The Latest News from Your Classmates

September / October 2026

1950s

1951

Autumn greetings! We hope this column finds each and every one of you well. A member of Frances Goldberg Myers’s family stopped by headquarters at Reunion in June to let us know that she is doing well, living independently in North Carolina.

Your classmates are curious: What are you reading, growing, teaching, learning, exploring, or celebrating these days? Class Notes are always better when more voices join in. ❖ Class of 1951 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1952

“The professor who taught geology at Cornell really loved his subject, and transferred that love to me,” writes Carol Singer Greenhaus. “Wherever we traveled, I got the geologic history (if possible), and it so enhanced my trip! If I hadn’t headed to teaching first grade, I would have been a geologist.”

Carol adds, “I’m 95 and can still walk, talk, cook, eat, and drive a car! I’m enjoying my three daughters, six grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren! The oldest is in high school and drives a car!”

Lewis Ward-Baker shares, “It was a joy to hear the Glee Club singing at the Asbury First United Methodist Church, about a mile from our home in Rochester. It was their first stop on a Great Lakes Tour.

“The rich sound took me back to the days I rehearsed, under Tom Tracy ’31’s direction, in the North Room of the Straight, and performed on campus and on our trips around the East and Midwest. They invited alumni to join them in the ‘Alma Mater,’ and I happily accepted the chance to go back in that wonderful sound to my days on the Hill.” ❖ Class of 1952 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1953

Lorraine Hala Hegel (Rockville, MD) shares that, at 94 years old, her memories of Cornell friendships live on. “I considered Joanne Williams Finkelstein as one of my best friends at Cornell. She lived across the hall in Cascadilla for freshman year and we bonded. We lost touch after graduation because she moved to Arizona and I stayed on Long Island.

“I met Joan Thuma Margolis before going to college. My name was in the local newspapers and she and her family came to meet me. Years later we discovered that our grandfathers knew each other and wrote for the same Czech magazine. We kept in touch for a lifetime.” ❖ Class of 1953 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1954

Very unexpectedly and suddenly, “the vicissitudes of our old age” caught up with me, Ruth Carpenter Bailey. You may recall that recently I wrote that they have slowed Bill Waters, MBA ’55. Now they have also slowed me.

On May 15, I fell. After a partial hip replacement, I am gradually moving around, but quite tentatively so far. I do not have the energy to write an interesting column. Also, I do not have any material from you on hand.

Volunteers are welcome! Contact me or Alex Bond ’12 (email Alex) at Cornellians. If the Class of 1950 can still produce a column now and then (and Paul Joslin ’50 does!), maybe we can as well. In the meantime, our website is available for you to enjoy and, while online, you can also visit the adjoining websites for 1953 and 1955. In addition, a link is available on each site to jump to the Cornell website to see news of what’s going on at the University.

I wish you good health and happy Cornell memories. ❖ Ruth Carpenter Bailey (email Ruth) | Class website | Alumni Directory.

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1955

Happy autumn! 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! ❖ Class of 1955 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1956

Our 70th Reunion! With the Statler Hotel as our headquarters, our Reunion began with the “Spirit of ’31—Passing It Forward” ceremony. Our class president, Joe Henninger, MBA ’58, and our Reunion chair, Carole Rapp Thompson, had the honor of presenting the official ’21 Reunion banner to representatives from the Class of 2021. Gathering together for the first time since COVID sent them home from the Hill, the Class of 2021 brought back over 1,000 classmates for their 5th Reunion, a new record. The reception was attended by our classmates and their guests, including spouses, sons, daughters, and even grandchildren.

Dinner followed, where Irwin Scharf, accompanied by his wife, Alice, recalled his early-morning show on WVBR. After Cornell, he took over the manufacturing business begun by his father in which they produced, among other items, jewelry for organizations. Norman Turkish, MBA ’60, retired to Ithaca after a career on Wall Street and now lives in a home located across from the entrance to the Suspension Bridge.

Another local, Donald Greenberg ’55, BCE ’58, PhD ’68, reports that after saying he might never retire, at the end of June he ended his Cornell employment. He was the former Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Graphics in the College of Architecture. In 2022 he launched a new course in architecture and computer science using digital resolution tools and software titled “Design in the Age of Digital Twins.” Dick Bulman, MBA ’57, arrived with a greeting for everyone. After adding an MBA to his undergraduate degree, he went on to a full career at IBM.

Friday’s beautiful weather ushered in a very busy day. A guided bus tour of campus left soon after breakfast and drove us to the Moakley House. Lunch there was both a feast for our eyes and for our palate. Seated at one table was Judy Cimildoro Jones and her son Peter. We saw one example of the Cornell mystique. One of our clerks, Caleb Goillandeau ’26, sat next to Peter, and the two had an interesting conversation regarding science and the medical field, Caleb’s focus as he heads for graduate study. Peter has his PhD and is an endowed professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. His field of research is in one of the classes of muscular dystrophy, FSHD. Judy now lives in Reno, NV, after retiring as Commissioner of Public Utilities in Ohio.

