the University. Her mother majored in animal husbandry and wanted to work at a horse barn. Sadly, no one would hire a woman for such a job in 1935!

Your correspondent is now wondering how things were when my late father, Carl Cecilia ’42, attended and graduated. The world, and Cornell, certainly went through frightening changes in those seven years.

Cindy speaks of still keeping in touch with three women from her freshman corridor in Dickson VI. She tells younger alumni that she was still from the era at Cornell (two of her years) when only women had curfews. One would be charged with late minutes and would be required to sit at the dorm desk on Sundays if not back before curfew. She did speak lovingly of one night being allowed out past curfew, to lie on the grass and admire the northern lights overhead. She loves astronomy, perhaps since that night.

Again, by the time this column appears, our 55th Reunion will be past. Hope to see many of you in June 2025! And I also hope many of you will send your experiences and memories of times at Cornell, and the life adventures that have followed. As always, you may contact me directly (see below) or you may use the University’s standard online news form. ❖ John Cecilia, MBA ’79 (email John) | Alumni Directory.

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1971

Did you happen to read the recent Cornellians story about our classmate and class treasurer, Arthur Mintz, “Meet the Voice of Big Red Men’s Ice Hockey (and Football!)”? Arthur has enjoyed nearly four decades at the microphone up at Lynah Rink, becoming an “icon in his own right.” Off season, you can find Arthur announcing Big Red football games up at Schoellkopf Field.

On May 5, 2025, the Cornell Daily Sun (in an article titled “‘A Leader for Everyone’: Shining a Spotlight on Impactful Women at Cornell”) recognized Judith Goodman Mecklenburger for her role in the founding of the Risley Program House, the first program house and first co-ed dormitory established on campus. Founded in 1970, Risley Hall houses 194 students of any class who display interest in the visual and performing arts; it has a theater, a coffeehouse, recording studios, and a dining hall. Judith was a communication major in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

At Cornell, she participated in WVBR, the Cornell Countryman, and the Sage Chapel Choir. She explains, “There are always these two sides to me—science and the arts.” During our junior year, Judith asked Ruth Darling, former head of housing, if the University could provide a living space for about 25 students who have interest in the arts, regardless of major. Prior to meeting with Judith, Cornell had planned on tearing down the former all-girls dormitory due to its expense. “Mecklenburger left Day Hall that day with the opportunity to transform Risley Hall into an experimental, arts-focused dormitory as the Head Resident for over 200 students.” Look for the plaque recognizing her legacy next time you are in Risley Hall.

Arlene Rosenfeld Schenker announces Apples & Honey Press’s publication on April 29, 2025 of her debut picture book, Call Me Gebyanesh. The main character and co-author of the book, Gebyanesh Addisu, emigrated as a 7-year-old from Ethiopia to Israel, her Jewish biblical homeland. The book is about her struggles fitting in with a different skin color and very different culture. Gebyanesh is now a graduate student at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Arlene loves presenting her story to children who learn that the feelings of being an outsider can be overcome, and that being different from others can become a strength.

Arlene’s hubby, Howard, MD ’75, is enjoying retirement from his 40-year practice of ophthalmology in Rochester, NY, due to a stimulating second go-round at Cornell, auditing many history classes. The Schenkers’ second home in Ithaca affords Howard the freedom to be near campus on weekdays. And so, the Schenkers’ Cornell love story continues.

My old friend and high school classmate Joe McCourt, ME ’72, is delighted to report that he is still married, still working, still running, still riding, and still marching. Joe lives in Scarsdale, NY, where he moved in 1984 with his wife, Barbara. They were married after graduation in 1971, then moved into a $79-per-month basement apartment in Collegetown while Joe did his ME year. Barbara frequently reminds Joe of waiting for the bus to her bank teller job at Tompkins County Trust Company in subzero early morning Ithaca darkness, while he had late classes at Ward Lab and slept in.

Barbara and Joe also have a place in Denver that they use when visiting three of their daughters and five of their eight grandchildren. A fourth daughter and her family live one block away in Scarsdale, and their son (engineering physics Class of 2010) lives and works in Manhattan. Joe runs the nuclear fuel brokerage company he co-founded in 1982. He has visited and done transactions with most participants in the global supply chain, and will attend nuclear fuel conferences this year in Montreal, Sydney, and London.

Joe McCourt ’71, ME ’72, completed the 2024 NYC Marathon in 4:55. He was the first New Yorker, third American, and 13th overall out of 73 in the men’s 75–79 age group.

Joe began distance running 30 years ago and has run in an astounding 28 marathons including in Paris, Belfast, Dublin, and Cape Town. In November, Joe completed the NYC Marathon in 4:55. He was the first New Yorker, third American, and 13th overall out of 73 in the men’s 75–79 age group. He is in training for the 2025 NYC Marathon and aims to improve his time enough to qualify for Boston. Joe attributes his late-in-life athletic prowess to never having participated in high school or college sports (except for freshman gym and the full-semester, three-times-per-week, naked remedial swimming class he had to take at Teagle Hall in order to pass the swim test).

Joe began motorcycling 20 years ago and has crossed the U.S. twice, as well as ridden in the UK, Israel, and the UAE. Decreasing flexibility forced him to downshift from a sport bike (Yamaha R6) to a cruiser (Moto Guzzi V85 TT), which he plans to ride from Scarsdale to Montreal in April to attend a nuclear fuel conference. Joe is also active in the pro-life committees in his parishes in Scarsdale and Denver. During the past year Barbara and Joe visited Europe several times, most recently in February to see an opera at La Scala. For the longer term, they continuously discuss downsizing and moving to Manhattan, Florida, Denver, or Europe, but since they cannot agree, they are still based in Scarsdale. Joe is looking forward to our 55th Reunion.

Mayo and Liz Cohn Stuntz ’73 are doing well, living in the village of Mamaroneck in Westchester, NY. They have three children (two girls, one boy), two of which (with their five grandchildren) also live in Westchester, so they get to see them often. Mayo spent his career in media and entertainment, working for companies like NBC, MTV, AOL, and Time Warner. For the last several years, he has been an investor with both private equity and venture capital firms, and is still somewhat active in those areas. Mayo’s nonprofit life has centered around New York Public Radio (WNYC, WQXR), where he has been chair and now treasurer. The Stuntzes continue close friendships with classmates Andrew Tisch, Steve Gorfine, Mike Cornfeld, Rick Leland, Leslie Jennis Obus, and Linda Germaine-Miller, along with many other friends from Cornell. As Mayo emphasizes, it is “so great that 55 years later, our Cornell connections are still so strong!”

Out in California, Howard Rodman continues to be active in a wide range of multifarious literary activities. In February, Howard hosted a screening of Easy Rider at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in L.A. (lecturing on the life and work of screenwriter Terry Southern); was honored at USC’s annual Scripter Awards (celebrating adaptations of books to film and TV) receiving the Ex Libris Award in recognition of his work on the Scripter selection committee; and participated in a poetry reading for the Agape Lodge Poetry Society. In March, Howard showed three films noir he wrote for Mirage and Showtime in the anthology series Fallen Angels. Howard’s “lavish literary 19th-century anticolonial adventure” novel, The Great Eastern, is now available in both audiobook and print formats.

For the past six years David Benton has chaired the annual Angel Flight East Gala for an organization that provides complimentary air transportation from 400 volunteer pilots to fly patients to and from their homes to hospitals within 14 Eastern states on their private aircraft. David also volunteers as a docent at the Holocaust Museum in Newport Beach, CA, which tours thousands of middle school, high school, and college students, seniors, and various organizations, educating all about the Holocaust. It is especially meaningful for David to conduct these tours, as his mother’s story of her escape from Germany through the Kindertransport is included in the tour.

Congratulations to Alan Miller, who wrote in to tell us proudly that his wife, Sue O’Hara ’72, BA ’71, was named one of three Heroes Against Hunger 2025 by the Manna Food Center of Gaithersburg, MD, in honor of her 27 years as a volunteer. She will be recognized at an awards reception on May 6.

Lastly, we are saddened to report the death of anesthesiologist John D’Addario (Syracuse, NY) on December 21, 2024. John enjoyed cocker spaniels, music, fast cars, harness racing, and watching sports. He was active in community, professional, and alumni affairs, and, at Cornell, was a member of Phi Kappa Sigma.

Be well, be happy, enjoy your summer, and stay connected! ❖ Cara Nash Iason (email Cara) | Elisabeth Kaplan Boas (email Elisabeth) | Alumni Directory.

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1972

Last fall, our Class Notes column included a request from Charles Tetrault and Jerry Schulz, who were trying to remember everyone on their freshman floor (U-Hall 4, second floor) in 1968–69, including their room numbers and hometowns. They have now completed this project and were helped especially by Mark Gold, some floormates, and other classmates. It was way more work and fun than they had thought at the outset. If floormates or others would like to see electronic copies of the floor plan with the names, hometowns, and colleges of the 53 guys (including two dorm counselors) and a group picture, drop them a note (email Charles and Jerry).

Irwin Rosenfeld shares, “I recently performed in my 223rd show in six years by singing ‘Satisfaction’ by the Rolling Stones with a band named Rock of Ages. Most of my shows are available online. I’m currently planning a trip to France in May with my sister. My satisfaction these days comes from performing for others, playing competitive bridge (I will soon be a Ruby Life Master—next step, Gold), and watching my six grandchildren (ages 3 to 15) grow up.”

Irwin adds, “Many years ago, in my early years as a psychiatrist, I was concerned after seeing so many patients who were disabled by chronic mental illness living on Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), which is not enough to allow them to live, even in a studio apartment, here in Southern California. This resulted in a terrible homeless crisis, especially among this population. So I bought a five-bedroom house, which I converted to six bedrooms, and proceeded, in 1994, to rent shared bedrooms for $300 per month to the chronically mentally ill. During these last 30 years, the minimum SSDI payment increased from $600 to $1,100, and rent gradually doubled.

“I provide housing, furnishings, utilities, and shared common consumable goods (toilet paper, coffee, laundry detergent, etc.). I pay for all repairs and upgrades. I have never had a year where I made a profit, but I am keeping a dozen or so mentally ill people off the streets. The problems are plentiful: verbal and sometimes physical fighting, bizarre behavior, stealing (from each other and my house), and other disruptive behavior. However, most of the residents are good, gentle people who follow the rules. The city and some of the neighbors tried on several occasions to close us down, which I had to negotiate or fight in city hall or in court. This is my contribution to the community.”

I recently performed in my 223rd show in six years by singing ‘Satisfaction’ by the Rolling Stones with a band named Rock of Ages.

Irwin Rosenfeld ’72

Jerry Goldman stays involved with Cornell in many ways, including as a Dyson Advisory Council life member, a University Council life member, and a class officer. In his community, he is co-founder and former chair of the board of Arete Education Inc., a nonprofit providing after-school programming (academic, arts, culture, and sports) to inner-city public schools in NYC. He is also programming chair of Randall’s Island Park Alliance, a public-private partnership with NYC parks to develop and maintain world-class track and field, tennis, and golfing facilities and over 66 playing fields serving all the residents of greater NYC. In addition, he is a baseball coach, tutor, and mentor at the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology in the South Bronx.

Don Stanton recently penned a personal essay for Cornellians titled “How Naval ROTC Shaped My Years on the Hill, and Beyond.” In it, he writes, “Serving in Naval ROTC enriched my Cornell experience and helped me throughout life in learning to work with, and listen to, people from different perspectives. I am thankful for the opportunities during my years in NROTC, which took me out of my comfort zone and challenged me academically.” You can read the full essay here.

On June 4, our classmate David Moriah passed away. Before he died, he sent us the following entry: “I fell in love with Ithaca as a student and didn’t leave until 1984. I became an outdoors bum during that period, working for Outward Bound in the summer and then convincing Cornell Athletics and Physical Education to throw me a few coins to start what’s now Cornell Outdoor Education. COE today is the ‘biggest and best’ outdoor program on any campus in North America, if not the world. I came back to Ithaca in 2022, after 38 years, to organize COE’s 50th anniversary celebration and reunion in July 2023. It attracted about 200 former staff who gathered again on campus and in the woods and gorges of Ithaca.

“Today I’m dealing with a new challenge—a stage 4 cancer diagnosis. I write a weekly (or so) blog sharing my thoughts on life, death, meaning, and purpose and what I’m experiencing at this strange stage of life. Of my 400+ subscribers many are Cornellians, and I invite any and all classmates to check it out here. It seems everyone I talk with from our generation has something tough going on—Parkinson’s, heart condition, replacement parts, spousal dementia, etc. We’ve hit the tough stage of life. Let’s be gentle on ourselves and look for opportunities to take care of each other.” David will be missed. ❖ Frank Dawson (email Frank) | Wes Schulz, ME ’73 (email Wes) | Susan Farber Straus (email Susan) | Alumni Directory.

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1973

Rick Saltz, MBA ’74, our class co-president, had the honor of representing Cornell at the inauguration of Yale University’s 24th president, Dr. Maurie McInnis, on April 6. Dr. McInnis is Yale’s first woman president (and Yale is the last Ivy to appoint a woman president). Rick processed in full Cornell regalia. Living in “Yale country” near New Haven, Rick appreciated being chosen for this honor … “or was it because everyone else said no?” he muses. “But it doesn’t matter—it was a fun, grand event.” Rick’s wife, Lynn (Rosenbluth) ’75, also attended.

I note that Yale, as well as Princeton, first admitted women in 1969 as members of the Class of 1973. In contrast, Cornell is one of the country’s pioneers in coeducation. Cornell was among the first American universities to admit women as undergraduates and the first Ivy to do so—back in the 1870s!

Last year in this column, I wrote that Mary Gilliland, MAT ’80, senior lecturer emeritus, John S. Knight Institute for Writing, had a new published book of poetry titled Ember Days. This spring, Chicago’s Dancing Girl Press published new poetry by Mary. “In the Pool of the Sea’s Shoulder is a long-form poem inspired by a 19th-century statue created in Fukushima and by a man, Mary’s brother, whose employment with New Mexico’s Education Department made sure that no child was left behind during the second Bush presidency, and whose volunteering with the Coalition for Equality was instrumental in getting the state’s pioneering human rights protection legislation passed in 2003.”

New York State named Mary Gilliland ’73, MAT ’80, a ‘Woman of Distinction Honoree’ with a ceremony held in March.

New York State named Mary a “Woman of Distinction Honoree” with a ceremony held in March. Earlier this year, Mary’s poem “Place of Arrival,” hand calligraphed, with photo of Eleusis, was on display at the exhibit “Creative Women of the Finger Lakes” at the National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, NY.

Alumni Affairs is coordinating a project asking alumni about their volunteer activities to help Cornell “understand and celebrate the vastness of the good Cornellians can do.” (Learn more here.)

Classmate Denise Meridith, Phoenix, AZ, responded: “I have been a community leader as well as a business owner for the past 29 years. I founded the Black Chamber of Commerce here and a youth sports nonprofit that lasted 14 years. I am launching Project NILO, an online business education course for college athletes. We help students and parents add ‘ownership’ to ‘name, image, and likeness’ (NIL).

“The virtual program will allow student athletes to participate in digital education and work-based learning. It is designed to lead to potential employment, co-branded opportunity, and potential long-term business ownership. We will also partner with local businesses to provide ‘try-out’ opportunities for student-athletes that fit their rigorous schedules. We will align families with monetizing opportunities through participating and verified organizational brands. Project NILO is open to any student in any sport in any school. Our goal is for 1,000 students to complete the program and earn their own LLC or business license.”

Send news to: ❖ Pam Meyers (email Pam) | Dave Ross (email Dave) | Phyllis Haight Grummon (email Phyllis) | Alumni Directory.

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1974

Barry Strauss, a former chair of the Cornell Department of History, is a 2025 winner of the Bradley Prize. This is given to individuals “whose extraordinary work exemplifies the Bradley Foundation’s mission to restore, strengthen, and protect the principles and institutions of American exceptionalism” (defined as the belief that the U.S. is either distinctive, unique, or exemplary compared to other nations). Congratulations, Barry!

Nine DGs gathered in April in Dunedin, FL. Barb Johnson and Mi O’Connell hosted a wonderful three days. Betsy Beach, Jackie Dolat, Chris Shiber, Maria Mickewicz Lewis ’75, Karen Seidler Goodwin ’75, Marleen Kay, BArch ’76, and Diane Kopelman VerSchure rounded out the group.

They kicked off the trip with dinner at Barb’s home, then spent the next day in St. Petersburg, where they visited the Dali Museum, had lunch on the Pier, and then spent some time on the beautiful St. Pete Beach. The next morning, four of them went for a 15-mile bike ride on the Pinellas Trail while the others gathered at Barb’s place. They spent an afternoon at Honeymoon Island Beach before capping off the trip with a sunset dolphin cruise in Dunedin. The ’74 DGs have been gathering regularly since their first trip in 2002 celebrating everyone’s 50th birthdays. (From Perry: A great tradition!)

Football fans: Did you know that Cornell came from behind to score a victory over The Ohio State University to win the 1939 National Championship 23-14? Here is a one-minute video of the game. Note the excellent blocking and the tiny helmets. Cornell typically wore white at home, but Ohio State inadvertently brought only white uniforms, forcing Cornell to wear red for the game.

Don Coling, “the simple son of a plumber,” retired four months ago after spending his final years heading the commodity futures business at Canada’s largest bank. To help ease into retirement, he recently spent 20 days in South Africa on a safari with his wife and friends, touring the wonderful wine region. They have three young grandchildren who keep them both active and busy. Old-timer hockey is still something that he looks forward to each week; however, the speed and finesse is disappearing.

Wendy Goldberg ’74 was awarded 2024 Artist of the Year at the Marin County Fair.

The husband-and-wife team of Al Hamilton and Diana Wainrib ’77 retired in 2016 after successful careers. In 2020, residents in the Pine Hill Road area of Southborough, MA (between Boston and Worcester), decided to use their open space to help feed people in need of help by planting a “victory garden” during the pandemic. When the pandemic wound down, the volunteers didn’t—and the Pine Hill Meadow Garden, now entering its fifth year of operation, has delivered five TONS of fresh produce to shelters and food pantries in Worcester County. Awesome achievement, Al and Diana.