Next stop: The Olin Lecture in Bailey Hall, where we heard a panel of three Cornell alumni discuss the future of higher education. Looming ahead is, as they stated, the drop-off cliff of potential college students reflected by the much lower birth rate. They expect many more colleges will be closing. They also tackled the issue of artificial intelligence. In this regard, the panel declared learning the skill of critical thinking to be crucial in dealing with the errors often found in writing produced by AI.

We were entertained at dinner by the Hangovers, a subset of the Cornell Glee Club. During dinner, Bill Greenawalt recalled in his senior year having to choose between becoming president of Cornell United Religious Work or president of another organization. After being a very involved undergrad, Bill went on to earn his LLB at Yale and had a career as an attorney in Westchester County, NY.

Our guest at dinner on Saturday, President Kotlikoff, made a special point of coming to each table and personally greeting each of us.

Gwen Grohmann des Cognets was another very active undergrad. Her father, Victor 1928, was an early Hotelie. Her daughter Liz des Cognets Champagne ’79 was Gwen’s guest. Both were looking forward to the Saturday afternoon sorority receptions. Another Hotel classmate, Stew Gully, benefitted from his NROTC scholarship. After his time in the Navy, he worked 30 years as a hotel manager. He was proud to be the 20th member of his family to attend Cornell. His guest was nephew Josh Gully ’83 (#21), whose son, Josh Gully Jr. ’20, is #22 in this loyal Cornell family.

Joining us from Pittsford, NY, was Rivka Gebiner Chatman. Betsy Steuber Gaidry traveled from Coram, NY, on Long Island, while Miriam Mattinen Shearing traveled to us from Las Vegas, NV. Professor emeritus in veterinary medicine Jack Lowe had a very short trip from his home right here in Ithaca. Barbara Spielberg Luther traveled from nearby Elmira, NY. She became mom to five children, then had a career in the Social Security Administration.

Sunny Styles Kuskin recently moved to Ithaca. Her son, Ian McMillan ’89, flew in from Hawaii to accompany his mom to her 70th. Sunny pursued a career as a therapist after earning her PhD in psychology. Her sorority sister and lifelong friend Barbara Travis Osgood, PhD ’80, also earned a PhD. Hers was in Human Ecology from Cornell. Barbara retired in 2002 as a senior executive with the National Resources Conservation Service in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Thirty years ago she began her avocation of fostering and rescuing old Labrador retrievers. Her book 84 Paws: A Life with Old Labs was published in 2019. She has actively placed many of her Labs in forever homes; others she cares for until they reach the Rainbow Bridge. More recently, her second book, Diary of a Cranky Old Feminist, was published.

Saturday morning found many classmates heading for the college breakfasts. After a brief rain shower, many attended President Michael Kotlikoff’s State of the University Address in Bailey Hall. Our lunch at the Statler included the class meeting. Joe Henninger thanked Carole Rapp Thompson for her adeptness in producing and handling all the details for the 70th Reunion. Joe reminded us that the class treasury would continue through our 75th Reunion, at which time any remaining funds would be turned over to the University. A vote was held to elect Carole our next class president, with Joe as vice president. Corey Ryan Earle ’07, the unofficial University historian, then gave us an entertaining presentation.

Sam Basch came to Reunion with wife Linda and brought us up to date on his career. He earned his MD at Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia and became a psychiatrist. His career took him to Nigeria and Israel among other locations. He was a first responder to the tragedy of 9/11, where he worked with survivors dealing with shock and intense grief. He continues even now as a professor of clinical psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City.

We gathered again for our class photo and dinner. Our guest, President Kotlikoff, made a special point of coming to each table and personally greeting each of us. Class clerk Rose Cepeda ’26 made sure we each had a ticket for Cornelliana Night. We were shuttled to Bailey Hall, where we were seated together and featured as the most senior class.

As we packed to leave, we took time for our last breakfast together. There was John Holton and wife Susan. John added to his undergrad degree in civil engineering by attending Harvard for a master’s degree in architecture. Also there was David ’55, BArch ’60, MRP ’61, and Allison Hopkins Sheffield with daughter Laura ’84 and son Stephen ’88. David and Allison were such good friends with Joe Henninger and the late Sue De Rosay Henninger ’57, dating from their undergrad days, that each couple were in each other’s wedding. We noticed Stephen taking multiple photos of our celebration while Joe’s daughter Sally Henninger ’87 took videos. Thanks to all to who contributed in many ways to make our 70th Reunion so special! ❖ Class of 1956 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1957

Good to hear from Michael DeNicola, BEE ’58, who resides in Murrieta, CA, with wife Myrna. You’ve heard of destination weddings? Well, this was a destination 90th birthday celebration. Mike and Myrna went across the country to celebrate his 90th birthday in Savannah, GA. There they spent three days sightseeing, eating, and socializing with 30 of Mike’s family and friends.