Wendy Goldberg was awarded 2024 Artist of the Year at the Marin County Fair and interviewed by Teravarna Art Gallery. You can watch it on YouTube. She continues to paint, draw, and exhibit, and often thinks of the Ithaca skies and how the clouds and dramatic weather influenced her work. You can see her artwork on her website.

Peter Saracino has been a community theater actor for over 40 years. He researched, wrote, and performed In His Own Words: An Evening With Robert Frost, which he performed at last September’s Fringe Festival in Rochester, NY. He is a literacy volunteer in Ontario County, NY (Southeast of Rochester), a New York State Master Naturalist volunteer, a leader of the Ontario County Youth Birding Club (they meet monthly for birding excursions in and around the Finger Lakes area), and a roving naturalist at Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, where he helps visitors explore and enjoy the natural wonders the refuge has to offer.

Thanks to the efforts of Chip Conradi, Jeff Hayes, and Al Van Ranst, MBA ’76, a multi-year Phi Gamma Delta reunion of over 20 (!) brothers took place near Chicago in April. Good times were had seeing the sights, trading memories, and competing fiercely at something resembling golf. On Saturday evening, the group gathered for drinks and a banquet and to hear from a much-anticipated mystery guest speaker. To everyone’s delight, it was none other than the Notable Class of 1974 Vice President of Fun, Joe Kowalik.

Joe regaled the audience with a story of how channeling fellow Fiji E.B. White 1921 made him the Cornell engineer he is today, and other tales. Attendees from our class included Ed Abare, Bill Baker, Bob Carell, Bob Cheney, Chip Conradi, Eric and Sandy Darmstaedter, Jeff Hayes, Mike and Stephanie Hays, Joe Kowalik, Rob Swanson, Al and Marta Van Ranst, and Dana Williams. Attendees from other classes included Tom Barron ’72, Gary Deines ’73, Lew Incze ’75, Chip McClure ’75, Brian O’Sullivan ’75, Mike Parkinson ’75, Ken Wingate ’75, and Pat Woods ’75. ❖ Perry Jacobs (email Perry) | Linda Meyers Geyer (email Linda) | Betsy Moore (email Betsy) | Alumni Directory.

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1975

En route to the San Francisco airport for a rare week of vacation in wine country this April, I took out my laptop and news forms from ’75 classmates to write this column during the flight. Barely into reading through the first “Share Your News” sheet, the man seated next to me asked, “Did you go to Cornell?” upon seeing the Cornellians logo at the top of the page. Yes, you’ve guessed correctly. He, too, was a Cornellian: Christopher Hartung ’90, whose son will become a freshman this fall. Indeed, it’s a small Cornell world.

On the following day, our group of wine aficionados spent the afternoon with my Cornell roommate and her husband in Calistoga. Steve, PhD ’77, and Joan Schmidt Heller ’74 shared their breadth of knowledge and fabulous wines with us. Inspired by his enology class in the Ag School, Steve “retired” to the purchase and operation of HLR Cellars for the past 15 years. Their two daughters and families now reside in California as well.

The following day took us to Frog’s Leap Winery in nearby Rutherford, founded and operated by John Williams ’74, BS ’75, who greeted our group for another enjoyable afternoon. Let both Cornellian-owned wineries become must-enjoy stops when you’re in Napa Valley.

Other news from the West Coast comes from Richard Marin, MBA ’76, in Escondido, CA. Rich and wife Kimberly have lived in the San Diego area since early 2020. They have two Cornell grad kids who are married to two Cornell grads with two grandchildren. A family tradition! Following his official retirement, Rich keeps busy by doing expert witness work, and gardening, and still riding his motorcycle whenever he can.

Not so far away from Rich is Andrew March in Phoenix, AZ, where he and his wife, Karen, reside. Upon retiring as a physician, he has focused on “saving Arizona.” In Burlington, MA, Martha Simon is also working with a similar focus. In addition to serving as a school committee member, Martha is working to save our democracy and our planet. She and husband Monte Pearson have two grown daughters.

Laurie Clemente Milnor is still involved in running the company that she and Nancy Kiesendahl Bloch ’71 founded in 1988, ShopTalk20/20, which provides assessment services for sales associates in hospitality companies and senior housing communities. Transitioning to semi-retirement in their Alton, IL, home, Laurie and husband George have two grown Cornellian children and a new granddaughter. They have enjoyed traveling and connecting with friends from Cornell (especially Pi Phi sisters) and from Penn, where George had attended.

Robert Williams ’75 has retired from the medical field, affording him more time to enjoy playing Irish traditional music (flute, whistle, concertina).

Also in Illinois, Greg Rubin, MBA ’76, and wife Sharyl reside in Glenview. Describing himself as “mostly retired,” Greg serves as a board member for several organizations while also golfing, swimming, and traveling.

Mark Powers and his wife, Karen Lauterbach, are loving life in North Carolina, close to their three grandsons. Thinking of his days at Cornell brings back all the good times shared with Karen, intramural sports, the Mummies at the Chapter House, and hanging out with friends from Sperry Hall, North Campus, Stewart Avenue, and Eddy Street. After retiring from Duke University as an associate professor emeritus in pulmonary and critical care medicine, Mark pursued writing fiction, growing fruits and vegetables, and beekeeping. He became a Master Gardener volunteer and Master Beekeeper and was president of the beekeeping association. Mark’s fourth novel, The Desperate Trials of Phineas Mann, published on April 16. To read more, visit his website.

Another successful author in our class is Madelaine Zadik. Following her retirement in 2018, her essays have been published in literary journals (see her website for more info). Madelaine is working on a memoir about her relationship with her Aunt Helga, whom she knew only through letters she had written from a Nazi prison.

“Good stuff” is how Thomas Stocksdale describes what has been happening in his life in recent years. Tom continues to farm the family farm in Wooster, OH, and is heavily involved with local and state fair boards. He and Constance have grandchildren involved in 4-H and other educational and athletic activities, including one grandson who is playing on the Ohio State football team. Tom credits Cornell for giving him a great view of life, business, and being a team member. Enjoying a sunny retirement in Sarasota, FL, are Joel, MBA ’76, and Barbara Helmrich. They have recently celebrated the birth of two granddaughters.

Several New Yorkers have sent in information as well. Caryn Goldsamt Margolis lives in Westchester and would love to hear from fellow Cornellians. Robert Williams has retired from the medical field, affording him more time to enjoy playing Irish traditional music (flute, whistle, concertina) as well as playing baritone saxophone in a German brass band. He and wife Mary reside in East Aurora, NY, and have recently celebrated their granddaughter’s college graduation. Robert credits his own years at Cornell for leading him into his career in medicine.

Ted Lucki and his three children work in his business, Riverhead Motors, an auto enterprise in Riverhead, NY. While an ILR student, Ted had met his wife, Lori Sternlicht-Lucki ’77, on a volleyball court, and he’s delighted to report that they’ve been happily married for the past 47 years.

Please take a few minutes to send us highlights of your life after Cornell, college friends you’ve seen, and memorable moments on campus, and we’ll share the news in our upcoming columns. To update your contact info with the University, go to this website. ❖ Joan Pease (email Joan) | Deb Gellman, MBA ’82 (email Deb) | Karen DeMarco Boroff (email Karen) | Mitch Frank (email Mitch) | Alumni Directory.

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1976

Always at this time of year our news cycle is light on updates from classmates. Here’s to hoping there is more news from you for the next column.

Julie Bentz retired on December 31, 2024 after 22 satisfying years as an attorney for the Social Security Administration, most of them doing bankruptcy law. She has not really settled into a retirement routine, aside from indulging in more reading and knitting. Julie has become a board member of the Illinois Association for the Advancement of Archaeology, and is hoping to do more volunteer work in archaeology, in which she earned both her BA at Cornell (classics) and PhD (classical archaeology) at the University of Cincinnati.

Another activity is having fun playing interior decorator in planning to remodel one of her bathrooms, although she says that she will have to move from the “Ooh, I like that!” stage to actually having the work done.

Cornell changed the trajectory of Julie’s life when she selected a course in classical civilization for her freshman seminar. She had always been interested in Ancient Greece, but she had not considered classics as a major. She spent several great years teaching at colleges in the U.S. and at Victoria University in New Zealand. She eventually switched careers to law so she could return to the Chicago area to be closer to her aging parents.

Julie wrote that Cornell helped her develop intellectual curiosity, which she believes is her most valuable characteristic. ❖ Lisa Diamant (email Lisa) | Pat Relf Hanavan (email Pat) | Alumni Directory.

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1977

For the past year or so, Alumni Affairs has been collecting examples of Cornellians serving their communities across the globe. The Cornell Association of Class Officers recently sponsored the Good Cornellians Can Do Class Competition to further participation and encourage more alums to share their stories.

Several of our classmates are among those who responded. Here are a few of their stories.

Sharon Odrobina Cassidy writes, “I can be fidgety, so I like to keep my hands busy when I’m in meetings or talking on the phone by knitting or crocheting. I’ve been making prayer shawls for our church since we joined the congregation six years ago. We keep them in a basket at the front of church for anyone to take. My husband, the scientist, wanted to know how many miles of yarn I’ve knitted into prayer shawls, and since I keep a record of every prayer shawl, I was able to calculate that so far I’ve knitted 89 prayer shawls using over 22 miles of yarn! I was diagnosed with an incurable but (hopefully) manageable cancer in December 2020. I was given several chemo caps when my hair started falling out after the first chemo infusion, and I’ve paid it forward since then by crocheting chemo caps for others—47 completed so far. And, as always, I have another prayer shawl and chemo cap in progress.”

Ralph Zingaro is contributing to the welfare of southwestern New Hampshire’s forests. He writes, “Eastern hemlocks (Tsuga canadensis) are considered the foundation of the forest. But a small insect, the hemlock woolly adelgid, is killing these trees.” Fortunately, a predatory beetle native to the Pacific Northwest, Laricobius nigrinus, feeds on the hemlock woolly adelgid and can thus save hemlock trees. Ralph notes that entomologist Dr. Richard McDonald has successfully introduced these beetles to North Carolina over the past 25 years. Ralph met with Dr. McDonald and, with private funding, they are introducing those predatory beetles to New Hampshire. Ralph writes, “We are just getting started, but we know that with concurrent releases we can establish a population of these Laricobius beetles and save the hemlock trees of New Hampshire!”

So far I’ve knitted 89 prayer shawls using over 22 miles of yarn!

Sharon Odrobina Cassidy ’77

Dr. Pamela Pine is an international public health professional and the founder and director of Stop the Silence: Stop Child Sexual Abuse Inc. Pamela incorporated the organization in 2004 “as an international nonprofit based in Maryland with a mission to expose, prevent, and stop child sexual abuse and help survivors heal.” She writes, “In 2021, Stop the Silence, with a focus on all adverse childhood experiences, became a department of the Institute on Violence, Abuse, and Trauma based in San Diego, and I became its director. Over the past decades, Stop the Silence has worked in the U.S. and around the world, in Africa, Europe, Latin America, and Oceania, conducting advocacy, education, training, and policy development programs and projects, with funds from the California Endowment, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice, the Ford Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Ms. Foundation, PepsiCo, and other government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. Other funds come from donations and paid programs and events.”

Pamela explains, “The focus is on ‘putting the world on the same page’ in terms of awareness, knowledge, understanding, and skills so we can collectively face the need across disciplines. We have conducted abundant programming focused on accomplishing this, reaching the survivors, the public, and professionals, including clinicians, psychologists and psychiatrists, lawyers, judges, educators, and others.”

Pamela concludes: “Nearly 25 years after I began this work, I know we have done a lot—and not nearly enough—to quell the tide of child trauma, abuse, and its aftermath.” She invites readers to learn more about her journey and get involved in prevention and mitigation activities.

We enjoy hearing from you and having the opportunity to share your stories with our fellow classmates. Please keep all of your news and views coming in via the online news form. ❖ Mary Flynn (email Mary) | Howie Eisen (email Howie) | Alumni Directory.

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1978

It’s slim pickings on the news front this time around, so I’ll start with a plea for more updates from you. Don’t be that alum who just reads about your classmates’ goings on; let us know what’s up with you since we left the Hill nearly 50 years ago! It’s easy now with online submissions. The entire alumni publication, Cornellians, is also online—and you don’t even have to pay dues to read it! (Though we would certainly appreciate it if you do.)

Did you see this feature article about classmate Peggy Koenig and her past, current, and future ventures in the theater world? After a rewarding career in private equity, the former Cornell trustee turned her talents to producing Broadway-bound plays and musicals, which, she says, “tell stories about people, themes, and ideas that expand the way that we think about the world.” While all of us have learned that nothing worthwhile comes easy, Peggy says, “Getting to Broadway is like winning an Olympic gold medal—it’s that hard.”

Stimulating volunteer activities are filling Stephanie Mitchell, JD ’80’s life. While living in Edinburgh, she was a volunteer at the Royal Botanic Garden, helping visitors and protecting an exhibition about concerned migration of plants and people in the British Empire. “I met visitors from many countries, including locals, and had the chance to use several languages and see people’s faces light up in wonder every week,” says Stephanie. She was also paired with a Ukrainian family during the “Homes for Ukraine” program there, sharing her home with a university student and his mother, both of whom remain dear friends today.

Since then, Stephanie has moved to one of Scotland’s Northern Isles, with a view toward retiring there and finding new ways to lend a hand. This past year she volunteered at the St. Magnus International Festival, a celebration of the arts, which led to meeting, greeting, assisting, and stewarding within the beautiful St. Magnus Cathedral itself. Last fall she served at the Orkney International Science Festival, hosting speakers, leading Q&A sessions, and hosting lessons on gravitational waves, early modern Scottish and English history, science and witchcraft, and ethics in genetic testing. Stephanie describes her volunteer work as a great way to keep on learning—“in many ways very much like being at Cornell 50 years ago!” she muses.

Stephanie Mitchell ’78, JD ’80, describes her volunteer work as a great way to keep on learning—‘in many ways very much like being at Cornell 50 years ago!’

For Stephanie, the volunteer work gives her far more than she gives it. “It takes me out of my ‘shell,’ gives me great satisfaction when I can help others, and helps worthwhile events take place.”

Ellen Katz is also a happy volunteer. As a “weekly warrior” at her local food bank, she sorts non-perishable donations to send to community food pantries. The food bank, where she has been volunteering for more than 20 years, supplies more than 100 food programs in the area.

Since I have space, I’ll throw in what’s new at my end. My daughter graduated with a Master of Nursing degree from Yale, joining my son as a Yale alum. I know … apologies … their choice. World travel and lots of sports and hobbies keep me out of trouble—most of the time anyway. And I’m still on the board of CT for Animals, a nonprofit that advocates for better laws to protect all animals in the state.

As I write, plants and trees are starting to bloom in the Northeast, so I wish everyone a splendid summer. And please take a moment to drop us a line—online or via email. ❖ Ilene Shub Lefland (email Ilene) | Cindy Fuller, PhD ’92 (email Cindy) | Alumni Directory.

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1979

Happy summer, everyone! The last few months were noteworthy for several University and class events to kick off 2025. In February, the City of Philadelphia was the host city for the Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference (CALC) and the President’s Council of Cornell Women (PCCW) symposium. Numerous class members attended informative lectures and dined at eclectic eateries such as a boutique restaurant, Kiddo, and on board the Moshulu, a restored tall ship sailing vessel dating back to 1904, where there were also raffles, dancing, and lots of Big Red spirit.

My wife, Gayle Bunis, and I enjoyed attending those functions and seeing classmates Debbie Arrindell, Natalie Cornell, Betty Greene, Lon and Lisa Barsanti Hoyt, Mary Wilensky Kahn, Jordan Lambert, ME ’80, and his wife, Karen Feldt, Karen Mineo, Ginger So, Nancy Sverdlik, and Beth Anderson ’80. Rosemary Brosnan, David Steward, Stephanie Jacqueney, and Michael Furman also attended other aspects of the CALC and PCCW programs.

I recently got together with Alex Plache, who lives in the Philadelphia area, as our paths have crossed multiple times in Ithaca at our Reunions and at those of our Cornellian family members. Alex is the resident manager of the Sedgeley Club, which has the only lighthouse on the famous Boathouse Row in Philadelphia.

In regard to other gatherings of members of the Class of 1979, a happy hour was held in Delray Beach, FL, in March, at which the following classmates were in attendance: Mary Wilensky Kahn, Bob, MS ’80, and Stacy Buchler Holstein, Sam and Suzanne Davis, Richard Friedman, and Nathan Weiss ’80.

The Cornell Association of Class Officers has sponsored a friendly contest among the classes designed to capture the good that Cornellians are doing around the world. Among those who have shared their stories are Brian Hackett, who has volunteered for years to coach and help kids enjoy sports. He has led his local civic association to help with town safety and environmental issues, and notes that he still walks through his downtown area and picks up litter. “It’s a small thing, but if everyone does small things, we’d all be better off and happier.”

Mike Curran writes, “My mother instilled in me the idea that giving back was important, while my father stressed the importance of an education. In high school, the Jesuits attempted to make us ‘men for others.’ My father’s union established a scholarship to the ILR School, which enabled me to afford Cornell. The ILR School reputation got me my first two jobs, which I leveraged into a rewarding consulting career. Since graduation, I have focused my time toward educational institutions, including serving as president of A Better Chance New Canaan, on university boards, and on the ILR Advisory Council. We have funded scholarships for underserved populations to attend these institutions. I also volunteer for Habitat for Humanity, building houses in Fairfield County.”

Alex Plache ’79 is the resident manager of the Sedgeley Club, which has the only lighthouse on the famous Boathouse Row in Philadelphia.

Jordan Lambert and wife Karen Feldt volunteer with AARP Tax-Aide to provide free tax preparation to senior citizens and low-income households.

In other news, Karen Mineo reports that she has made the decision to retire to enjoy golf, pickleball, bocce, cornhole, walks on the boardwalk in Spring Lake, NJ, and winters in Florida. After working for Merrill Lynch for 25 years, Karen worked for 10 years for a nonprofit that helped the homeless and those in need in Bucks County, PA. She was responsible for all marketing, PR, fundraising, and grant writing, the latter being very challenging and stressful in the current environment. We wish Karen many years of relaxing and fulfilling retirement.

John Wilkinson reports that he has sold his winery, Bin to Bottle, in Napa Valley, CA, and that he and his wife, Peggy, have retired to Jupiter, FL, for the winter months. They are enjoying days that are now filled with golf, boating, tennis, and pickleball, a welcome change from cold and wet Northern California winters. They will be spending the summer months in California and look forward to connecting with Hotelie classmates, traveling, and other exciting family events on the horizon.

On a somber note, Paul Werbaneth passed away unexpectedly on February 7, 2025. Paul was born in Pittsburgh, graduated from Cornell with a degree in chemical engineering, and had a long career in the IT field, with many speaking engagements and publications relating to semiconductors. Cornell remained a lifelong touchpoint for him and he lived in California, where he raised his two daughters and enjoyed his five grandchildren. He was an avid outdoorsman and adventurer.

We also note the passing of Joyce Rothschild ’80 on March 15, 2025, wife of our classmate, Daniel Mansoor, MBA ’80. She is survived by Dan, as well as two daughters and other family members. Joyce operated a boutique graphic design business for over three decades, with a diverse client base. During her life, Joyce brightened the world for those around her with her spirit and varied interests, and will be missed by those who knew and loved her.

Other noteworthy events include a recent lecture by our classmate Fisk Johnson, MBA ’84, PhD ’86, CEO of SC Johnson, to Cornell students enrolled in AEM 1500: Introduction to the Economics of Environmental and Natural Resources, which approximately 90 classmates and other alumni attended by Zoom. Fisk discussed the problem of plastic waste in marine settings, and efforts to increase recycling through industry, national, and international efforts, while recognizing the competing issues of productivity and the environment. Thanks to David Steward for assisting in the logistics of enabling us to see this lecture.

Please send updates on your travels, jobs, retirements, and other personal and family news via the Share Your News form, the online news form, or emails sent directly to any of our class correspondents: ❖ Larry Bunis (email Larry) | Cynthia Ahlgren Shea (email Cynthia) | Linda Moses (email Linda) | Alumni Directory.

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1980s

1980

This column is about volunteerism. All of your class officers are volunteers, for example. Some go beyond their volunteer work for Cornell in an effort to make the wider world a better place. The good folks at Cornell’s Division of Alumni Affairs and Development are engaged in an ongoing project to gather information about volunteerism among alumni. You can participate here.

Fellow U-Hall 5 alum Howard Seibel reports that he is on the board of a nonprofit called PennPAC, a group of University of Pennsylvania alums who do pro bono strategic consulting projects for nonprofits nationwide. PennPAC has done consulting projects for hundreds of nonprofits in social services, performing arts, and other categories. He writes, “While I’m a proud Cornell undergrad alum, I did my MBA at Penn’s Wharton School, so I have dual allegiance.”

Neil Weinstein writes, “My wife, Annette Jensen, and I lived in Cambodia for many years, and in 2014 we founded Education First Cambodia (EFC). EFC empowers highly talented young women from poor rural families who would not otherwise have the opportunity to get a university degree. With EFC’s support, these young women attend the most-respected universities in Cambodia, most focused on science, technology, engineering, and math—fields in which women are typically underrepresented. EFC also provides its scholars with computers and computer training, daily training in English, and weekly training on critical thinking and life skills. In addition, EFC provides its students with essential medical and dental care, vaccines, educational outings, and the opportunity to live in a dormitory and an alumnae house for recent graduates.”

My wife and I lived in Cambodia for many years, and in 2014 we founded Education First Cambodia, which empowers highly talented young women to get a university degree.

Neil Weinstein ’80

Fellow class officer Nancy MacIntyre Hollinshead has been volunteering for the National Alliance on Mental Illness for decades. She helped develop the Homefront program for the Veterans Administration; the program helps veterans and family members manage post-traumatic stress, traumatic brain injury, and other mental health issues. She also serves on the New Hampshire Disaster Behavioral Health Response Team. She volunteers for the American Red Cross as a disaster mental health licensed clinician responder for people experiencing various forms of crisis, from home fires to natural disasters.

Nancy writes, “In my community in New Jersey, I serve on our local community club board that sponsors and stages various events throughout the summer season. Regarding my volunteer connection to Cornell, I have been a class officer since 1985. I have always described myself as a ‘congenital volunteer,’ having picked up additional responsibilities in retirement, with no intention of quitting anytime soon!”

Martha Bonthuis Sutyak reports from the beautiful Massachusetts coast that she serves as a trustee or otherwise volunteers for the Beverly Cove Improvement Association, the Rocky Neck Art Colony, and the Montserrat College of Art.

Most of us are in the volunteering stage of our lives. We’ve retired, the kids are raising our grandchildren, and we’ve got time on our hands. Why not give back a little? Deliver meals. Pick up trash along the highway. You’ll feel better and make the world a better place in the bargain. ❖ Dik Saalfeld (email Dik) | David Durfee (email David) | Chas Horvath, ME ’81 (email Chas) | Leona Barsky, MS ’81 (email Leona) | Alumni Directory.

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1981

Well, the summer is flying by! I have a “full nest,” and I love it. Ella finished her first year at University of Florida and she’s staying with us for the summer while working at a local country club as well as lifeguarding! My son, Brayden, finished up his sophomore year at Dreyfoos High School of the Arts in West Palm Beach, FL. He took a dual enrollment class (college credit in math) and played a lot of volleyball.

Russ and I were busy working but enjoyed a lot of family time! I did manage a visit with Karen Osofsky Michelson, who was in Boca Raton, and I was lucky enough to have coffee with her. It had been quite some time since we had seen each other. We look forward to our 45th Reunion, June 4–7, 2026!

Tanis MacKay-Bell and Mike Bell announce that their third grandchild and first granddaughter, Marsali Bell, was born in May in Texas to their daughter Morgan ’13. Mike and Tanis have settled in well in Gainesville, FL, surrounded by their other three kids, two grandsons, and Mike’s parents. Mike is retired but traveling around the country doing locums as a forensic pathologist/medical examiner. And Tanis has reinvented herself again, doing volunteer work at the Retirement Home for Horses, the Humane Society, and the Friends of the Library. Also, she is enjoying pickleball, bicycling, trivia nights, mahjong, four book clubs, hiking and camping, and being a grandma! They are looking forward to our 45th Reunion!

Living in Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, Marty Jacobsen told us he is still in management consulting for energy and construction companies, addressing infrastructures. He travels, bikes, and skis. He has two sons in college, visits friends in mountain states (Jackson Hole, Park City), and golfs.

Rollin Scroger (Oakfield, NY) tells us he is now executive director of the New York State Snowmobile Association. Now that sounds fun! He loves spending time with his grandchildren and is so very happy that he beat throat cancer!

Rollin Scroger ’81 is now executive director of the New York State Snowmobile Association.

Margaret Bergmann-Ness finished her post-graduate training to become a psychoanalyst, plus there is a grandchild nearby! In NYC, Susan Levitt tells us that she is the treasurer on the board for Protect All Children From Trafficking (PACT). PACT has been leading the fight against the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the U.S. for more than 30 years, working through advocacy, education, and partnerships with the private sector. On June 10, PACT hosted its annual Freedom Awards at the Prince George’s Ballroom, honoring incredible individuals and organizations that are making a real difference for children.

Out in Long Island, Janet Ellison Pearsall tells us that her son Christopher Pearsall ’09 is a law clerk for the Federal District Court for the Northern District of New York in Albany, NY. She is one proud Cornell alum/Mama!

In New Jersey, Anthony Boyadjis, JD ’84, and his wife, Lauren, celebrated 10 years in Maplewood, NJ. Anthony moved his law offices to West Orange last March, making for a 15-minute commute. He reconnected with Mike Berg after 40+ years, which was great! And he recently saw Tim Riccardi on the Hill, as they both contested the Hartshorne Memorial Masters Mile in Barton Hall. He continues to train and compete in races, from the mile to the marathon. As a former marathoner, I truly understand the dedication this takes!

From New England, Dana Cooperson lives in Arlington, MA, and is pursuing her ceramic arts, spreading her artistic excitement through adult ed teaching, and observing and interacting with the wide world—the real one. She loves spending time with her family! She officially retired from her high-tech career in 2024, then continued to pivot to her artistic and teaching career centered on ceramics. Her daughters are both post-college as of 2023, making their way in the world. Her stepdaughter announced her engagement and plans to marry later this year. Cornell really was a great influence; she says it opened her world in general and connected her to lifelong friends and interests (ornithology, for example)—and it was a blessing to live in Ithaca for a few brief years.

Karen Osofsky Michelson still lives in Seattle, working as a recruiter for the biotechnology industry. Her son, Matan, is graduating from high school this year and is heading out East to attend Muhlenberg College in the fall. Karen will be seeing Jill Flack soon when she visits Seattle.

I do hope everyone is doing well! And I hope you are doing something fun, traveling somewhere interesting, or just living life along a healthy path. Please do share your news with me! We would love to hear from you. ❖ Betsy Silverfine (email Betsy) | Alumni Directory.

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1982

ICYMI, President Michael Kotlikoff had his Opinion/Guest Essay published in the New York Times on March 31, titled “Universities Like the One I Run Aren’t Afraid to Let People Argue.” I hope you are able to read it and learn about the importance of promoting and protecting the free exchange of ideas on college and university campuses. His final paragraph is included here: “But if we are to preserve our value and our meaning, we cannot let our caution overtake our purpose. Our colleges and universities are cradles of democracy and bulwarks against autocracy. Only by defending democratic values and norms and educating our students to carry them forward in all their complexity and challenge will we safeguard the future of our institutions—and our nation.”

We have one other piece of news this month. We are proud to highlight the work of John Pisacane, president of the Santa Clara County Dental Foundation, the charitable side of the local dental society. He wrote, “Last year we created and hosted a free dental clinic held at the San Jose Convention Center that served more than 800 people in one weekend. These patients in need received X-rays and dental exams, cleanings, fillings, extractions, root canal therapy, and small partial dentures. So many people left free of dental pain for the first time in years.” Here is a link to a video where you can catch John in his Big Red shirt.

Stu Baron posted: “Pleased to be invited with other alumni of the Cornell University Glee Club and Chorus to sing the national anthem on May 10 at Citi Field as part of ‘Cornell Day with the Mets!’” He added, “The last time I did this was June 19, 1988, with the Metrognomes, an a cappella group I belonged to at the time. That day, David Cone pitched seven and two-thirds innings of no-hit ball in a 6-0 win over the Phillies, and Jacob deGrom was born in Florida.”

Please send news! As our editor says, short columns are far preferable to skipping—so share your update, big or small. Thanks! ❖ Nina Kondo (email Nina) | Doug Skalka (email Doug) | Mark Fernau (email Mark) | Alumni Directory.

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1983

I’m writing this from my kitchen in New Jersey in early April on what feels like the millionth cold, rainy morning this year and honestly is very reminiscent of Ithaca’s daily weather. Lots happening in our country, in the world, and certainly on college campuses, which has me looking forward to the trip my husband, Andrew, and I are taking later this month to Denmark with our Cornell gang. Joanna Bures, Amy Tayer Goldman, Michele Silverman Krantz, Meridith Skodnik, and I (all ’83) will be joined by our husbands for some Copenhagen fun. So looking forward to it!

Beth Littman Josephson writes to us from Ithaca, where she and her husband moved back to from Long Island in 2020 during COVID. Beth is a case manager with Rehabilitation Support Services in Tompkins County, assisting clients with their mental and physical healthcare needs. Her husband, Maury ’82, is the county attorney for Tompkins County. Their son Ian works at the Cornell Store on campus.

Katherine “Kathy” Dudak Schultz is living in Eastern North Carolina and reports that she has been happily retired from the IT business for six years now. She and her husband, Gary (married 41 years!), enjoy traveling through the South and exploring new areas. Kathy and Gary have two married children: a daughter who lives next door with three grandkids and a son living in Raleigh with four boys under age 6! Their son just retired as a pitcher from MLB and has started a business called Aux Baseball, which is “dedicated to providing the supplemental support players, coaches, and parents deserve.” Kathy encourages us to check out his enterprise on Insta or Facebook!

Mark and Kim Osborn Rhodes are enjoying winter retirement in Arizona and meeting many new Cornellians. The Cornell Club of Arizona is very active, with mountain hikes, holiday parties, happy hours, and the Desert Classic hockey tourney. They enjoy having their East Coast friends visit and join in with pickleball, bocce, and pool time. Mark (as class secretary) urges all classmates to update their email and contact info via the Alumni Directory so we can plan class events in your region and fill you in on class news and activities.

Daphne Mobley writes, “I am a veterinarian who graduated from CALS and was active in the President’s Council of Cornell Women as the vice chair (and other positions). I just published a book, The Pet Effect: Healing and Learning Life Lessons from the Pets We Love. It is an inspirational book that was created to inspire others and help them believe they could get through their challenges.”

Daphne’s website is really interesting and talks about her deep passion as a vet, coach, and motivational speaker. A book blurb I found online elaborated with this: “Our lives can be unpredictable and filled with moments of heartache, loss, and uncertainty. In our darkest times, our pets become more than companions—they become our healers, teachers, and guiding lights. The Pet Effect will uplift your spirits. This book shares powerful, inspiring stories of pet parents with accompanying photographs of them with their animal companions. They faced life’s toughest challenges, only to find strength and wisdom in the lessons their pets teach them daily, and hope arises from their unconditional love.”

I’m looking forward to the trip my husband and I are taking later this month to Denmark with our Cornell gang.

Nancy Korn Freeman ’83

Niels Nielsen writes, “I love growing vegetables and use Cornell’s resources to become a better gardener. During the pandemic, I learned how lack of access to affordable fresh food is a major problem, even in this relatively affluent area. As the volunteer garden liaison for Rocking Horse Community Garden in Montgomery County, MD, I team up with HarvestShare and local food banks to address food insecurity among our neighbors. Our gardeners grow far more than we can eat and we share beautiful fresh produce each week during the summer.”

Hector “Tom” Navasero, ME ’86, writes of his company’s mission to “revolutionize the healthcare system in our country by providing comprehensive primary care health services to the 28.8 million public school children who have long been neglected. Through the deployment of advanced digital health technologies in school clinics, we are ensuring that these children have access to primary care physicians and specialists as needed. This includes remote point-of-care diagnostics and the provision of life-saving medications.

“Our initiative, LABx Asia, proudly operates under the accreditation of the local national health insurer, integrating seamlessly with the primary care network known as the LiFe Konsulta Network. This integration allows us to offer a broad range of healthcare services, ensuring that quality medical attention is no longer a privilege but a guaranteed right for all schoolchildren.

“Through our work, we aim to fix the systemic issues plaguing our healthcare infrastructure, making primary care accessible, efficient, and effective for the next generation. Our commitment goes beyond immediate care; we focus on long-term health outcomes, preventive measures, and continuous support, thereby fostering a healthier, more secure future for our children and our nation.”

Finally, class council member Mary Bohan (Washington, DC) wrote: “I joined class president Nancy Gilroy, classmate Kathy Graham Mund, and other Cornellians at the Cornell Club–New York on April 1 to attend classmate Barbara Erny’s illuminating talk on climate change and your health. Longer and more intense allergy seasons, wildfires, and heat exacerbate air pollution and health risks—especially for people with additional risks like poverty or old age (at least ’83 isn’t there yet!). Excessive use of plastics—whose manufacture and disposal add to a warming planet and leach into air and water—gives us a frightening statistic: researchers estimate that we all have the equivalent of a take-out plastic spoon of microplastics in our brains.

“Barb urged us not to be overwhelmed and to know that even small actions can help. Try swapping out your plastic cutting boards for bamboo or wood, and use metal or glass water bottles instead of plastic. Bring your own containers for leftovers to reduce food waste and avoid plastic-lined takeout containers. Vote for environmentally friendly policies. The uptake: while the threat is real, we can all take steps to address it!”

That’s it for now! Have a lovely, healthy, and fun summer, everyone! ❖ Nancy Korn Freeman (email Nancy) | Alyssa Bickler (email Alyssa) | Stewart Glickman (email Stewart) | Jon Felice (email Jon) | Alumni Directory.

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1984

Hey, classmates! It’s Mike again. We have some news to share from a few classmates. Robert Sartin and his wife, Rachel, are living in Austin, TX. He writes, “2024 was certainly a rough year. After having brain surgery—benign with clean margins—and a rapid recovery in December 2023, things got rough. On January 7, I had the first of at least eight strokes from a very rare fungal meningitis. As a result, I have spent over a year on long-term disability and rehab. Life continues to offer new challenges. Details can be found on my blog.”

At the beginning of the year, Tim McGhee started a three-year term as the chairman of the board of directors of the Atlanta Tipoff Club, an organization that recognizes and honors greatness in high school and college basketball. He writes, “Each year, at the men’s and women’s Final Four, we award college player, coach, and defensive player of the year awards.” Tim originally joined the board in 2006 and has been active as a member of the executive committee since.

Kevin Hunt mentioned that he learned so much in his time at Cornell. “One of the lessons that has stuck with me throughout my 40+ years as a Cornell alum is the appreciation of a sense of community. This year, I will become a life member of the Briarcliff Manor Volunteer Fire Dept. That’s 20 years of active service, which means several thousand calls as an EMT and/or interior firefighter to help those in my community on what might have likely been one of the worst, most difficult days of their lives.”

This year, I will become a life member of the Briarcliff Manor Volunteer Fire Dept. That’s 20 years of active service, which means several thousand calls as an EMT and/or interior firefighter.

Kevin Hunt ’84

Kevin continues, “I’ve been asked countless times why I do it, especially as a volunteer. I might glibly answer because of the home decorating tips I get going to other people’s homes, or that I know every cop in the village and they know who my kids are. But the real reason? I am so incredibly blessed in my life in so many ways and this is a way I can meaningfully give back. Actually, and hopefully not too immodestly, I’m pretty good at it and I do it because I can.”