Several Cornell alums were in attendance including Mike’s sister Eleanor DeNicola Baril ’60, her husband, Max Baril ’60, Mike’s son Michael ’80, and Michael’s son Brandon ’19. Mike called it a great reunion. After he earned his BEE in ’58, he did his tour of duty as an officer in the Air Force. He was put in charge of data processing at the Plattsburgh, NY, Air Base, where he learned the winters in Ithaca were mild. Next station was Ernest Harmon Air Force Base in Newfoundland, where he learned the winters in Ithaca were very mild. He then returned to Ithaca and worked for IBM as a systems engineer.

His 26 years with IBM progressed in Syracuse (instructor and data center manager), Rochester (systems engineering manager), New York City and White Plains (planning), and Tarrytown (IBM World Trade Americas/Far East, planning manager). Mike finished his career in 2020 after 27 years working with Fujitsu Limited in San Jose, CA, as vice president of engineering. He was also the Fujitsu representative on the boards of directors of various industry consortia. Only the arrival of the COVID pandemic forced him to retire at age 84, putting an end to his enjoyable career working in the computer industry. Even now he misses going to work every day.

Marilyn Greene Abrams and her business partner had to close their stage comedy Shear Madness after 14,737 performances in the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, as the center was being closed for repairs. After the two adapted a 1963 German mystery play, they had their version premiere at the Lake George Dinner Theater in 1978. The Albany Times Union reported, “With production details adapted to each city, jokes and references continually updated to reflect current events, and improvisation among the cast encouraged, it delighted audiences around the globe.” There are almost 30 productions currently running around the world. Marilyn lived in Albany, NY, for 50 years before moving to Manhattan a few years ago.

You’ve heard of destination weddings? Well, this was a destination 90th birthday celebration for Michael DeNicola ’57, BEE ’58.

During June’s Cornell Reunion weekend, the Delta Upsilon fraternity honored the late Tony Cashen, MBA ’58, with a memorial service. Tony, who passed away in March, was instrumental in saving DU from permanent expulsion from the Cornell Greek community. Not only that, he was actively involved working with former dean of student life Suzy Nelson and vice president emerita Susan Murphy ’73, PhD ’94, on redirecting Cornell’s fraternities and sororities. He began doing that even before he and wife Gail Lautzenheiser Cashen moved to the farmhouse at Kendal at Ithaca in 2015. Suzy Nelson spoke at the memorial service; although Susan Murphy had a previous engagement, her letter praising Tony was empathetically read by a colleague. Tony was recognized for his extraordinary service as an alum in 2001 when he was one of the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award honorees. He was especially remembered as a man who loved to mentor people.

We also bid farewell to our Northwest regional vice president Marilyn “Mimi” Hester Ridgley. Mimi passed away in January after a brief illness. She and husband Bob Ridgley ’56 moved to the greater Portland, OR, area in 1960 and made their home there for the last almost seven decades. Mimi was an active woman who loved to ski and play tennis and golf. She obtained her pilot’s license in 1975 and enjoyed flying a single-engine Cessna around Oregon and the West in general. Along with her dedicated Cornell involvement, she was a co-founder of the Civics Learning Project, a nonprofit that brings civics education programs into Oregon schools. She is survived by Bob, her sons Greg and Derek ’86, four grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

By now you may have received the yearly dues notice. We may be one of the last classes that continues to use snail mail for this annual request. One very important function of the dues notice is to maintain our class and Cornell’s records of our addresses, both street and email, and phone numbers, home and/or cell. Many of us have already downsized and moved into senior housing with more likely ahead. This becomes even more important as we prepare for our 70th Reunion. Mark your calendars for June 10–13, 2027. A Reunion committee has been formed and is already working on the plans. More about our upcoming 70th in future columns. ❖ Connie Santagato Hosterman (email Connie) | Alumni Directory.

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1958

We are sorry to report that class secretary and co-correspondent Barbara Avery, MA ’59, lost her husband in July. We send our sympathy to Barb on her loss.

Audrey Wildner Sears was memorialized at a family service on a west-facing slope in beautiful Grantham, NH, close to where she and Ray ’57 lived for 30 years. Connie Case Haggard and Dick Haggard joined Ray and his three sons and their families in early June for the service. They report that Ray is getting along okay with the help of a good friend and part-time caregiver, and the boys, known by Connie and Dick since their births, are all thriving, as are their families.

Susan Swanson Hueber recently moved to Reno, NV, to be closer to her son and daughter and their families. She had been living in Ridgecrest and volunteering for 50 years at the Ridgecrest Maturango Museum in California. She writes, “I’m still able to do things, understand things, and find positive curiosities. I have the opportunity to enjoy and learn from great PBS programs; I took a Great Decisions class, which got my brain stimulated again.” Susan adds that Cornell impacted her thinking and awareness about “how big the world is—and that I can embrace it!”