In 2014, Maureen Burford founded the nonprofit organization Creative Lives, devoted to helping children thrive in all aspects of their lives. Creative Lives shares a pioneering approach to education based on A Framework for Wise Education by Ellen Tadd, which stems from Tadd’s discoveries about our human energy, or chakra, system and its fundamental role in human development.

Maureen writes, “The premise is simple, but profound: honing function across the chakra system yields optimal learning and development for all individuals. Our outcomes with young people and the adults who teach and guide them have been remarkable. We offer new, effective ways to mitigate depression and anxiety, boost learning and intrinsic motivation, deepen focus and wise decision-making, and attend to every child in mind, body, and spirit. At a time when many educators and parents feel overwhelmed in meeting the needs of youth, Creative Lives delivers a new way forward.”

Please keep those updates coming! ❖ Michael Held (email Michael) | Charles Oppenheim (email Charles) | Alumni Directory.

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1985

By time this column is published, our 40th Reunion will have passed! Thank you for the info that has been sent in, and I hope all enjoyed Reunion who went.

Melissa Reitkopp writes that she and her family are working with Leveling the Playing Field (LPF), a nonprofit that accepts used sports equipment for students who want to play sports but cannot afford the equipment. She and her husband served as board officers and helped grow the organization. Melissa orchestrated a fundraiser, bringing in over $135K, and LPF now has eight warehouses in several cities. Melissa, her husband, and their sons took a vested interest in helping kids who want to play sports but needed financial help for the equipment and knocked it out of the park!

Tracey Nichol Austin states she has been back at Cornell since 2023, working for Avantor Sciences, which works with labs across campus. She has found tunnels running under some of the buildings on campus, connecting them, so students don’t have to endure the snow! Were they always there? Tracey has reconnected with Delta Gamma sisters Anne Gumkowski Pierce ’84 and Carol Jennings ’86. Tracey, along with working full time, refinishes vintage furniture, plays golf, and loves watching Cornell women’s field hockey and men’s ice hockey. She states she will miss seeing Coach Mike Schafer ’86 and his wife, Diane (Composti) ’86, now that he’s retired.

Tracey’s family is embedded in Cornell history and Ithaca. Her grandfather, Bob Kane ’34, was the athletic director, so Tracey spent time on campus and knew she always wanted to be a Cornellian. She met her husband, Bill, when he was the racquet sports director and tennis and squash coach. Her children are Ithaca College graduates but are still in Ithaca. I think she speaks for all of us when she says that the connections to people, sports, and experiences are what really make you feel like a Cornellian.

Doug Young is now in Duluth, MN, working for Cirrus Aircraft in product development, leading a team in advanced development. He says if you go looking for him, he is either in an airplane hangar, flight testing, or trying to get lost in the backcountry of northern Minnesota and Ontario. Doug says he is a recent convert to eBird and Merlin Bird ID since seeing a flock of trumpeter swans swimming and vocalizing on the Pigeon River. He plans on visiting the Lab of Ornithology when in Ithaca.

If you go looking for Doug Young ’85, he is either in an airplane hangar, flight testing, or trying to get lost in the backcountry of northern Minnesota and Ontario.

Molly Tschang is a first-time author! “Though,” she says, “it’s a big surprise for someone who was a painfully shy kid—not speaking English until age 5 and straight Cs in first grade.” Molly credits standing on the shoulders of giants to make it possible—with top executive coach Marshall Goldsmith as coauthor, a foreword by Ken Blanchard ’61, PhD ’67, and an epilogue by Alan Mulally. Her book, Say It Skillfully: Speak Up. Make Your Words Matter. Win Together., “addresses a widespread organizational blind spot: even in high-performing workplaces, people hesitate to speak up—out of fear or simply not knowing how. Leaders think they’re accessible. Employees think otherwise. The resulting misalignment, wasted talent, and unrealized value doesn’t need to be!”

Say it Skillfully makes the case that communication is a team sport, and shows how investing in everyone’s communication capability creates not only cultural cohesion but also competitive advantage. It offers a simple framework to help professionals use their voices with clarity and impact.

For me, I’ve had a “small world Cornell connection.” A couple of months ago, my son, Daniel, his girlfriend, Abby, my husband, and I were having dinner. Abby was telling us that her brother was interning to be a neonatal surgeon. I told her that I had gone to school with one who was now working at UF Health Shands Hospital, Mark Bleiweis. Abby dropped her chopsticks: “He’s the surgeon that did the heart surgery on my brother when he was born. AND, that’s who my brother is interning with!” I’ve texted with Mark since and agree it’s a small world. Apparently, Abby’s brother was one of Mark’s first patients. Mark has been meeting up with Kappa Sig brothers in St. Augustine when he isn’t working. He hopes to get to Reunion if work allows.

I’ve posted some pics on the Cornell 1985 Facebook page. Hopefully, more of you will too. I can’t make it to Reunion this year, but I hope those who do have an amazing time. Send news in! ❖ Joyce Zelkowitz Cornett (email Joyce) | Alumni Directory.

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1986

Susan Buffett Wilson writes that she is busy running her own boutique travel business and says, “I love meeting Cornellians around the world when I travel! I meet Cornellians in the industry everywhere I go. My years at Cornell inspire my business and entrepreneurial journey. Most recently, I traveled to New Zealand, Egypt, and France.”

Nancy continues, “I live in Fairfield County, CT, and would love to connect with others, both near and far, who are as passionate about international travel as me.” She also shared that her mother is a graduate of the Class of 1960, and she still recalls so many fond college memories! I think that feeling is universal among Cornellians and transcends generations.

News of good work was sent by our classmate Steven Getman. Steven is an attorney based in Schuyler County, NY. He recently teamed up with Cornell adjunct professor James Hardwick, the Law School’s first full-time veterans law staff attorney, to host a free civil legal services advice clinic event for local veterans and service members. The event offered legal advice to veterans and service members on a variety of issues, including veterans’ benefits, discharge upgrades, eviction prevention, family law, and estate planning, as well as benefits claims with the V.A. or the Social Security Administration.

Steve added, “As the son and nephew of Navy veterans, I am proud to be able to assist our local veterans service agency in providing needed civil legal services. As a Cornell alum, I am happy that my alma mater can and will be giving something back to our local veterans’ community.”

How nice to see both alums and professors giving back to those who have served. As always, please send us any news you would like to share. ❖ Lori Spydell Wagner (email Lori) | Michael Wagner (email Michael) | Toby Goldsmith (email Toby) | Alumni Directory.

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1987

After 37 years of being an embryologist helping create new families in the field of in vitro fertilization, Adrienne McVicker Reing has hung up her scrubs and micropipettes and looks forward to many new and exciting adventures ahead, especially visiting with friends she hasn’t seen in many years.

Earlier this year, Adrienne flew to Arizona for a reunion with Madeline Palisca Foster ’86, a very close friend from her freshman year in the Sheldon Court dorm. Madeline was also Adrienne’s maid of honor 35 years ago. During the trip, the two hiked around the red rock canyons of Sedona and shared many memories. In July, they will have more fun adventures at the Cornell’s Adult University summer program.

Rebekah Sale, BA ’89, started a nonprofit to help communities fight oil-and-gas pipeline projects that are “all risk” for the communities and “all profit” for the companies. The project, Property Rights and Pipeline Center, reaches out to affected landowners and communities and provides resources, help with organizing, and connections to experts to enable them to fight the pipeline projects and to try and stop the companies from taking their land against their will.

Debra Eisenberger Matityahu is the executive director and founder of a nonprofit called Beyond Fistula. The organization provides social, emotional, educational, and entrepreneurial training and support to Kenyan women and girls who have survived obstetric fistula—a hole between the birth canal and bladder and/or rectum. The condition is often caused by prolonged, obstructed labor, but it can also be the result of sexual violence or congenital conditions.

Since its founding, Beyond Fistula has supported more than 900 girls and women through holistic, post-surgical programs that address the long-term social and economic consequences of fistula. The organization operates in the remote areas of Western Kenya and is led fully by women. It works to promote gender equality by enabling survivors of gendered trauma to become emotionally resilient, financially independent, and socially empowered. Importantly, graduates of the program frequently become vocal advocates in their families and communities, which creates a ripple effect of empowerment and education.

Michael Moore ’87’s son Ian made his professional hockey debut with the Anaheim Ducks on April 13.

For many years Diane Rigda has single-handedly picked up trash in her San Francisco neighborhood every weekend and, in the process, has gotten to know her neighbors, reported the occasional stolen vehicle, and returned lost items. She also plays flute in a nonprofit community orchestra (the oldest west of the Mississippi!) and has actively volunteered behind the scenes by serving as an usher, attending board meetings, and managing the orchestra’s finances.

David Rourke works in the Office of Budget Management of James Madison University and also volunteers as a mentor for the school’s Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices. Students are referred to this office for academic and/or behavioral reasons and are assigned a mentor from within the JMU community. The length of the mentorship, which can be up to 15 hours, varies based on the severity of the issue.

During mentorships, David meets with students for one hour per week and they work through some self-assessments to create personal mission statements and both short-term and long-term goals. He looks to get students back on track toward completing their degrees, as well as getting them to understand the impact their behaviors have on their families, other students, and the community. So far, 100% of the students David has mentored have graduated and he has assisted some students in getting their desired jobs after graduation. He says it is a very fulfilling role and helps to keep him in touch with the issues (some as old as time and some new) facing students today.

Michael Moore’s son Ian made his professional hockey debut with the Anaheim Ducks on April 13. The day before, the Ducks signed Ian as a defenseman to a two-year, entry-level contract beginning in the 2024–25 NHL season. A number of Cornellians were in attendance to celebrate Ian’s first game, including Josh Lesnick, Mark Hennessey, and John Webster. Ian was the captain of Harvard’s ice hockey team during his junior and senior years.

In April, Eric Bachman, an endocrinologist in the Boston area, assigned to the American Thoracic Society his copyright to a manuscript in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine titled “Impact of Elexacaftor/Tezacaftor/Ivacaftor on Glucose Tolerance and Abnormal Glucose Metabolism.” ❖ Liz Brown, JD ’90 (email Liz) | Whitney Weinstein Goodman (email Whitney) | Alumni Directory.

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1988

Greetings, Class of ’88, and happy summer! I hope you are enjoying spending time outdoors with your family and friends, either at the beach, sitting on the dock, or just chillin’ at home. Please send me news about your summer travel and adventures—I would love to include it in my next column.

Now on to our recent class news. I had a nice telephone conversation with Tracy Sebastiano Patracuolla. She left her home in New Jersey and built a new house with her husband, Dan, near Nashville, TN. They have three children: Daniel, Gabrielle, and Lilly. Currently, Tracy is working part time at Crate & Barrel and enjoying her new adventures in Tennessee.

Congratulations to Alan Riffkin who received the Shem Tov Award from the Stephen Wise Free Synagogue this past spring. This honor is given to an individual who gives their time, knowledge, and financial support to the synagogue. Alan’s strong leadership, involvement in community service, and education has enriched the life of the synagogue.

Laura Bloch was in Philadelphia, PA, for the annual enriching Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference. She met up with Jacques Boubli and his wife, Elyse, Rob Rosenberg and his wife, Patricia Cook ’89, Jill Fields, Howard Greenstein, Doug Ringel, and Hank O’Connor for a lovely dinner.

News flash from Colorado: Jocelyn Yocum DiChiara decided to go back to school and completed a two-year certification in spiritual psychology from the University of Santa Monica in California. Then she completed a three-year master’s degree in mental health counseling from Naropa University in Boulder, CO.

Jocelyn Yocum DiChiara ’88 decided to go back to school and completed a master’s degree in mental health counseling from Naropa University in Boulder, CO.

She always wanted to be a therapist and has started a private practice in Littleton, CO. Jocelyn is “passionate about helping others to gain greater self-awareness and self-regulation skills, and to cultivate a deeper inner knowing beyond their intellect! It is the biggest challenge in today’s world.”

Let’s pivot to the literary world now. Claudia Barnett has published two new books. The first, Aglaonike’s Tiger, is a play about the first female astronomer in ancient Greece. Her second book, Aristotle’s Wife: 6 Short Plays About Women in Science, is a collection of plays focusing on real women in the history of science.

Claudia’s plays have been performed around the world. She is currently a professor of English at Middle Tennessee State University and was the first-place winner of the Simons Center for Geometry and Physics 2023 Science Playwriting Competition.

Paying class dues supports our class initiatives, treasury, and events. It’s a simple process, and you can check auto-renew so your dues are paid annually for you. Here is the link to pay dues. Class of ’88 dues are $30 for an individual and $50 for a Class of ’88 couple. Duespayers will receive exclusive discounts via the Big Red Marketplace. Don’t forget to join our Class of ’88 Facebook page. It’s a great way to stay in touch with your fellow classmates.

That’s all for now. Please keep sending your news to me. I love hearing from our classmates, both near and far. ❖ Pamela Darer Anderson (email Pam) | Alumni Directory.

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1989

“How did Cornell change my life?” Trevor Steer writes, “I could write a book on all the ways it changed my life—but I can say, 36 years after graduation, that my time on the Hill was the most eye-opening and mind-opening time of my life. Cornell was the first to introduce me to people from all walks of life, where I learned that in spite of all our vast differences, we are all so much more alike than we want to believe (or accept). Cornell taught me to appreciate and accept differences, while at the same time being proud of who I am and where I came from. The people I met who became lifetime friends have had a profound effect on how I view others; they define true friendship for me.

“The Cornell Engineering professors showed what caring teachers truly are like. Professor George selected me (still can’t believe it, given my ‘competition’) to be a summer intern to one of his graduate students, where my desire to work in the auto industry was sparked. (I got to drive some very cool cars that summer.) Professor George (and Cornell in general) taught how to learn, rather than just a subject. That has served me quite well in my career as an automotive engineer, first at Ford Motor Company and now at General Motors. I will forever be indebted to Cornell.”

Bestselling author Chris Pavone published a new novel in May. The Doorman follows Chicky Diaz, everyone’s favorite doorman at the most famous apartment house in the world, home of celebrities, financiers, and New York’s cultural elite. “This adrenaline-pumping thriller delivers a lacerating, Tom Wolfe–worthy dissection of Manhattan society in the post-COVID era,” says Publishers Weekly. “Page-turning from the opening paragraph to its killer finale, the narrative combines noirish atmosphere with a sharp attunement to the particular depravities of ultrawealthy urbanites. Pavone’s provocative look at the city that never sleeps will keep readers up well into the wee hours.”

I can say, 36 years after graduation, that my time on the Hill was the most eye-opening and mind-opening time of my life.

Trevor Steer ’89

Zack Kollias writes, “As a Greek-American, I have been a longtime member of the American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association. In the Atlanta area, our chapters founded an endowment to support deserving students in Georgia with tuition assistance. Since its inception in 1986, the fund has provided over $1.3 million and 1,000+ individual scholarships. In 2017 I was appointed to the board as a director, and since 2020 I have served as director of our current capital campaign, which aims to double the size of our endowment by our 40th anniversary in 2026. I’m honored to lead this effort, and in 2024 I established my own family endowment in honor of my brother Angelo Kollias, who passed in 1980. I’m grateful that my Cornell degree and subsequent career have enabled me to give back to the community I live in.”

Mark Fornasiero writes, “I started working with the ‘I Have a Dream’ Foundation (IHDF) while I was a business school student 30 years ago, helping launch their new program in East Palo Alto, CA. IHDF partners with K–12 public schools and affordable housing programs around the country, starting around first grade, to provide substantial supports and financial resources for them to get ‘to and through college.’ When I learned that 96% of the two classes of 60 students we worked with in the mid-1990s in East Palo Alto graduated from high school and 80% went on to graduate from college, I reconnected with the program while living in New York, and I’ve served on the board of the national organization for the last 15 years (based in NYC). I’m now leading the effort to launch a new IHDF chapter in the D.C. Metro Area.” ❖ Stephanie Bloom Avidon (email Stephanie) | Lauren Kidder McGarry (email Lauren) | Kris Borovicka Gerig (email Kris) | Anne Czaplinski Treadwell (email Anne) | Alumni Directory.

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1990s

1990

As of the time of writing this column, our 35th Reunion is a little more than a month away, but by the time you read the column, Reunion weekend will be behind us. If you attended, I hope you had a wonderful time being back in Ithaca for our first Reunion in 10 years, visiting our beautiful campus, catching up with classmates and friends, and reminiscing about special moments and memories of our college years.

The next column should be chock full of news and updates from Reunion weekend, so be on the lookout for it in the September/October Class Notes section. Sadly, I am not able to attend Reunion as I have a family wedding that weekend, so I’m looking forward to seeing the updates in the next column and photos on Facebook and Instagram.

For those classmates who, like me, are unable to attend Reunion this year, you may wish to consider joining the Continuous Reunion Club (CRC) so you don’t have to wait another five years to go. This option was recommended to me by one of our Reunion chairs, Dave Coyne, who has joined CRC and attended the past two Reunions outside our class’s cycle.

As CRC Reunion co-chair Melinda Dower ’78 explained to me, “CRC was started in 1906 when a group of young Cornellians decided that one Reunion every five years was not enough, and CRC has been returning to the Hill every year since. We have a headquarters lounge that buzzes with intergenerational camaraderie each evening and offers breakfast and late night beverages throughout Reunion weekend. CRC members have been called the most loyal Cornellians, with connections to sports teams, Glee Club/Chorus, WVBR, the Daily Sun, and nearly every other organization. All graduates are welcome to join!” More information on CRC is available here.

By now you should have received the News and Dues mailing that went out this spring. Please be on the lookout for the Share Your News form in that mailing and return your form with your updates for our class’s future columns.

Cornell Alumni Affairs has begun an alumni initiative to support Ezra Cornell’s intention “to do the greatest good” for humanity. If you haven’t done so yet, please complete this form to tell us about the areas or organizations you support as a volunteer or other services you provide in your communities (not just Cornell!).

When you are a PADI certified rescue diver, are land-locked in Ohio, and want to give back, the obvious answer is to become a dive volunteer with the Newport Aquarium.

Alan Schussheim ’90

Evan Cooper is serving the Northeast Ohio region. “I am a member of the board of directors of Summer on the Cuyahoga, a unique summer internship program that brings together undergraduate students from Allegheny College, Case Western Reserve University, Colgate University, Cornell University, Denison University, Oberlin College, Ohio Wesleyan University, Smith College, and the University of Chicago for an intensive summer immersion experience designed to help interns explore the professional, civic, and social offerings in the Cleveland area.”

Evan also “founded an organization called CLE Chefs whose purpose is to help create more line and prep cooks in the region. Most of my focus has been on high school culinary vocational students. I developed a pre-apprenticeship program for the students, which provides an alternate pathway to graduation and ties to work experience and full-time roles or supports moving on to secondary education for graduates.”

Alan Schussheim, who also lives in Ohio, wrote in: “When you are a PADI certified rescue diver, are land-locked in Ohio, and want to give back, the obvious answer is to become a dive volunteer with the Newport Aquarium just across the river from Cincinnati. I am one of over 100 volunteer scuba divers that take care of the fish. The volunteers help clean the tanks and feed the animals, as well as interact with the visitors. Have you ever played rock-paper-scissors with a scuba diver? Diving the Caribbean tank and the shark tank rivals most open water dives.” Alan added, “My 4-year-old granddaughter Rory loves telling everyone around that the scuba diver is her grandpa. Everyone thought she had a vivid imagination until my wife assured everyone that the diver was actually Rory’s grandpa.”

Jeff Goldstein recently “retired after 30 years at the Office of Management and Budget (the White House budget office), then took a trip to Hawaii before looking for new adventures. Will see folks at Reunion.” Enjoy this new stage, Jeff!

Lastly, Karen Mitchell joined law firm Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP in March as its new global chief people officer. Karen, an ILRie and attorney, has spent her career in a variety of legal and HR executive roles at law firms and companies, including Newmark Group and Credit Suisse. In her new role at BCLP, based in New York, Karen leads the firm’s global people strategy, with a focus on culture, inclusion, and talent development. Congratulations, Karen!

We look forward to hearing Reunion 2025 stories from you! ❖ Nancy Solomon Weiss (email Nancy) | Allan Rousselle (email Allan) | Rose Tanasugarn (email Rose) | Class Facebook page | Alumni Directory.

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1991

Greetings, Class of ’91! Let’s see what our classmates are up to.

Steven Eisenberg lives in Doylestown, PA, and writes, “I am a lawyer. My firm is located in Bucks County, PA, about 15 minutes from where I live. I have three children: my oldest daughter is a lawyer in Philadelphia, my middle son is a Disney Imagineer making magic in Orlando, FL, and my youngest is a fourth-year student at RISD, studying architecture. My wife, Sasha, and I will be celebrating our 30th anniversary this summer, June 2025.”

Brian Frankie, MS ’92, and his wife, Michelle, their two kids, Jasper and Lydia, and their two dogs, Bean and Oreo, live in Missouri City, TX, outside of Houston. “The kids are in sixth and seventh grade at the Honor Roll School in Sugar Land. Michelle is running her business, Wool Needle Thread, making hand-crafted items. I’ve been working at Western LNG, developing a new natural gas project in Northern British Columbia.”

Interesting news from Miguel Ferrer, who shares that his late mother, Suzi Nudelman Ferrer ’62, had an exhibit of her artwork at the Johnson Museum earlier this year. Per the exhibition notes, “From her time as a Cornell BFA student to her transformation into a critical avant-garde artist in mid-1970s Puerto Rico, Ferrer’s art practice was socially engaged and theoretically infused with issues still pertinent five decades after the works were produced.

“Most of the work was only exhibited publicly once or, in a few cases, twice during her lifetime, and subsequently relegated to storage for over 40 years. Recent public policies increasing restrictions on female bodies make Ferrer’s themes more relevant than ever as indicators of the significance of body autonomy. This exhibition joins the continuum of a worldwide rediscovery, reinstatement, and legacy preservation of female artists previously and deliberately excluded from art historical narratives.”

Congrats to our classmate Paul Hayre ’91 and to Karen Stewart ’85, who are our two newly elected alumni trustees!

Fadya El Rayess has been a member of the Brown Family Medicine residency leadership team since 2011, serving as assistant and associate residency director before becoming residency director in 2017. A National Health Service Corps scholar, Fadya worked in Rhode Island community health centers for 12 years prior to joining the residency leadership. She is a 1999 graduate of the University of New Mexico Family Medicine Residency and completed a Faculty Leadership Development Fellowship at Brown. She also has an MPH in health promotion and disease prevention from George Washington University.

Fadya’s clinical interests include global health, advocacy, health disparities, reproductive health, LGBT health, and care of immigrants and refugees. She is the co-director of the Scholarly Concentration on Caring for the Underserved at the Alpert School of Medicine of Brown University and volunteer faculty for the student clinic at Clinica Esperanza. Fadya is also responsible for the department’s global health initiatives for residents and the Family Medicine Global Health Fellowship.

She serves on the Brown Council for Diversity in Medicine and Brown University’s Global Health Initiative Executive Committee. In 2009, Fadya and her family spent a year in Lesotho, Africa, where she provided educational support for the development of a family medicine residency in a small, resource-limited medical school. An avid kayaker and potter, she enjoys running, yoga, reading women’s literature, and spending time with her family.

Congrats to our classmate Paul Hayre and to Karen Stewart ’85, who are our two newly elected alumni trustees!

As for me, Evelyn Achuck Yue, I was reminiscing about my Hotelie days as my niece, Samantha Saito ’26, had her Establishment night this week, which is a course in the Hotel School that offers students a unique opportunity to apply their hospitality knowledge in a real-world setting. A team of three to four students create a menu, market their restaurant evening, train, and manage their classmates to deliver a unique dining experience for guests. I can’t believe that it will be almost 35 years since I graduated from Cornell. And on that note, save the date of June 4–7, 2026 for when we celebrate our 35th Reunion!

Thanks to those who sent in updates! Have news to share? Use the online news form or feel free to contact one of us directly. ❖ Evelyn Achuck Yue (email Evelyn) | Susie Curtis Schneider (email Susie) | Ruby Wang Pizzini (email Ruby) | Wendy Milks Coburn (email Wendy) | Joe Marraccino (email Joe) | Alumni Directory.

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1992

Talking about Cornell and hearing from other Cornellians always makes me happy! Recently, I, Wilma Ann Thomas Anderson, was traveling via Penn Station in New York City and struck up a conversation with a stranger because he was wearing a Cornell shirt. Now I can’t say I recommend chatting up every stranger, but the point here is that Cornellians have quite a special bond.

I am still singing my heart out between the U.S. and Europe. A new album is in the works! I am also looking to best my 2024 travel efforts in 2025. Last year saw me across the pond in Barcelona, Madrid, Berlin, Salzburg, Prague, Rome, and Venice. I’ll let you know if I make it to Albania and Macedonia (for starters) this year. Meanwhile, I’ll be planning with alumnae and current members of Baraka Kwa Wimbo, the all-female gospel ensemble I founded in 1991. We’ll be 35 years old in 2026 and there will be a whole lotta celebrating goin’ on! My website and Instagram are where I post the most updates on my adventures and creative ventures.

Running into my 1992 classmate and former suitemate Felicia Palmer, BS ’94, at an arts organization gala in Jersey City, NJ, certainly made my night. We’ve been neighbors over the last 30-something years in three different cities! Felicia shares, “After Cornell, I jumped into entrepreneurship and ran a successful music media company for 30 years with my husband. Now that my son and daughter are approaching adulthood, I’m having a career reboot with a next-gen tech startup, Tapyoca, helping artists and content creators thrive. I’m also enjoying deeper relationships with longtime Cornell friends. With wisdom and experience on my side, I’m excited for my next chapter.”

Meeting up with one of my college besties, Priscilla Powell Coq, and her husband to see The Wiz in New York City put me on a natural high for months! We had been connected by music as members of Cornell’s Pamoja-Ni Gospel Choir, and to reconnect at a music event was super special. We recently learned that we have even more in common now—travel! Priscilla took a trip to Europe and visited many cities in Spain, Italy, and France. She confesses that she, too, may have travel fever. Let’s keep the Class of 1992 connections coming!

Katherine Buehl McMahon reports, “I was a founding member of Haiti in our Hands in 2000 and have been chairperson since the 2010 earthquake. We support the community of Chauffard, Haiti, mainly through funding a school lunch program (five schools and 1,000+ students). We have led nine medical missions to the small health clinic in the village and we are partnered with Smallholder Farmers Alliance and Raising Haiti to bring the farmers training and improved seed, and to bring the community a fruit tree nursery and goats.

“Another important ongoing effort is supplementing salaries for the schoolteachers and the doctors and nurses at the clinic. Past projects include raising funding for rebuilding the health clinic, school kitchen, rectory/offices, and church; building 29 homes following hurricanes; buying solar panels and batteries for electricity in the clinic, school offices, and rectory; and purchasing a four-wheel-drive vehicle for the parish.

“There is a great group of volunteers here in Syracuse who put together the majority of our fundraisers, and the medical missions have attracted volunteers from across the northeastern U.S. as well as Canada and the U.K. Beyond the obvious aspects of learning to respect and love people in another community, this social justice partnership has helped all of us involved learn the good and challenging sides of charity and politics. A lot of trust is involved. I wish I had continued my high school French education at Cornell! Following graduation—I served in Senegal and the Ivory Coast with the Peace Corps. That experience shaped my perspective of development and my understanding of issues this community is facing, such as lack of clean water and job opportunities.”

I am still singing my heart out between the U.S. and Europe. A new album is in the works!

Wilma Ann Thomas Anderson ’92

Alex Hoffert has been a scouter—an adult leader in Scouting America, formerly Boy Scouts of America—for nearly 15 years, and he’s served as a den leader and an assistant scoutmaster in boys’ and girls’ troops. He’s also a merit badge counselor for several subjects, including communication, art, photography, and salesmanship. Alex beams, “We camp every month of the year, and every summer we attend a different scout camp for a week (away from technology). As a troop, we devote hundreds of hours of community service each year to food pantries, trail maintenance, ecological preservation, and various local projects. I also teach very basic Hebrew in virtual Sunday school classrooms for interfaith families for children ages 5–12.”

Alex’s news reminds me to mention a couple of the best ways to give back to Cornell University: as volunteers and mentors. Through the Cornell Black Alumni Association, I served as a board member for six years and recently volunteered at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine in New York City. Getting the pantry cleaned and stocked ahead of the next hot meal distribution brought me, two of my children, and other Cornellians so much joy. I encourage everyone who wants to connect to students and/or Cornellians in a positive way to go to the CUeLINKS webpage.

George Whang shares some wisdom and a bit of his journey while at Cornell and since graduating. “I went to Cornell from 1988–92 as an economics major in the College of Arts & Sciences. At the time, I had one goal for the future: to make money. I had no idea how I would accomplish this goal, but I was only 17 when I enrolled, so I had no idea about anything. At the end of my freshman year, I joined Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity. My experience there taught me things I couldn’t learn in class—teamwork, conflict resolution and compromise, and the importance of community service. There was an emphasis on helping others who were less fortunate, and that value inadvertently stayed with me.

“After college, I got a job at a bank in NYC and was on my way toward pursuing my superficial goal of making money. But something else happened that became much more important: I got married. As I spent the next three decades working in various finance jobs, I was blessed with a beautiful marriage to my high school sweetheart, Mindy. We lived The Dream, until it all came to a grinding halt. In 2019, Mindy was diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer, and six months later she was gone. She was 48 years old.

“So where does one go after such a loss? During this period of unbearable grief and soul searching, a friend asked me if I’d be interested in getting involved with an organization called Circle of Care, a nonprofit that helps families who have a child with cancer. Even though I didn’t have children, I certainly identified with how cancer affects the whole family, and how much those families need support.

“I started by joining Circle of Care’s finance committee, helping them manage their budget during COVID, when all fundraising activities were canceled. This led to me join their board of directors, and then to another role as a staff writer. I also work with politicians, editors, business leaders, and TV news anchors to help create awareness for all the great things Circle of Care does, such as financial assistance to help families pay their bills during their child’s treatment, and room makeovers to give young cancer patients the room of their dreams.

“While my journey has been unexpected and unique, I recently learned of a commonality with four other Cornell grads who are also involved with Circle of Care: Lisa Williams ’88, Mark Kristoff ’84, Matt Russo ’90, and Jack McFadden ’67. We didn’t know each other before, but all our lives have been touched by cancer, leading us to this same cause. Perhaps the seeds of philanthropy were planted in all of us at Cornell, growing into something special over time. It may be impossible to predict the future, but the future can be filled with wondrous surprises.”

I truly hope hearing from our classmates motivates, encourages, inspires, and even makes you smile. Maybe I’ll see you at the next basketball game, volunteering somewhere, online, or even on campus! Ciao for now. Wishing you joy and wellness. ❖ Wilma Ann Thomas Anderson (email Wilma Ann) | Jean Kintisch (email Jean) | Sarah Ballow Clauss (email Sarah) | Alumni Directory.

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1993

Lady Charmaine Day shares, “I launched a line of footwear, clothing, and accessories in celebration of Black Ivy League graduates. What inspired me to create my Black Ivy product line was the need to celebrate the good—and being a Black Ivy League graduate is a phenomenal accomplishment. Few Black people are admitted to the Ivy League, and even fewer graduate. I’m proud to honor these achievements.”

A graduate of Cornell’s ILR School and Columbia University (MA ’99 in organizational psychology), Lady Charmaine has more than 25 years of experience as an HR executive. She now serves as pastor of Unlimited Help Ministry, where she continues her mission of empowerment and advocacy.

Diagnosed with bipolar disorder at age 26, she has transformed her personal journey into a platform for mental health advocacy. Since 2008, she has worked with the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) NYC Metro as a presenter and trainer. Her advocacy has earned numerous honors, including induction into the NAMI Hall of Fame (2011), the NAMI NYS Media Award (2015), and most recently, the 2025 Evergreen Award for Best Mental Health Awareness Advocate in New York.

Lady Charmaine currently serves as a board member for the Bureau of Mental Health Consumer Advisory Board of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. You can learn more about her work at her website.

Attention classmates! We’ve identified more than 700 classmates across 220 affinity groups with outdated or inactive email addresses. If you think we might have the wrong contact info for you—or for someone you know—please reach out to any of us listed below. We’re aiming to make our 35th Reunion even bigger and better than our 30th, and we want you to be part of it! ❖ Theresa Flores (email Theresa) | Mia Blackler (email Mia) | Melissa Hart Moss, JD ’97 (email Melissa) | Alumni Directory.

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1994

Cornell Alumni Affairs has begun an alumni initiative to support Ezra Cornell’s intention “to do the greatest good” for humanity. If you haven’t done so yet, please complete this form to tell us about the areas or organizations you support as a volunteer or other services you provide in your communities!

Melanie Coggen and Jane Arena both shared news about their volunteer activities through this project. Melanie writes, “I love supporting the Atlanta AIDS Walk every year with amazing Team Starlings!” Jane says, “I volunteer and serve in leadership roles in arts, hunger, and homeless service organizations.”

We hope you follow their lead and share your news for a future column! ❖ Dika Lam (email Dika) | Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik (email Dineen) | Jennifer Rabin Marchant (email Jennifer) | Alumni Directory.

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1995

As I write this, excitement is rapidly growing for our 30th Reunion; as you read this, Reunion will already be over. I trust it was a joyous time for all who attended and I’ll have updates in the next Class Notes column!

In the meantime, Christine Taverna Reich has been named the next president of TERC, a leading nonprofit in STEM education research and development. She will assume the role on July 1, 2025. Prior to TERC, Christine served as CEO and senior research officer at Knology, a social science research nonprofit, where she collaborated with media, libraries, museums, and community organizations to generate evidence-based insights for greater societal impact. And before that, she served as the Jane and Payson Swaffield Chief Learning Officer at the Museum of Science in Boston, where she led the museum’s educational initiatives, including exhibits, programs, curricula, immersive theaters, collections, and educational research.

While at the museum, Christine founded its research and evaluation department (now one of the largest internal departments of its kind), led the research and evaluation team of the $43 million NSF-funded Nanoscale Informal Science Education Network, and oversaw the development of multiple award-winning exhibitions, including the internationally touring “Science Behind Pixar” exhibition. She is also an adjunct lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and currently serves as president of the Visitor Studies Association.

In March, Tara Dawood ’95 was recognized by the Prime Minister of Pakistan for running Ladies Fund Energy.

On April 5, David Jakubowicz was elected president of the Medical Society of the State of New York. He is the first MSSNY president from Bronx County Medical Society in over 50 years. A board-certified physician, he is director of otolaryngology and allergy at Essen Medical and a clinical assistant professor of otorhinolaryngology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine/Montefiore. He previously served as MSSNY commissioner of membership and currently serves as an American Medical Association delegate.

In March, Tara Dawood shared the exciting news that she was recognized by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, for running Ladies Fund Energy, one of the top 10 private companies in Pakistan with family-friendly policies, as assessed by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, UNFPA, Pakistan Business Council, and Federal Ministry for Human Rights. The ceremony was held at the Prime Minister of Pakistan House, Islamabad, in honor of International Women’s Day 2025.

Others I have connected with recently include Seth Traum, who said, “Both kids in college now, so living our best life. Actually my wife, Lauren, and I just visited with my older son in Madrid—he’s there for his junior year semester abroad. Crazy how fast life moves, right?” And Juliette Sorhagen Fershtman similarly writes, “My older daughter is a sophomore at Cornell and already a Tri Delta big sis. She’s found the composites from our time and has taken great pleasure in the hairstyles. Time flies!” ❖ Alison Torrillo French (email Alison) | Class website | Class Facebook page | Class Instagram page | Alumni Directory.