Our 70th Reunion is now less than two years away. Let’s hope we all can make it then for good times on campus. We’re working on a fun and meaningful time for all in June 2028. Meanwhile, keep healthy and of good cheer. ❖ Dick Haggard (email Dick) | Barbara Avery, MA ’59 (email Barbara) | Alumni Directory.

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1959

“Wear those Reunion hats, fellow ’59ers!” advises Carole Kenyon. “Mine prompted two lovely conversations with fellow walkers here in Seattle yesterday—a recent retiree and a Wellesley graduate who didn’t attend her last Reunion; plan to go to the next, said I.” A classmate who recently wore her Reunion jacket in NYC chimed in: “An ’82 Cornell alum hailed me and we shared tales of happy times on the Hill.”

One doesn’t have to be “on the Hill” to be part of the Cornell scenery. As the new school year starts, some 150 students who participate in the rowing program are trekking down to Cayuga Lake and the Cornell Rowing Center and putting their shells into the lake along one of the facility’s three docks. When the boathouse was renovated in 2010–11, our classmate Rick Dyer, MD ’63, who died several months ago, made a substantial gift in support of the project.

“We named one of the docks after Rick, to thank him for his continued support of the program, and to help the current generation of rowers understand the tradition and support that past generations have created,” says Todd Kennett ’91, the Spirit of ’57 Director of Rowing. “I first met Rick when I was a sophomore on the Cornell varsity team as we raced at Yale in Derby, CT. He was there to support the crews, and he was rowing as a masters rower out of New Haven Rowing Club. We were chatting, he met my mother, and by the end of the day he convinced her to learn how to row. She took up rowing and went on to win the Head of the Charles four times—and still rows today at age 78!

“I loved to row behind Rick,” continues Todd. “His rhythm was patient and consistent but relentlessly striking to get us to the finish line. We raced together in masters races, and we won a number of them!” Ron Demer, a friend since Ron was a waiter at Rick’s fraternity, points out that Rick continued to row well into his 80s in Cornell alumni eights at masters regional, national, and international regattas—and even was an eager participant in Reunion weekend rows as recently as our 60th Reunion.

Wear those Reunion hats, fellow ’59ers! Mine prompted two lovely conversations with fellow walkers here in Seattle yesterday.

Carole Kenyon ’59

In 2001, the Kaplan family—our class president Barbara Hirsch Kaplan, her husband, Leslie, son Doug Kaplan ’88, and daughter Emily Kaplan Dodge ’91—established the Kaplan Family Distinguished Faculty Fellowship to recognize faculty who are committed to civic engagement. Each year, the Kaplan Fellowship awards $10,000 to a faculty member to further develop an ongoing community-based learning course or research project, to initiate a new effort, or to seek institutionalization of a community-engaged learning course.

This year’s recipient, Jonathan Butcher, the Joseph Newton Pew Jr. Professor in Engineering, was honored at the Einhorn Center awards event on April 22. Butcher was honored for his ongoing engaged research collaboration with Tuskegee University, and his plans to expand the Tuskegee-Cornell University Biomedical Engineering Scholars (TCUBES) into a model program for community-engaged engineering training at Cornell. “We want our students to leave not only as strong engineers, but as people who feel empowered to apply their skills in ways that benefit their communities,” Butcher said.

TCUBES brings Cornell and Tuskegee students together to address community-identified health challenges through engineering design. The students partner directly with communities in New York and Alabama. They talk with patients and providers, observe clinical settings, and run co-design workshops to understand where care falls short. From there, they turn those insights into design plans shaped by community priorities—from usability and accessibility to cultural fit. For instance, recent student projects are addressing such issues as thermoregulation and skin injury among amputee prosthetic users and improving menstrual health through redesigned tampons. ❖ Jenny Tesar (email Jenny) | Alumni Directory.

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1960s

1960

Linda Miller Kelsey shares, “Just celebrated my 65th wedding anniversary with Rev. Dr. Fred Kelsey ’59! I am enjoying marvelous, stimulating community here at Covenant Living at Windsor Park. I was elected precinct committee chairperson for Democrats and am enjoying it. At Cornell, I gained the education for a career in education, and many of those years I worked for Cornell Cooperative Extension.”

Judith Singer Bercuvitz (Côte St. Luc, Quebec) writes, “At our 65th Reunion in June 2025, I played the piano for a group of friends in Lincoln Hall and then I played again on campus at the Center for Historic Instruments on a piano built in 1846; I played a Mendelssohn piece written in 1842, which was appropriate!