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1996

We hope this column finds you well, wherever you are. Please take a moment to fill out the online news form to let us know what you’ve been up to. What are your plans for the summer? Who from the Hill do you still keep in touch with? What was the most impactful thing you learned while at Cornell? We’d love to hear from you. ❖ Class of 1996 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1997

Cornell Alumni Affairs has begun an alumni initiative to support Ezra Cornell’s intention “to do the greatest good” for humanity. If you haven’t done so yet, please complete this form to tell us about the areas or organizations you support as a volunteer or other services you provide in your communities!

Brent Gibson answered the call: “I am the founder and owner of Avocet Health Partners, a Chicago-based management consulting firm specializing in healthcare services for vulnerable populations, including the incarcerated. With a focus on improving healthcare delivery and access, I have successfully led numerous projects that bridge the gap between healthcare providers and underserved communities. My background as a trained physician and an Army veteran provides a unique perspective to my consulting work, enabling me to address the needs of clients with both medical expertise and strategic insight.

“My approach to business is firmly rooted in the belief that for-profit enterprises can and should do the right thing. My dedication to ethical business practices and sustainability has been the driving force behind Avocet’s success. I am committed to creating value—not just for my clients but also for the communities they serve, ensuring that my work contributes positively to society.

“As a proud alumnus of Cornell, I remain actively involved with the Cornell Alumni Association and the Dyson School. I work with students, sharing my knowledge and experience to support and mentor the next generation of leaders. My commitment to excellence, integrity, and social responsibility guides my professional and personal endeavors.”

Ruthann Tocco Thorne writes, “House N2 Home is where I volunteer. We take in new and used items for families and individuals moving into their first home (usually after homelessness) here in Ann Arbor, MI. I bring a group of high schoolers to volunteer with me once a month.” ❖ Sarah Deardorff Carter (email Sarah) | Erica Broennle Nelson (email Erica) | Alumni Directory.

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1998

“Entrepreneur Divya Gugnani was sitting on the NYC subway a decade ago, applying her under-eye concealer, when she saw that other women nearby were also touching up their appearance,” a recent Cornellians article reported. “Soon, she started noticing it everywhere—from coworkers quickly styling their hair in the office to fellow gym-goers doing skincare routines in the locker room after a workout.

“‘Women are time-starved,’ Gugnani says. ‘But there was no cosmetics brand speaking to women like that.’ Her aim: to create a new kind of makeup line, ‘so everybody could be gorgeous on the go.’ Gugnani launched Wander Beauty in 2015 with a former Victoria’s Secret model she’d met at a party a year prior, when the two bonded over how time-consuming it was to apply makeup artfully.” You can read the full story here.

Nicole Graev Lipson writes, “I was an English major at Cornell, and my writing and English professors had a profound effect on my life.” A winner of the Pushcart Prize, Nicole has been included in the annual Best American Essays volume and has been published in the Washington Post, Boston Globe, and elsewhere.

In Nicole’s recently published essay collection, Mothers and Other Fictional Characters, she contemplates being a woman in the modern age—pondering such topics as marital fidelity, female friendship, assisted reproduction, and the need for solitude even within a happy marriage. Along the way, she draws perspective and inspiration from literature—from Shakespeare to Virginia Woolf to Alice Munro.

“Lipson’s prose isn’t only gorgeous, it’s skillful—dare I say masterful,” says the Chicago Review of Books. “Each sentence sculpted with grace, each paragraph constructed with careful planning. Each essay using a range of literary techniques, stunning in their execution.” ❖ Uthica Jinvit Utano (email Uthica) | Alumni Directory.

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1999

Danielle Barry DePalma writes, “During the pandemic, I took the opportunity to bring a little Pomeranian into my home and begin an effort to integrate several of my passions: my desire to volunteer (do the greatest good!), my love of psychology (my major at Cornell), and my adoration of animals! In 2020, I worked with therapy dog specialists to train my dog, whom we named Hope, to become a certified therapy animal through Attitudes in Reverse (AIR), a nonprofit organization focused on mental health awareness and suicide prevention.

“Since then, I have been able to volunteer with AIR at several schools and organizations over the past few years. Because of this passion and dedication to animal assisted therapy, I also now offer this additional service at CUNY/College of Staten Island’s Counseling Center, where I currently work as a counselor. Hope joins me as part of the students’ individual treatment and group counseling sessions, in addition to being present at various outreach events on campus for the college community. The students adore her and appreciate having her available for additional comfort and support.

During the pandemic, I took the opportunity to bring a little Pomeranian into my home; she is now a certified therapy animal.

Danielle Barry DePalma ’99

“In our town in New Jersey, my husband, daughters (ages 13 and 17), Hope, and I, along with some of our neighbors and their dogs, also participated in the ‘World’s Largest Pet Walk,’ a fundraiser for Pet Partners. Trying to model the importance of philanthropy (I was actually the philanthropy chair of my sorority, Tri Delta, during my senior year at Cornell) and volunteerism for my children, my family and I have also participated in many other fundraisers. We hope to do more work with these organizations in the future and continue to carry on Cornell’s mission and my personal and professional goal ‘to do the greatest good’ (not only as a Cornell alum, but also as a parent, family member, clinical social worker, neighbor, friend, and human being)!”

Brett Baker is president of United Apple Sales, a worldwide marketer of apples, pears, and cherries that combines its own growing operations with import and export capabilities to offer full-year supply assurance to retailers, wholesalers, and canning and juicing companies. Brett shares, “My son graduated from high school in June and will attend University at Buffalo in the fall.” When asked what he learned at Cornell, Brett said, “The importance of thinking differently than others, and the importance of a strong network.”

Rebecca Cannom Doessant writes, “I am working as a GI surgeon and training surgical residents from USC in Los Angeles, where I grew up. My son is 9 and my daughter is 7. My husband, Emmanuel, is French so we travel there one or two times a year.” ❖ Class of 1999 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2000s

2000

One of our classmates, Anthony Cooper, recently joined a Cornell’s Adult University trip to Cuba, where the group explored Afro-Cuban music and cultural heritage. The featured faculty member on this trip was Professor Ambre Dromgoole, whose work centers on the role of Black women in religious and musical traditions.

On the fifth day of the trip, during lunch, Anthony casually mentioned that his grandmother had been a Pentecostal gospel singer. Professor Dromgoole asked for her name—and when Anthony said “Roxie Moore,” Ambre nearly fell out of her chair.

It turns out Professor Dromgoole has done extensive research on Roxie Moore, who is not only the subject of a Yale library exhibit but also a central figure in Ambre’s forthcoming book. In fact, Ambre has visited Roxie’s daughter, Robin, multiple times in New Mexico as part of her fieldwork—never realizing that Robin is Anthony’s mother.

Later that same day, Anthony FaceTimed his mom from Havana so she and Professor Dromgoole could connect in real time.

If you are reading this, please take a moment to fill out the online news form to let us know what you’ve been up to. How has your life changed—or not changed—lately? Who from the Hill do you still keep in touch with? What was the most impactful thing you learned while at Cornell? We’d love to hear from you! ❖ Denise Williams (email Denise) | Alumni Directory.

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2001

Hopefully everyone is enjoying the summer so far. My family has been making the most of these beautiful days, but the return to school, work, and general reality is just around the corner.

We have our 25th Reunion to look forward to next year! Save the date, June 4–7, 2026, and let us know if you’ve got suggestions for activities, speakers, and/or Cornell gear. I went to Cornell for a fraternity reunion recently and was amazed to see how much Collegetown and parts of campus have changed, and how much has stayed the same.

Many of our classmates are actively giving back to their communities in various ways. We have some great examples to share and inspire this month. Garrett Lang has “started a not-for-profit to help create unity in a time of division (especially across political lines), create new friend circles in a time of epidemic loneliness, and facilitate personal and professional growth/development.”

Garrett’s organization holds weekly Zooms attended by 30–60 people, with over 80 at some. They’ve also had consistently good turnouts in person in NYC. Garrett says, “We’ve discussed some of the most divisive topics possible, with diverse perspectives being shared politely and calmly, and sometimes we just focus on practical learning, like with a savings/investment presentation.”

Lorraine Medeiros shares, “Being a child of immigrants from Portugal, the immigrant experience speaks to me personally. My mother was an entrepreneur, which came with challenges with English being her second language. When I decided to become an attorney, my mom asked one thing of me: ‘Never forget where you came from and always remember to help others when you can.’ Even though my mom passed 15 years ago, her words never died. Today, I own my own law firm, where I do pro bono work for victims of domestic violence, serve as a guardian ad litem to adults and children who are mentally incapacitated, assist those seeking asylum via immigration petitions, and give free seminars to retired teachers about estate planning. It is in an honor to be in a position in life where I can support my family and still do the pro bono work that fills me with purpose.”

I went to Cornell for a fraternity reunion recently and was amazed to see how much Collegetown and parts of campus have changed, and how much has stayed the same.

James Gutow ’01

For the last seven years, Tara Benedict Desmarais has been a member of the Grants Committee of the Memorial Church of Harvard University. The committee of 10 reviews applications from local charities and nonprofits seeking small-dollar grants (mostly $1K or less) to support various activities in the greater Boston/Cambridge area. Most of the funds come from the Sunday service collection plate and a few anonymous donors. The grants go to food pantries, homeless shelters, after-school programs, housing advocacy groups, organizations that support victims of domestic violence, organizations that support immigrants, and more. Tara shares, “It’s one of the most rewarding things I do all year.”

Marlene Kwee, BArch ’08, and her family volunteer every month at their church on the Upper West Side. Her youngest (10) helps package supplies for guests, and her oldest (13) helps translate registration information for guests who don’t speak English. In Marlene’s words, “It’s a great tradition that we all love to be a part of.”

This summer, Christobel Lorie Gutow and I volunteered to help with a food drive for the Community Needs Bank in Roslyn, NY. Mark Cisz ’91 and the Cornell Club of Long Island organized participation by Cornell alums. Our sons (14 and 11) joined us and helped collect and organize donated food as well as collect donations for Big Brothers Big Sisters. It was a rewarding day and the boys were a big help. We’ll definitely look for future opportunities to volunteer with the Long Island chapter.

On the career front, Serena Kohli is a former COO and tech startup founder who has been helping people prepare for a career pivot or manage through challenges as a life coach. Writing from the Chicago area, Serena shares, “The move into life coaching was something 100% unplanned and it has been amazing, fulfilling, and meaningful. It’s actually what I help my clients with now—I teach lost, confused, stuck professionals how to get back on track and uncover their life purpose in their careers!” You can learn more at her website.

To share news or memories, please email either of us, visit our website, like the Class of 2001 Facebook page, join our Class of 2001 Classmates Facebook group, and check out our Class of 2001 Instagram page for great photos and stories. ❖ James Gutow (email James) | Nicole Neroulias Gupte (email Nicole) | Alumni Directory.

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2002

“After years of shouting out answers from the comfort of my couch while watching ‘Jeopardy!’ on TV, I recently got the opportunity to put those skills to the test by appearing as a contestant on the show,” writes Dan Moren.

“What ensued was a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. It would have been enough to simply walk onto the Alex Trebek Stage and stand behind a podium, maybe ring in with a correct answer or two, but ultimately walking away as a two-day champion was beyond my wildest expectations. The competition was just as tough as you’d expect: everyone who’s made it that far has clearly spent as much time yelling at their TVs as I have.

“While there are definitely some flubs that will haunt me forever (the Seattle Times doesn’t seem like it’s going to let me forget misnaming the beloved institution as ‘Pike’s Place’ anytime soon, which isn’t exactly how I’d hoped to end up in a national newspaper), I really can’t complain at getting to cross this elusive item off my bucket list.” Dan penned an essay about the experience for Cornellians, which you can read here!

Over the past two decades, Leah Dozier Krumpholz has helped design and grow two impactful global nonprofits focused on youth health and development, Grassroot Soccer and No Means No Worldwide. Describing herself as “passionately curious,” Leah has been part of senior leadership teams that have set strategy, shaped culture, and been responsible for raising millions of dollars in funding that has been used to do the greatest good possible across Africa and the world.

Kristin Vyhnal, DVM ’06, writes, “In addition to helping build and maintain trail a couple of times a year, since I like to hike, I also serve as a mentor to a high school student through Big Brothers Big Sisters Mentor 2.0 program. And because I enjoy mentoring so much, I continue to find new pre-vet students to mentor, as well as maintain contact with the undergrads I once taught who have now completed vet school and in some cases are halfway through residency!” ❖ Class of 2002 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2003

Hope you are all enjoying a wonderful summer. We’d love to hear from you! Please send your news and updates to either of us. ❖ Candace Lee Chow, PhD ’14 (email Candace) | Jon Schoenberg, ME ’03, PhD ’11 (email Jon) | Alumni Directory.

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2004

“After Leading Her Team to Galloping Success, Alum Coach Steps Down.” This was the headline of a recent Cornellians story about our very own Joanna Garbarino Novakovic, who helped Cornell earn Ivy, regional, and national titles over her career.

“Since fall 2014, the Human Ecology alum has tapped the wisdom gleaned from a lifetime in the saddle—as a student, a competitor, and a trainer—to lead her squad to notable success. Now, the former human development major is retiring from coaching, with plans to spend more time with family—including husband Steven Novakovic, MPS ’05, and dad James Garbarino, PhD ’73—and (of course) her horse, an 11-year-old hunter/jumper named Eddie.

“‘She has been a champion for her student-athletes, staff, and horses throughout her coaching career,’ Big Red Athletics Director Nicki Moore said when Novakovic’s departure was announced, ‘and has represented Cornell with excellence.’” You can read the full story here. ❖ Class of 2004 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2005

By the time this column posts, Reunion will be over. Stay tuned for a recap of our 20th Reunion in future columns! In the meantime, many of our classmates are doing the “greatest good” in their communities. Below are some snippets of what they reported.

Alexandra Tursi started a grants program at the company she founded, Cultivate, which gives 1% of total net revenue to nonprofit organizations that serve youth from birth to age 18 in rural areas with arts, culture, and literacy-related programming.

Jesse DeSalvo reports that soon after graduating from Cornell, he founded World Without Barriers Inc., a nonprofit organization that helps children around the world achieve a higher quality of life through education, with the overarching belief that education unlocks opportunities and paves the road to empowerment and self-sufficiency.

I, Jessica Rosenthal Chod, currently serve on the boards of ILR Alumni Association, Emory’s Goizueta Business School Alumni Board, the Jewish Book Council, and the Strathmore Hall Foundation. If you are doing the greatest good in your community, let us know! ❖ Jessica Rosenthal Chod (email Jessica) | Hilary Johnson King (email Hilary) | Alumni Directory.

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2006

Congratulations to Gretchen Goldman, who is the new president of the Union of Concerned Scientists. According to its website, the organization “puts rigorous, independent science into action, developing solutions and advocating for a healthy, safe, and just future. Today, we are a group of nearly 250 scientists, analysts, policy experts, and strategic communicators dedicated to that purpose.”

Gretchen is an environmental engineer who previously served in the White House as the assistant director for environmental science, engineering, policy, and justice in the Climate and Environment division of the Office of Science and Technology Policy. In this role, she focused on climate equity, air quality, indigenous knowledge, environmental justice, and scientific integrity. She also served as the climate change research and technology director at the U.S. Department of Transportation, where she worked to decarbonize the transportation sector and build community resilience to climate change.

Jessica DiMenna Watson shares that she welcomed a baby boy named Andy last August. Congratulations!

Marisa Greenwald has been appointed to the board of trustees at the Baker Center for Children and Families, a leading mental health organization serving youth and families in Massachusetts. A healthcare professional in Greater Boston, Marisa has spent the majority of her time consulting in the areas of behavioral health and health equity. Her expertise and consulting skills set will help aid the Baker Center’s mission of improving treatment outcomes for all children and families.

Congratulations to Gretchen Goldman ’06, who is the new president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Marisa currently serves as a partner at Oliver Wyman, a global management consulting firm, where she advises leading healthcare businesses on strategic corporate growth and entry into new markets. “I am humbled, energized, and elated to be joining the Baker Center board at such a critical inflection point for pediatric behavioral health and public health support more broadly within the U.S.,” she said. “The organization’s track record, scope of services, and high caliber leadership is so impressive. I am excited to contribute however I can to deepen the impact and sustain the Baker Center’s core mission.”

Kimberly Dowdell is director of strategic relationships and a principal at the global architectural firm HOK. She was also president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)—the first Black woman to hold the position in its 167-year history.

According to a recent Cornellians article, “At AIA’s helm, she prioritized such issues as sustainability, adaptive reuse, and educating the public about the role architects can play in climate action. She also grew mentorship programs, pushed for better salaries industrywide, lobbied on Capitol Hill, and expanded membership—pushing it over 100,000 for the first time (a goal that was particularly symbolic to her as the organization’s 100th president).

“She has repeatedly stressed the importance of diversity—and programs that increase access to the profession—in what remains an overwhelmingly white and male architecture world. As she notes, only 25% of architects are women; just 2% are Black; and less than 0.5% are Black women. (There are only 600 Black women architects in the United States total, she points out: when she became licensed, she was the 295th.)” ❖ Class of 2006 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2007

Hello, Class of 2007! Happy summer. Thank you all so much for your amazing life updates: let’s get into it!

Randi Nicole Bisbano graduated from the College of Human Ecology, studying human development with a concentration in psychopathology, before moving back to Rochester and attending the University of Rochester School of Nursing. She completed an accelerated program there in 2008 and earned a degree as a registered nurse (RN).

After taking a year off to pursue her career as an RN in psychiatry, Randi returned part time to the Rochester school and obtained a master’s degree as a psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner, for which she is board certified by the American Nurses Credentialing Center. She has worked in the field of psychiatry since 2008, most recently at an outpatient clinic, where she completed initial psychiatric evaluations, performed medication management, utilized brief individual therapies, and performed crisis interventions.

Richard Liao, ME ’08, has been in the role of CEO for Hwa Hsia Glass Co. for the past 11 years. They celebrated their centennial in 2024! He is happy to share his transition to vice chairman of the board, and with the hopes that the new CEO will run the company even better—as if that was possible! Congratulations on your continued tenure.

Highlighting more successes, our classmates have been very busy in the book publishing world! Morgan Ng is currently an assistant professor of art history at Yale University. His research explores the links between Renaissance architecture, visual culture, and technology. This is the subject of his book, just published with Yale University Press, Form and Fortification: The Art of Military Architecture in Renaissance Italy.