“Inspired by the positive reception of my performances, I gave two concerts at home on my 1946 Steinway baby grand for friends and others in the fall of 2025 and then twice more in 2026. I turned 88 in May and hope to keep playing the piano for others. The surprising part is that I lost a third of my middle finger in an accident in 2009! Therefore I can’t avoid hitting wrong notes. My husband and I are managing to continue to enjoy our lives, but we are almost finished traveling anywhere. We have two children living in the U.S.” ❖ Class of 1960 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1961

The 65th Reunion of the Class of 1961 is history. I watched Cornelliana Night on streaming video and reminisced about old friends and a youth from long ago. The performance of the Big Red Band and the familiar Cornell songs stoked my nostalgia. I wish I had been there. Fortunately, Marshall and Rosanna Romanelli Frank attended (as always) and sent a write-up about the weekend celebration:

“Of the 82 participants who registered, 42 were ’61 classmates. However, several never signed in due to unexpected illness or other circumstances. So the final number was 77 participants, of which 37 were classmates. Activities began Thursday evening with dinner at the Statler Hotel, where most of the attendees were staying and where we were entertained by the Sherwoods.

“Our class had also arranged for a separate relaxation room, where memorabilia from previous class Reunions were displayed, including many of the class souvenirs handed out to attendees of previous Reunions, as well as our ’61 graduation yearbook, along with the yearbooks printed for our 25th and 50th Reunions. Attendees were able to spend time and socialize between specific class and Reunion events in the relaxation room.

“Friday started with a buffet breakfast for our class in a separate Statler Hotel private room. At our Friday luncheon in the Statler Ballroom, we were entertained by Corey Ryan Earle ’07, Cornell’s historian, who gave a most informative and enjoyable presentation on changes to the Cornell campus from 1957, when we were enrolled, to the present. The campus has more than doubled in size with significant additions of new living spaces, especially on North Campus, as well as many new school buildings. Of particular enjoyment at our Friday luncheon was the ‘make-it-yourself’ ice cream sundaes provided with four different ice cream flavors and a multitude of available toppings, inspired by the invention of the ice cream sundae in Ithaca.

“On Friday afternoon, we had a reception in Olin Library in the Meinig Reading Room on the third floor, which our class had funded as part of our 60th Reunion campaign in the memory of our classmate Peter Meinig. Due to COVID and the corresponding shutdown of the Cornell campus, our 60th Reunion was held virtually, which prevented us from officially dedicating the room at that time. At this reception, Professor David Putnam, of the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering, told us in a most entertaining manner about several near or soon-to-be-commercialized accomplishments of the Meinig School.

“Our Friday evening dinner was at the Big Red Barn, which many of us had never even known existed during our undergraduate days. An excellent meal and service was provided by Cornell Catering and the location was convenient for those who planned to attend the Cornell Glee Club’s performance in the adjacent Bailey Hall.

“Saturday’s buffet breakfast for classmates not attending their specific schools’ breakfasts was in the same separate Statler room specifically for our class. Following breakfast, many of us attended the State of the University Address by President Michael Kotlikoff in Bailey Hall. Our next class activity was a wine-tasting reception in the Martha Van Rensselaer Human Ecology Commons Room. We sampled three different wines—Champagne, a white, and a red—from the Finger Lakes versus those from France. We were also provided with an interesting history of the growth of the Finger Lakes wine region, which today is the second-largest wine producing area in the U.S. (California is first).

Corey Ryan Earle ’07 gave a presentation on changes to the Cornell campus from 1957 to the present. The campus has more than doubled in size!

“This was followed with a class picture and then a sumptuous final evening dinner provided by Serendipity Catering. After dinner, most of us walked across the street to Bailey Hall for what many of us most enjoy at Reunions: Cornelliana Night, singing along with alumni members of the Cornell Glee Club and Chorus to our most memorable Cornell songs and hearing about record attendance from several Reunion classes, as well as the generosity of Reunion classes in their respective campaigns.

“Our final Sunday breakfast at the Statler ended with the ‘election’ of class officers for the next five years. Doug Uhler and Sue Rand Lewis will continue as co-presidents. Ed Goldman and Gerrit White will serve as vice presidents, Doug Fuss as class correspondent, Diane Baillet Meakem as class treasurer, and Rosanna Romanelli Frank and Judy Rensin Mandell as 70th Reunion co-chairs.”

Immediately following Reunion, Judy Mandell sent a thoughtful note of her recent experience. “Last week I attended my 65th Reunion. I did not want to go because that’s where I met my late husband. I was very anxious as it would be the first time back on campus without him. When I entered Cornell in 1957, there were four men to every woman. What a social life we girls had. I really had trouble with all the guys calling for dates. I wouldn’t actually call that ‘trouble,’ but I didn’t know how to deal with all the attention. When boys called asking me out and I wasn’t free, I’d say ‘I’ll give you a rain check.’ To this day, one guy calls me ‘Rain Check Rensin.’ But I digress.

“Jerry ’58, MD ’62, was a senior when I was a freshman. I heard that a ‘certain senior’ stated that he would never date a freshman. What a challenge. I told my Clara Dickson girlfriends that not only will he date me, he will marry me. Although I was kidding, it happened. We married and lived happily for 62 years until he died July 13, 2023. This year, my friend Rosanna kept urging me to go to our Reunion. She said it would be fun. I would see old friends and meet new people. But I did not want to meet new people. Although Jerry has been gone almost three years, I still walk around with a hole in my heart.

“I went to the Reunion. I figured, what’s the worst thing that could happen? I could bail if I was miserable. There were more than a thousand students in my freshman class, but only 70 returned. Most of them were couples. Many of the friends I looked forward to seeing had died—without telling me. How rude! Not funny, as at my age of 86, friends are dropping like flies.

“The first evening at dinner, everyone at my table had a partner. I was the only single person. As I took the last bite of dessert, I looked up and everyone had gone. I was totally alone. I acted like a 5-year-old camper who calls her mom and wants to go home. I texted my grown children and told them I’m so unhappy—sorry I came, everyone is couples, I made a mistake. However, things changed the next day. I met several widowed women and people from other classes. I renewed friendships and made new friends. I had fun. Jerry would have approved.”

Lastly, on a somber note, Bobbie Singer Gang died unexpectantly the Monday after our Reunion. A good friend, Bobbie was one of the brave freshman coeds enrolled in my ME class.

For those of you still reading along, this is a very lengthy column. In fact, we will carry over news from Fred Stahl, Martin Rudolph, Ginny Buchanan Clark, and Bill Tuohy to the next edition! ❖ Doug Fuss (email Doug) | Alumni Directory.

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1962

Save the date: 65th Reunion—June 10–13, 2027!

Annette Lieberman Globits lives three miles from the Pacific Ocean on the border of Huntington Beach, where she indulges in her passions of photography and writing poetry. On her website, she states: “Melding my scientific career as a registered dietitian, where I spent 50 years helping people to make the best possible choices for good health, with my artistic self, I created this visual bouquet of photographs.” She’d love to hear from classmates living in the Southern California area. Contact her via her website.

Looking for Jack Loose, MS ’64? He’s not lost, merely relocated. After living in their big house for 60 years, he and his wife moved into independent living in a retirement home in Huntsville, AL, in January.

“My social circle still includes lots of Cornellians,” writes Mike Ernstoff, MS ’65, who sent along a lovely photo taken last winter in front of his garage in Los Angeles, CA, that you can view in the Classmate News (July 2026) on our class website.

Peter Slater writes that after he retired in 2013 as provost of TCI College, a technical college in Manhattan founded by Guglielmo Marconi, he continued to work for a while as a consultant on special projects. Then, “to fulfill a lifelong urge and help stave off dementia,” he took up creative writing. “Since 2017, I have published over 25 pieces in literary magazines and anthologies: short stories, flash fiction, satire, parody, essay, and poetry. Links to some of them can be found on my website. I serve as the associate leader of a long-standing writers’ workshop, which meets monthly at the Warner Library in Tarrytown. As for Cornell affiliations, I have joined a recently launched bi-monthly Zoom call with my Tau Delta Phi brothers, which includes Marc Gerber, Rick Sommer, Andy Morris, Abe Genack, Alex Steinbergh, Mickey Alpert, Buddy Carrey, Jim Hoffman, Billy Feldman and Larry Hoffman.”

Save the date: 65th Reunion—June 10–13, 2027!

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

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1963

From your class president, Paula Trested Laholt: “Greetings, Class of 1963. I hope that summer 2026 has given you a fresh approach to living an enjoyable life. After the winter we had in the Northeast, I can relate to that. In less than two years, we will all be facing a fresh approach at our 65th Reunion. This will be a new challenge for many of us and a continued excitement for others. Please start thinking about what events and activities you would like to see in June 2028, either virtual or on campus. You can contact Reunion chair Nancy Cooke McAfee (email Nancy) with your ideas, and of course any assistance you would like to offer.”

Nancy also sent a note to me that her son, Keith ’91, attended Reunion this year. Keith did report one big difference in campus life. He noted that “fraternities and sororities are no longer the center of social life, nor are the bars in Collegetown. In the phone era, everyone has all their friends immediately accessible, and they meet up at apartments and dorm rooms for impromptu parties. A bottle of wine is much cheaper than drinks at a bar!”

Wonderful news from Cornell is that one of our classmates, Marty Lustig, was honored at this year’s Reunion with the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award. This award recognizes alumni who have demonstrated extraordinary service to Cornell through long-term volunteer activity. Consideration is given to the length and depth of activity; donations are not among the criteria used to select honorees. Marty has been involved with the Cornell Club of Mid-America in Kansas City. He and his wife, Diane Flannery Lustig ’66, live in Prairie Village, KS. Marty was honored at Reunion and I will have more to share about Marty after the winners are honored this fall. Congratulations, Marty!

Wonderful news from Cornell is that one of our classmates, Marty Lustig ’63, was honored at this year’s Reunion with the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award.