The Brooklyn production of Kinderkrankenhaus, based on a book by Jesi Bender ’07, was a top-three finalist for BroadwayWorld’s Best New Play (Off-Off-Broadway) 2023.

Jesi Bender is an artist from Upstate New York. She is the author of Child of Light, Dangerous Women, Kinderkrankenhaus, and The Book of the Last Word. Her shorter work has appeared in Fence Vol. 1, Sleeping Fish, and Denver Quarterly. The Brooklyn production of Kinderkrankenhaus was a top-three finalist for BroadwayWorld’s Best New Play (Off-Off-Broadway) 2023. In her spare time, she helms KERNPUNKT Press, a home for experimental writing. She also has been working at the Cornell Library for the past two years.

Jesi’s newest book, Child of Light, comes out this August. This novel is experimental historical fiction about the intersection of electricity and spiritualism in 1890s Utica, and it features many real historical residents of Central New York as well as local landmarks like 1513 Genesee Street, Trenton Falls, Forest Hills Cemetery, and Old Main. While set over 100 years ago, this story is told through the eyes of a 13-year-old girl, and it reflects issues we face today, including mental health, sexuality, race, and gender.

Lastly, Herbie Ziskend was recently featured in an article in the Jewish Insider that recalled his work in organizing a Passover seder at the White House, an event that has been turned into a children’s book. Herbie proudly represented Cornell 2007 with the Obama Administration.

Looking forward to sharing more exciting stories with everyone! Have more updates to share? Please feel free to reach out to me or submit online! ❖ Samantha Feibush Wolf (email Samantha) | Alumni Directory.

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2008

We hope that summer has been going well for everyone and that 2025 continues to be a happy and healthy one for all of you, as well as your family and friends!

We have some news from Drew Coyne, who wrote in to share some of his volunteer activities. “Each month, I make time to volunteer with nOURish Bridgeport, a food-centered, community-anchored nonprofit. The Connecticut-based organization offers a weekly food pantry, distributes formula and diapers, cooks hot meals, and supports ESL classes. I also wanted to put my old 4-H flower- and vegetable-growing skills to use, so I also have created a small stand where locals can pick up a fresh bouquet or some fresh veggies and make a donation to the nonprofit too.” Like Drew, we’d love for you to share how you live Ezra Cornell’s intention “to do the greatest good.”

Please also continue to send your news in to us! We want all of your updates … any exciting winter plans? Write in and let us know about major life changes or how you’ve kept busy recently. We’d love to hear from you and give you your 15 minutes of Cornell fame! We also hope that some of you have been supporting Cornell and our class by paying your class dues and checking out ways to give—if you haven’t, now is your chance. ❖ Libby Boymel (email Libby) | Alumni Directory.

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2009

Cornell Alumni Affairs has begun an alumni initiative to support Ezra Cornell’s intention “to do the greatest good” for humanity. If you haven’t done so yet, please complete this form to tell us about the areas or organizations you support as a volunteer or other services you provide in your communities!

“I have had the privilege of serving as a volunteer firefighter since 2010, says Oscar Bernal, ME ’10. “In that time I participated in community outreach, became certified as a fire instructor, and responded to various emergency incidences. It has been an honor to provide service to the members of my neighboring communities, whether that be participating in community events or offering aid during some of the toughest moments they may have to endure.” ❖ Class of 2009 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2010s

2010

A decade and a half after serving as the men’s basketball captain, Jon Jaques is now the head coach of the team! He was recently featured in a Cornellians story titled “As Head Coach, Former Big Red Player Is a Slam-Dunk.”

According to the story, “Jaques’s performance in the role—formally known as the Robert E. Gallagher ’44 Head Coach of Men’s Basketball—has already set some notable benchmarks. With an 18-11 record in 2024–25, Jaques led the Big Red to the most wins for a first-year head coach in Cornell basketball history. Also, no other first-year men’s basketball head coach has ever taken a team to the Ivy tournament. (The Big Red made it all the way to the championship game before falling to Yale.)

“‘I want us to be the best teammates we can,’ says Jaques. ‘Every coach says that, but I enjoy it when the guys are playing together, for each other, being unselfish. I’m fortunate that the culture here is such that it’s the expectation to care about each other, on and off the court. And hopefully, it shows in how we play.’” You can read the full story here.

Katherine Orloski Watt, BA ’09, writes, “Nigel, BS ’09, and I will be celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary in May. We can’t wait to bring our three daughters to Ithaca for the first time for our 15th Reunion in June!” We hope you had a wonderful time back on the Hill. If any of you reading attended Reunion, please drop us a line to let us know your favorite parts of the weekend! ❖ Michelle Sun (email Michelle) | Alumni Directory.

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2011

“After Samuel Ramsey released a song on YouTube, the New York Times called it ‘silly, but surprisingly smooth,’” a recent Cornellians story reported. “The 2021 tune, titled ‘Big Red Eyes,’ is sung from an unusual point of view: that of cicadas crooning a love song after emerging from living underground for 17 years. Ramsey is an entomologist—one who has devoted his career not only to teaching and research, but to inspiring the public to love insects as much as he does.

“Also known as ‘Dr. Buggs’ and ‘Dr. Sammy’—his nicknames on the educational YouTube channel he has maintained since grad school—Ramsey has been featured in a wide variety of media outlets including PBS, the Washington Post, CNN, Wired, ‘CBS This Morning,’ and the ‘Today’ show. ‘If you learn about these creatures, you’ll find there’s a lot of charm to them,’ says Ramsey, an assistant professor of entomology at the University of Colorado, Boulder. ‘If you can understand why they do the things they do, you may find a blossom of curiosity replaces your fears.’” You can read the full story here!

In 2015, our classmate Andrew Barnell ’07, BS ’11, and his sister, Erica Barnell ’13, co-founded Geneoscopy with a mission to empower patients and healthcare providers to transform gastrointestinal health with its innovative tests that help prevent, detect, and monitor disease.

The inspiration for the company was conceived during Erica’s first clinical rotation while in medical school. Erica encountered a woman with stage 4 colorectal cancer who never had a colonoscopy because she could not take time off work to have the procedure done. At the same time, Andrew had graduated from the Wharton School with an MBA in healthcare management. Their complementary skills, a mutual passion for healthcare, and a desire to impact patients with gastrointestinal disease provided a clear mission for the siblings. ❖ Class of 2011 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2012

Ileana Betancourt volunteers with Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a bipartisan organization that works to encourage our political leaders to support and pass environmental bills into law. She has been volunteering with CCL since 2018, when she lived in California, and is now a Pennsylvania chapter member.

Ileana reports, “They have chapters all over the country and are an excellent organization to team up with for anyone who is interested in working with others to help pave the way for a healthier and more sustainable future for our society!” She also volunteers with a friend, Ben Von Wong, a world-renowned environmental artist who creates art installations around the world to raise awareness about environmental issues and solutions.

Alan Garcia helps run the most innovative and unique private high school in Brooklyn, NY. Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School is the most affordable and accessible private high school option in New York City, designed to exclusively serve students whose families otherwise would not be able to afford private school. The school operates without any public funding and families only pay what they can afford in tuition (which is capped at $2,500/year per family). They pull this off through their unique Corporate Work Study Program. Alan encourages fellow Cornellians to watch this brief three-minute video that helps capture the spirit of the program.

Denise Robbins shares the exciting news of the release of her debut novel, The Unmapping. The book was published on June 3 from the independent publisher Bindery Books, and is a character-driven, literary speculative exploration of a city’s descent into—and out of—chaos and confusion, when cities rearrange each day. Denise thinks fans of Station Eleven and Exit West will be particularly engaged. It is largely inspired by her 13+ years working in climate activism on the East Coast. ❖ Peggy Ramin (email Peggy) | Alumni Directory.

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2013

After graduating from Cornell with a degree in enology, Melissa Aellen worked at wineries in New Zealand, Napa Valley, and Illinois before returning to Maryland, where she’s the third generation of a winemaking family.

At the end of 2024 she launched Simple Theory, a wine brand based in Frederick, MD, with the idea that with Maryland’s warmer winters and drier summers she can now grow grape varieties that her parents and grandparents couldn’t—traditional old-world varieties such as Albariño, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, and more.

Earlier this year Melissa, at age 34, was elected to the four-year position of chair of the board of the Maryland Wineries Association. She credits her years at Cornell for laying a foundation for success! She said, “Although I grew up in the wine industry, my dad had this great saying—he could teach me what he knows, he could tell me what he knows he doesn’t know, but he couldn’t tell me what he doesn’t know he doesn’t know. Cornell filled in the gaps between practice and theory, while adding integral business and leadership skills helping to lead me to where I am today.” ❖ Class of 2013 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2014

Hello, Class of 2014! I hope you are having an amazing summer. Can you believe that this August marks 15 years since our move-in day at Cornell? Your classmates would love to hear what you’ve been up to since graduation. Please reach out with any news you’d like to share. ❖ Samantha Lapehn Young (email Samantha) | Alumni Directory.

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2015

Happy summer, Class of 2015! As I write this, we are just a few short weeks away from our 10th Reunion! I look forward to seeing you on the Hill.

In news from our class, Jennica Egan Luu is graduating from medical school and starting a residency in anesthesiology this summer! In addition, Andrew Fu ’14, BArch ’15, and Aaron Goldstein ’14, BArch ’15, are on one of the six University Design Research Fellows teams selected to present at Exhibit Columbus this year.

Giving Bag, a company founded while Quinn Cox and Lilia Karimi were at the Hotel School, has been awarded the 2025 Global Vision Award for Sustainability by Travel + Leisure. Giving Bag is an unique and innovative eco-conscious recycling and donation solution for global hospitality brands like Hyatt and Four Seasons. It is used in 15 countries, taking guests’ left-behind or unwanted items and donating them to local charities.

(Giving Bag was recently profiled in Cornellians!)

Finally, Adam Kirsch, MBA ’16, is currently serving as a board member for the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE), an organization that provides entrepreneurship education for young people in underserved communities.

Adam says, “Cornell’s entrepreneurship program was a huge part of my personal and professional development so it’s an honor to pay it forward with an organization that has provided entrepreneurship education for youth in underserved communities for decades. I first volunteered with NFTE as an MBA student in 2015, meeting with New York NFTE students visiting Cornell on a campus tour, before taking a more active role in the organization as a professional in the New York area the next year and ultimately joining the board in 2019.” ❖ Caroline Flax (email Caroline) | Alumni Directory.

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2016

Wesley Schnapp writes, “In March 2022, I started volunteering with the Center for Neurosciences Foundation (CNSF), a nonprofit organization based in Tucson, AZ. At CNSF, our mission is to expand access to neuroscience education, advocate for nervous system health, and foster a culture of lifelong brain wellness within our community.

“My role within CNSF has involved both direct engagement with the public and behind-the-scenes project development. Through active participation in local events and museum activities, I’ve had the privilege of directly interfacing with our community, spreading awareness, and igniting curiosity about the wonders of the brain.

“However, my primary focus has been on developing an educational initiative: the Social and Emotional Neurodevelopment (SEND) curriculum. Collaborating closely with a dedicated team, I’ve worked on designing a comprehensive program tailored for students from primary to high school levels. SEND aims not only to introduce young learners to the intricacies of neuroscience but also to instill a deeper understanding of how neuroscience relates to emotional intelligence, social dynamics, and the critical importance of mental well-being.

“Our efforts culminated in successful completion of the elementary segment of the curriculum. Subsequently, we were thrilled to pilot these lessons at the IDEA School, a local private school, this past fall. Witnessing firsthand the impact of our curriculum on students’ attitudes towards mental health and their grasp of neuroscience concepts has been immensely gratifying.

“Through my involvement with CNSF and other endeavors, I am deeply committed to empowering future generations with the knowledge and tools necessary to prioritize brain health and emotional resilience. I am proud to contribute to such a vital cause and look forward to continuing to make a positive difference within our communities.” ❖ Class of 2016 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2017

The Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY—about an hour southwest of Ithaca—is proud to introduce Fast Colors Make a Slow Eye, an installation by visual artist and poet Anna Warfield.

Employing soft sculpture and quilting techniques, Fast Colors Make a Slow Eye presents a collection of bubble-like, text-based fiber forms that cascade from the ceiling of the first-floor rotunda. “I hope visitors engage with this work from multiple perspectives and leave with more questions than answers,” says Anna. “The experience of trying to read the poem and search for meaning may feel frustrating—and that’s intentional. I want to create a space where uncertainty can be appreciated rather than resolved.”

Anna is known for her extensive use of pink, and more recently blue, uncovering the many meanings society has placed on these hues, with an aim at reclaiming pink as a color of strength, empowerment, and complexity. ❖ Class of 2017 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2018

“At least twice a year I run a marathon raising money for charities near and dear to my heart,” writes Madeleine Roglich. “For the past nine years I have run the Chicago Marathon, raising money for the Mercy Home; in addition, this year I am also running the London Marathon, raising money for the World Wildlife Fund! Running marathons is something that I am passionate about and it makes me feel even more excited when I can run raising money for amazing charities making real differences for people and our planet. I am proud to say that, to date, I have run 15 marathons and raised over $41,000!”

Elizabeth Cavic and Allegra Cullen ’17, BS ’18, were married on April 5, 2025 in LaFayette, NY, surrounded by friends, family, and many former classmates. Allegra and Elizabeth were first introduced by their dear friend Thea John ’16 in September 2014 while working together at Libe Café. Congratulations!

Niara Hardister writes, “After working in the events industry for six years and supporting over 400 events, I recently started Niara Hardister Events. NHE is a boutique wedding planning company based in New York City and specializes in producing bespoke, intimate events. I believe good events bring communities closer, and I’d love to provide my services to a fellow alum. Visit my website to learn more about my offerings!” ❖ Class of 2018 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2019

“I am a final-year medical student at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth,” writes Elena Gupta. “In March, I went to Houston to attend my best friend from Cornell’s Match Day ceremony. (Match Day is considered the biggest day of your career for someone training to be a physician; it’s when graduating medical students all across the country find out where they are going to be doing residency—all at the exact same moment on the third Friday of March.) On the flight back to medical school, there was a medical emergency—and I was the most senior medical professional on board (there were no fully trained physicians).”

Elena continued, “One of the flight attendants pulled me through a crowd that had congregated around the passenger in distress, announcing that I was a doctor. I clarified that I was a fourth-year medical student and took in the scene around me. I gathered that a man in his late 50s had become minimally responsive while sitting beside his wife. I found him slumped to the side in his seat, short of breath, and covered in a cold, clammy sweat.

“I shook the man by the shoulder and, like I had practiced in so many Basic Life Support classes, asked him, in a loud and clear voice, if he was OK. He was able to tell me his name and the word ‘flight’ in response to where he was, before closing his eyes and returning to a low arousal state. During this quick exchange, I had one hand around his left wrist to take a radial pulse and was quietly observing his breathing pattern as the flight crew quickly started supplemental oxygen.

“I suspected he was likely suffering from airline syncope (or, to be precise, pre-syncope) and moved him into the aisle and raised his legs into Trendelenburg position (above the level of the head). From there, I gathered collateral information from his family, worked with the nurse on board to take and assess his vital signs, and performed a ministroke assessment, grateful I had finished my neurology clerkship two weeks earlier. And I listened to his heart and lungs through what I can only describe as a toy stethoscope included in the first aid kit aboard.

“Within a few minutes, he began to recover and speak to us in complete sentences. I sat him up, gave him some sips of juice (once I knew he was not hyperglycemic), and kept an eye on his blood pressure as we slowly moved him from supine, to sitting, to standing, for approximate orthostatic blood pressure readings. As he returned to baseline, his wife came over and thanked me with wide eyes, squeezing my arm as if to try to make me feel just how deeply she meant the words. I sat next to my patient for the rest of the flight and engaged him in conversation. I learned that he was from the same region of India as my mother, and we began speaking in a cobbled-together mixture of Hindi, Punjabi, and English. Soon he, his family, and even the passenger sitting on his other side were all smiling.” You can read more about this story here.

I have received four awards for technical lifesaving rescues and I was written into the Congressional Record in 2018 for volunteerism.

Christopher Sheedy ’19

Marlene Berke writes, “I have a gynecological pain condition, called vestibulodynia, that took years to get diagnosed and years more to treat. During this time, I helped found the New Haven chapter of Tight Lipped, a nonprofit and grassroots advocacy organization by and for people who have chronic vulvovaginal and pelvic pain, with symptoms like constant burning in the vulva or pain with sexual intercourse, tampon insertion, and sometimes even just sitting and wearing pants.

“Together, we have been developing new curricula for medical education on these common conditions, and testifying at state and national levels to advocate for change so that these conditions can be diagnosed correctly, treated effectively, and given compassionate care. Here’s a link to my invited testimony to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.”

Christopher Sheedy writes, “I have been a volunteer firefighter since 2013. I volunteer at Fairmount Fire Department in Syracuse, NY, which provides emergency services to 10,000 residents. I have received four awards for technical lifesaving rescues and I was written into the Congressional Record in 2018 for volunteerism. When I graduated from Cornell in 2019, I was elected to serve as the corporation’s VP, and in 2024 I was elected to serve on the board of directors.”

Christopher continues, “I have found the greatest sense of utility from the pursuit of helping others. I encourage everyone to find ways to strengthen and enhance their community. Typically I do not share this information, but I want to share that the most intimidating aspect of joining any organization is walking through the door for the first time. If you can get through that hurdle, some wonderful moments and people are on the other side.” ❖ Class of 2019 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2020s

2020–23

Happy summer! We don’t have any news to share from these classes, so if you are reading this please take a moment to fill out the online news form to let us know what you’ve been up to. How has your life changed—or not changed—lately? What was the most impactful thing you learned while at Cornell? We’d love to hear from you! ❖ Classes of 2020–23 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2024

Lilly Travieso and her mother founded the Empowering Leadership in Latina Athletes (ELLA) Sports Foundation, a nonprofit whose mission is to level the playing field for young Latina athletes and young women of color.