Since news from classmates has been very slow, I’ve decided to share a story from the Cornell Daily Sun on February 7, 1961. Titled “Students See New Library on First Day,” it is about the opening of the Olin Library on campus. All of us were there at the time so maybe this will bring back memories:

“‘It certainly was a successful day,’ stated G.F. Shepherd, assistant director of libraries, commenting on the opening day of the John M. Olin Library yesterday. Despite the delays caused by Friday night’s snowstorm, few problems presented to the library staff were not expected. Shepherd commented that students drifted into the library slowly at first, but more and more entered with each change of classes. He mentioned that many seem to be making a ‘tourist visit,’ looking into ‘every nook and corner.’

“The library is holding an open house for students Saturday. Members of the staff will be posted throughout the building to explain the various functions of the building to students. An open house for members of the faculty and their families will be held Sunday. Members of the staff worked over the weekend to bring facilities as close to normal operation as possible.

“The card catalogue, which arrived Friday, is installed, but the cards were not filed in these recent arrivals until yesterday. Faster service for book requests will be a certainty when the pneumatic tube system of the circulation desk is in operation. These tubes will carry the requests to the stack levels, and the books will be sent down via conveyor. To date this system is not yet operative.

“He said that the most gratifying comment was that of a student who said, late in the afternoon, ‘I couldn’t help it. I just had to come back and see it again.’” Please send me news for future columns. ❖ Nancy Bierds Icke (email Nancy) | Alumni Directory.

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1964

George Weiner, PhD ’76, writes, “In 2007, following the death of my wife, I retired from my dual positions as executive-in-residence at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State and Treuhaft Fellow at the Center for Community Solutions, and as an adjunct faculty member at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. While living in Shaker Heights, I chaired the Landmark Commission and was elected to city council.

“Following my retirement, I met and married Michelle Sussman Weiner, MAT ’70, and relocated to Rochester. Last year we became great-grandparents. At 68, I took up sweep rowing and began sculling several years later, and have been at both ever since. When not rowing on the Erie Canal, I enjoy painting—watercolor and acrylics, but not rooms. All our kids, grandkids, and little Emmy are doing well.”

Edward Smith, PhD ’69, reports, “I retired from Michigan State University in 2009. We moved to Kalamazoo, MI, in 2021 to be near our youngest grandkids. I was very happy to return to the Hill again for the 2026 Reunion and sing with the Glee Club. I was proud to sing the sophomore verse of ‘Song of the Classes’ at Cornelliana Night again.

“My brief time teaching high school science and math led me back to grad school at Cornell for answers. I went on to get a PhD and spent nearly four decades at Michigan State University, where we found answers to my questions.” ❖ Class of 1964 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1965

Thanks to all who have sent in some news items to Steve Appell and me, Joan Hens Johnson. We continue to ask for your reflections on your life and family events!

Jeff Kass writes, “D.C. area Class of 1965 alums held a small group dinner on the occasion of Myron and Michelle Jacobson’s visit to D.C. At the dinner were Myron and Michelle, Jeff and Dee Kass, Bruce and Cosette “Cozy” Nieporent Smoller ’67, Barry Cutler, Stan ’64, BS ’65, and Grace Hershberg Morgenstein, and Jamil, ME ’66, and Lynn Sopher. Some of us haven’t gotten together since our Reunion last year and it was great to see everyone. Taking a leaf from Judy Kellner Rushmore’s Florida lunches, it would be great to make this an annual event with more of our D.C. area ’65 alums joining us.”

Jeff also commented on a trip he and Dee took with Cornell’s Adult University: “We just returned from a wonderful trip to Portugal—our first Cornell trip. A great group—of alums, parents of Cornell students, and staff—several of whom live in the Ithaca suburbs. I highly recommend Cornell travel. My life in D.C. includes nonprofit volunteering and rowing on the Potomac.”

Active always, Judy Kellner Rushmore explains, “I am currently in a tizzy packing to depart for a family trip to Iceland in less than two days, then departing for my new condo on the Cape in West Harwich for the summer upon my return, while fielding all the unexpected crises that arise when one really does not have time to deal with them! I need more hours in the day and days in the week!”

We just returned from a wonderful trip to Portugal—our first Cornell trip. A great group—of alums, parents of Cornell students, and staff.

Jeff Kass ’65

George Arangio and his wife, Judy, have concluded a wonderful vacation with 23 family members in attendance! He shares that the weather was sunny, warm, and windy in Corolla, NC. The extended families enjoy each other’s company. George challenges those of us who do not speak Italian with his statement: “Dinner one evening was salsicce, peperoni, e pane.” He sends “forte abbraccio”to the Class of ’65. They cruised the northwest San Juan Islands in April.

In the next newsletter we’ll feature an in-depth story of Jamil Sopher, who traces his love of the wonderful game of pétanque through many years, and shares a historical family saga as well.

My next life adventure has evolved. I’ve sold my house in Andover, MA, as well as my condo in Venice, FL, to move to Jacaranda Trace, a continuing care retirement community in Venice. Happiness is living in a fabulous community with 300 terrific residents, a marvelous staff, activities each day and evening, and wonderful food! I have planned trips to Venice for the symphonies, theatre outings, educational tours, and various museum expositions. A favorite recent trip featured a docent tour of the new Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium. It is an extraordinary place.