According to the ELLA website, Lilly “began playing sports at a young age. Over the years, she became passionate about playing softball and dreamed of playing the sport at a top university someday. Lilly embarked on a strenuous mental, physical, and academic journey to achieve her dream. However, along the way, she discovered the many obstacles and disparities faced by Latina athletes culturally and economically. With the support of her parents, Lilly was accepted to Cornell, an Ivy League school, on a sports merit.

“As a dedicated athlete, she was a starter throughout her time there and proudly graduated in 2024. Currently, she is continuing her athletic career as a graduate student at George Washington University, also a Division 1 institution, where she is pursuing her master’s degree.

“Lilly wants young Latina athletes like herself to have the same opportunities, but mostly, she wants all young female athletes to have the mentorship and support they need as they embark on their own athletic, academic, and professional journey. Lilly and her mother, Patty, founded the foundation with a mission to support young Latinas to become leaders of tomorrow through sports and academic excellence.

“ELLA seeks to develop strong Latina leaders that will positively impact their communities while establishing their own legacy. The ELLA network provides young female athletes with opportunities to prepare themselves with college preparatory courses, high quality training, valuable networking, athletic and college mentorship, and exposure to leadership opportunities.” ❖ Class of 2024 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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Grad

Agriculture and Life Sciences

Marsha Guzewich, MS ’79, writes, “Before I retired in 2010, I volunteered in my community as a Rotarian. Through this group we carried out many community service projects, and I was program chairperson for the Music in the Park summer series. After retirement, I became a mediator through the NYS Unified Court System, working with several dispute resolution centers. Most of the cases I work on involve parenting issues; I facilitate discussions between parents to help them determine what is best for the raising of their children. This takes the judge out of the plan and allows more self-determination. I am also active with my local environmental education center, where I serve on the board of directors and help with teaching schoolchildren and serve on some committees. This is the same center where I worked for 26 years as program director and director, until NYSDEC closed down the center due to a budget crisis. The board of directors took over the running of the center after the closing in 2010, and I have served on the board since that time.”

Philip Cartey, MS ’89, writes, “I have become a card-carrying concerned citizen and activist. I am a full supporter of Amnesty International, the Southern Poverty Law Center, Sandy Hook Promise, World Vision International, and Bend the Arc. I am also a local activist in promoting respect, love, and understanding among Christians, Muslims, and Jews in our community. The realities of life have turned me into a dyed-in-the-wool activist.”

Laura Raynolds, PhD ’93, has a long history of service to environmental and social interests in the U.S. and internationally. Laura is a professor of sociology at Colorado State University. She is also the co-founder and director of the Center for Fair and Alternative Trade, where for many years she has conducted and encouraged research that impacts the well-being of workers in agriculture around the globe, including a focus on outcomes for women workers. In the U.S., she has served on the boards of nonprofits including Ten Thousand Villages, the Atmosphere Conservancy, and the Chief Washakie Foundation. These organizations support artisan empowerment and economic justice, community renewable energy projects, and indigenous peoples’ education, history, and culture.

Ronda Hamm, PhD ’08, was recently featured on the Agbioscience podcast to discuss the creation of the “Food, Farm, and Energy Experience” she is leading at Conner Prairie. Encompassing more than 1,000 acres in Fishers, IN, Conner Prairie is the state’s first Smithsonian Institution-affiliated museum and offers outdoor, historically themed destinations and indoor experiential learning spaces that combine history and art with science, technology, engineering, and math. Ronda’s role includes leading teams to create the content, exhibits, and stories around food systems.

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Architecture, Art, and Planning

Sulaiman Wasty, PhD ’89, wrote a book, Degeneration of Public Services: A Strategic Commitment to Ignorance, that argues that the delivery of effective public services to U.S. citizens is a human rights issue.

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Arts and Sciences

Kirk Yeager, PhD ’93, writes, “I used my PhD in chemistry from Cornell to eventually work for the FBI. I was brought back to the Hill in 2015 as part of the Baker Lecture Series. I have recently been lucky enough to be able to publish a book, The Bomb Doctor: A Scientist’s Story of Bombers, Beakers, and Bloodhounds, about the science I bring to investigations of bombings. I always wanted to be an advocate for science. My hope is this book will serve that goal.”

Carol Traupman-Carr, PhD ’95, writes, “As a first-generation college student now working as a university administrator, I was getting tired in 2017 of the deficit-based narrative about first-generation students—for example, that they are academically disadvantaged, economically disadvantaged, and completing at lower rates. I wanted to change the narrative and (long story short) ended up starting the first and only national honor society for first-generation college students. Alpha Alpha Alpha is a fully incorporated 501(c)(3) corporation, with more than 280 chapters in more than 35 states.”

Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe, PhD ’03, recently announced that he is running for president of Cameroon in the 2025 election. In a public statement, he called for transformative leadership to address the country’s deep-rooted political and economic issues. With a strong technocratic background, he aims to bring a data-driven and reform-orientated approach to governance. Jacques is retired from the International Monetary Fund and was a former soccer player with the Ithaca United Soccer Club.

Reflecting on her volunteer work, Lucille Arcedas, MPS ’10, writes, “‘It is with high hopes and great expectations that we send you off this morning as Cornell’s newest alumni. And remember you are Cornellians for life.’ This is the last statement of President David Skorton in the 142nd Commencement address on May 30, 2010. That was 15 years ago, and it still resonates in my memory. Now, I look back with gratitude, because I have done my part as a Cornellian.”

Lucille continues, “I am a teacher by profession. I work at the Technological University of the Philippines Visayas (TUPV) as a faculty member. Jail visitations is one of the programs that I continued during my term as the gender and development head. I am also active in programs that support the indigenous peoples in our province. TUPV has two adopted indigenous peoples communities and I help facilitate programs and integrate classroom activities that help strengthen their capabilities and uphold their relevance to mainstream society, especially to our students. I helped conceptualize and spearhead the Gaia program, which aims to empower students to design sustainable programs related to the environment for their own community. I am a lifelong learner, so I am doing my best to follow President Skorton’s graduation message.”

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Business

Kathryn Mautner Grieco, MMH ’97, writes, “After 20 years developing and operating restaurants, I now teach vedic meditation full time. This technique provides a myriad of physical and mental benefits to all who practice it regularly, including better sleep, more energy, less anxiety, greater feeling of calm, and the ability to adapt in productive ways to current circumstances and demands. I teach primarily in NYC, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley. I would love to offer free intro talks to any and all Cornell alums who are curious to hear more about it.”

Anne Cramer, MBA ’01, MS ’24, writes, “Since 2015 I have volunteered as a pro bono strategy consultant with Business Council for Peace, helping small to midsize businesses, many of them woman-owned or minority-owned, in El Salvador and Guatemala.”

Anna Bruno, MBA ’10, wrote a literary thriller, Fine Young People, about the shattering of a prestigious Pittsburgh Catholic high school community due to a cold-case mystery. The narrator is Frankie, a student at the school, who begins digging into details of three student death cases for a journalism class with her best friend; soon they are spiraling toward the dark side of their high school’s past. Anna teaches at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. She lives in Iowa City with her husband, two sons, and blue heeler.

Niru Anisetti, MBA ’14, writes, “In the post-COVID era, I was inspired to create a platform that would harness the power of AI to automate and optimize business processes, making sophisticated data analysis accessible to companies of all sizes. The entrepreneurial spirit at Cornell, fostered by numerous startup incubators and hackathons, provided the perfect backdrop for this endeavor. With a few like-minded friends, I took the leap and co-founded atronous.ai. Our mission was clear: to develop an AI-driven automation platform that could streamline operations to reduce time to market, reduce operational costs, and provide actionable insights for businesses.

“At the Johnson School, the rigorous curriculum and the intellectually stimulating environment pushed me to think critically and innovatively. The diversity of thought and the collaborative spirit at Cornell were instrumental in shaping my approach to problem-solving. Throughout this journey, staying connected with Cornell friends and aspiring tech entrepreneurs has been rewarding. I spend time guiding, sponsoring, and mentoring through the NorCal alumni association. The lessons learned at Cornell, the friendships forged, and the values instilled in me continue to guide my journey.”

Rachel Thanapat Chang, MBA ’16, writes, “I own and run schools in Bangkok, Thailand, where I also accept refugee students from Myanmar. After graduating from Cornell, I had a dream to bring what I learned back to my birth country, Thailand. It is my dream to teach students English and critical thinking, something I didn’t have a chance to learn until I moved to the U.S. I founded the Ivy School with the primary purpose of educating students from all nationalities with English as the language of instruction. I believe that the next generation will help us solve the world’s problems, and by instilling in them the right values, the world will be a much better place—kinder and more inclusive.”

Serena Elavia, MBA ’20, says, “I’m a mentor with iMentor, which is an NYC-based nonprofit that pairs high school students with a college-educated mentor to help them on their path to college. I also serve as the iMentor representative for Citigroup to recruit more mentors to join our mission of helping every student get a college degree. I’ve been able to mentor two young, fabulous women and have learned so much about them on their journeys to college! I help my mentees write their college essays, pick out the schools they want to apply to, and do virtual tours of schools. It’s been amazing to see these two young women grow.”

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Engineering

Stephen Doran, ME ’24, writes, “I’m currently an appointed member of the energy and sustainability committee for the Town of West Newbury, MA. During my studies at Cornell, I felt it was necessary to engage with my local community by advising and supporting renewable energy initiatives within the town’s assets and energy infrastructure. What’s great is that I have used a systems engineering approach that I learned at Cornell to engage with stakeholders in an effective and meaningful way for long-term clean energy adoption!”

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Graduate School

Susan Holcomb, Grad ’10–11, recently released a chapbook called Wolfbaby. This collection of “flash fiction” (very short stories) was the winning entry in a small press’s annual competition. Says the publisher, the Cupboard Pamphlet: “This is not the pastel coming of the stork—this is the wolf. In this collection … remnants of bloody bible pages, bathtubs of black oil, and biting teeth are the truth of what it means to mother. Who was the woman you were before your matrescence? What shape did she take after?” Susan is an L.A.-based writer who began PhD studies in physics on the Hill before leaving to work in the tech industry. She led the data science team at the world’s first smartwatch company—then shifted gears and earned an MFA in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

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Human Ecology

Priyanka Lalwani, MHA ’15, participated in a school supplies drive helping homeless families achieve self-sufficiency with the Sadhu Vaswani Center Atlanta. Priyanka and other volunteers put together 45 backpacks for inner-city students of all ages to get ready for the school season.

Samuel Olafare Olagbaju, MPA ’23, writes, “I established the Olagbajumo Education Foundation (OEF) in July 2024 and am developing a learning model that involves project-based learning, systems thinking, and biocultural knowledge. My initial work at OEF will involve mentoring secondary school pupils on establishing a personal vision and executing the steps required to achieve their visions. So far, my mentees have gained admission to schools like Duke University, Georgetown University, Cornell Tech, the University of Oxford, and many more.

“In August, I will conduct field work at the Kokrobitey Institute in Ghana. During my trip I will learn how to design education programs for primary and secondary school pupils across different themes. If you are interested in learning more about OEF, discussing potential collaborations, or exploring investment opportunities, do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you, Big Red!”

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Industrial and Labor Relations

Teng Zhang, MILR ’14, writes, “I have been volunteering in the local garden during harvest seasons and volunteering at museums to promote education of art and history. I mostly volunteered at Blackhawk Museum, which is a local community museum short of resources. I worked with the museum staff to guide school trips. I also volunteered at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco. I really enjoyed my time there and feel immensely fulfilled when I get to contribute to the community.”

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Law School

Iris Mwanza, LLM ’92, wrote a legal thriller, The Lions’ Den, which tells the story of queer rights set during the peak of the AIDS crisis in 1990s Zambia. The plot follows a teenage sex worker who is arrested for “crimes against the order of nature” and the young lawyer who fights for his life and ultimately changes Zambian law forever. Iris wrote this novel, which was published in 2024 by Graydon House, by drawing on her own experiences as a former corporate lawyer in Zambia and the U.S., as well as by using historical research. The Lions’ Den was named to TIME Magazine’s list of 100 Must-Read Books of 2024.

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Group

Cornell Pride

Hello, fellow Cornellians, and welcome back to the Cornell Pride column in Group Notes! I’m George Bullis ’94, your Cornell Pride board treasurer and column writer, and I’m excited to bring you more updates from our busy LGBTQ+ alumni community.

Continuing with some interesting updates from non-board members, let me turn to the fast-paced environment of startups and Fortune 100 companies. Paul Munkholm ’99 continues to shape the future of business as a consultant. Based in L.A., Paul recently led the renaming of a company post-merger and helped a leading credit card company define its technological future. But Paul’s creativity doesn’t stop there—he’s also the host of The Ball Boys, his “gay snarky tennis podcast” that combines his love for tennis, comedy, and queer culture. Recently, he rebooted it into a Top 20 show that you can check out on Apple or Spotify.

Paul was able to use his Cornell connections to escape from L.A. after the recent devastating fires by spending a month at his Cornell best friend’s place in Portland. Paul’s commitment to the community extends to his work on the Housing Works board in NYC, where he continues to advocate for LGBTQ+ causes. Reflecting on his Cornell years, Paul believes that the University changed the trajectory of his life. “I found my peeps, and today they are still some of the greatest people I know.”

Shifting gears to the world of music and public service, David Goold, MS ’73, has been making a difference in Woodland, CA, as a church organist, bookkeeper, and active community member. David serves on various committees and boards and even does taxes for his community. He cherishes his longtime friendships, particularly with two fellow bisexual friends who have been a significant part of his life. David recalls his experience on the Hill being transformative, leading him to spend the rest of his life (so far) in California, which he describes as a “paradise for LGBTQ+ folx.”

Paul Munkholm ’99 is the host of The Ball Boys, his ‘gay snarky tennis podcast’ that combines his love for tennis, comedy, and queer culture.

Another inspiring story comes from Michael Quear, ME ’82, a chemical engineering alum who now dedicates his time to public service in Lancaster County, PA. Mike tutors in the local school system and serves as a court-appointed special advocate for foster kids, making a profound impact on the lives of young people. He also enjoys spending time with his great nieces and nephews, cherishing the close family bonds he’s built.

Mike’s time at Cornell was marked by unique memories, including living in Sage Hall when it was a graduate dorm with stables in the basement. As a former Pride board member, Mike said he valued the fresh perspectives of younger generations that experienced a different environment for LGBTQ+ students than he had in the 1980s. “I think it’s important that LGBT folks stand up, be counted, be open and out,” he shared, adding, “Remember you serve as a role model for the next generation, and you can make their lives easier by being out and open.”

Lastly, we turn to Andy Sacher ’82, BArch ’83, the creative director of the Lavender Effect, an organization dedicated to preserving LGBTQ+ heritage and culture. Based in West Hollywood, Andy recently completed an exhibit for the City of West Hollywood titled “Young City At War: Stories from West Hollywood During the AIDS Epidemic.” This project is just one of many ways Andy is paying forward the wisdom of previous LGBTQ+ generations. Reflecting on his Cornell years, Andy recalls embracing his gay identity while studying architecture, singing in the Glee Club, and falling in love for the first time. Though he wasn’t out during his time on the Hill, he found a sense of authenticity in the isolation of Ithaca. Andy’s work continues to inspire and educate, ensuring that LGBTQ+ history is never forgotten.

If you’d like to share your own story or reconnect with Cornell Pride, we’d love to hear from you. Please submit your updates here. Columns can only continue with your input, and I’d love to share what’s happening in your life! Warm regards. ❖ George Bullis ’94 | (email George) | Alumni Directory.

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University Chorus & Glee Club

As I write this, I am getting ready for two awesome Cornell events. One, of course, is Reunion in June; the other is the Cornell Club–New York’s “Cornell Day” at the Mets game, where the Chorus and Glee Club, along with its alumni, will be performing the National Anthem (arrangement by Michael Slon ’92) to kick off the ballgame. I am traveling up from the Washington, DC, area to participate, staying with my dear friend Esther Cohen Bezborodko ’94, and my whole family is coming to meet me there! I’ll have updates on both of these events in the next column.

Meanwhile, in late March, I received this fantastic update from Robert Rouse ’94 that I absolutely had to share! Bob writes, “Greetings from the Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia, home of the world’s largest organ. As fate would have it, the department store (now a Macy’s) is closing, and there was a final day-long organ concert on Saturday. The noon concert was performed by distinguished endocrinologist, accomplished organist, and Glee Club alumnus extraordinaire Jeremy Flood ’97, performing selections from Carmina Burana (among other items). Despite my three-hour lead time, I couldn’t NOT attend. I made it just in time.”

Courtesy of LinkedIn, I learned that Ryan Lee ’95 is the incoming Howard B. Hunt Centennial Chair of Radiology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, effective August 1. Ryan is currently the chair of radiology at Jefferson Einstein, part of Jefferson Health, and professor of radiology at the Sidney Kimmel College of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia. His areas of expertise include clinical deployment of AI, healthcare economics, and quality and safety. You can read the full press release here.

And Kevin McGinn ’04 sent me this update from Ithaca: “Well, all of my Cornell friends have gone their separate ways to far-flung corners of the country. I keep in touch with them, and my guest suite is always available for visitors. Over the last 25 years, I’ve established a firm base of local friends, including a few Cornell professors like Karl Niklas (intro botany if you ever took it). I’m actually going to Easter dinner at his house! I’m also great friends with a number of people in the Cornell administration. I really am a ‘townie’ now.

“I have a deep passion for plants, gardening, and landscaping. Karl and his partner, Ed, are always a reliable source of guidance and information. It was so strange ‘meeting’ Karl again for the first time about 15 years ago. He remembered my name (and also that I dropped his course!). Anyway, in my HOA here I have the finest yard in the entire neighborhood and Karl can be at least partially credited for it.”

That’s all for now—I suspect there will be many more updates after the Mets game and Reunion. In the meantime, please keep sending your news—it’s music to my ears! ❖ Alison Torrillo French ’95 (email Alison) | Alumni Directory.

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Top image: Photo by Ryan Young / Cornell University

Published July 1, 2025