It is wonderful when Steve and I hear from our ’65 classmates. Jeff Kass’s idea of city/regional gatherings patterned after Judy Rushmore’s lunches in Naples, FL, spark thoughts of potential future good times! All the best. ❖ Joan Hens Johnson (email Joan) | Stephen Appell (email Stephen) | Alumni Directory.

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1966

Our 60th Reunion was a great experience. The weekend was balanced with class activities, University programs, and free time to explore, meet with friends, and observe changes to the campus.

It was an exciting time: Thursday’s “tailgate supper” at Schoellkopf; Friday’s breakfast at the Straight, class forum, dedication of the ’66 Overlook, and class supper; Saturday’s introduction to the Toni Morrison Dining Hall, lunch at the new Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, and class dinner at Klarman Hall; Sunday’s breakfast at the dorm; and various University activities throughout the amazing weekend.

Lynn Jones writes from Collierville, TN, that—although he could not attend our 60th—he has fond memories of the 40th and 50th and appreciates that the well-organized programs do much for our class spirit. He took time last year to complete a full Storyworth book that enabled reflections on his abbreviated time at Cornell. Being able to take classes and even work for professors who were leaders in their fields stands out. “A visit to campus in summer 2025 emphasized Cornell’s beauty, especially of the Cornell Botanic Gardens—always a pleasure.”

Veronica Lee Shantz Patterson writes from Loveland, CO, that she taught at Robichaud High School for a year, then worked at Scott, Foresman, and Company publishers in Chicago, and then returned to Colorado (at Greeley) for five years. After Cornell, she studied at the University of Michigan and earned an EdD. She taught at the University of Northern Colorado and later received her MFA at Warren Wilson College. She has published How to Make a Terrarium and several poetry books. Veronica has won the NYU Press Poetry Prize and the Gell Poetry Prize. She and her husband have traveled to Alaska via the Inside Passage, and also to New Zealand. They have two daughters: one is an actor and director in Chicago, and the other has a PhD, is studying theology at Hanover College, and is chair of the social justice education program. Veronica currently teaches poetry and nonfiction at the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

Our two 60th Reunion class gifts, the ’66 Overlook and the Straight Talk scrapbook, will mark our milestone in perpetuity.

Laura Bowman Gray, MAT ’67, is still working as a professor of developmental psychology in Los Angeles. She is also a docent at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. She is actively involved as a Cornell Council member and an advisory board member for Cornell’s Adult University. She took CAU’s one-week art history course last summer. Laura and her husband, Phil Lempert, spend summers in New York City, where she works actively with Cornell Cooperative Extension. Along with these activities, she enjoys mentoring young adults through college teaching, and says that she learns as much from them as they learn from her. Her grandson graduated from the University of Sussex, and her granddaughter just started at the University of Brighton. Laura writes that attending Cornell was a pivotal moment in her life, and she fondly recalls the inspiring professors, the universal outlook, the Cornell credo to create positive change in the world, and the students—lifelong friends now.

A note from Alice Katz Berglas, Mary Jansen Everett, Jeanne Brown Sander, all the class leadership team: “As we write, it is July, and the memories of June’s 60th Reunion weekend linger, still fresh, filled with the sunshine spirit of the four days. Messages are still coming to us from classmates who gathered on the Hill, and from classmates who joined ‘from afar.’ Over 7,000 Cornellians attended—the 5th Reunion class setting a record of over 1,000 classmates back on campus. It was impossible not to be amazed by the Big Red pride across generations.

“The 65th and 70th Reunions set the examples for us all. Thank you for making our 60th Reunion year the tremendous success that it was. Our two 60th Reunion class gifts, the ’66 Overlook and the Straight Talk scrapbook, will mark our milestone in perpetuity. It took us all. Thank you.

“A new Cornell year begins! New students taking courses, finding their way, beginning to make Cornell their own. A new year for the Cornell Class of 1966 too! Just like our University, we are always moving forward. Keep in touch, here in this column, by sending in your news, and yes, by sending your dues. (Woo-hoo! Big Red news! Finally, again, the official dues year starts in the fall—which always made the best sense. No need any longer to be confused.) We look forward to sharing it all.” ❖ Susan Rockford Bittker (email Susan) | Pete Salinger, MBA ’68 (email Pete) | Alumni Directory.

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1967

Judy Silverman Kaufman (Stamford, CT), our Reunion co-chair since our 50th, provides an advance report on our upcoming 60th Reunion next June 10–13, 2027:

“In June, I attended this year’s 60th Reunion, expertly planned and implemented by Alice Katz Berglas ’66, Mary Jansen Everett ’66, and Jeanne Brown Sandler ’66, Class of ’66’s Reunion and networking chairs. It was a wonderful event with class and universitywide activities but plenty of time to converse with classmates and explore the vastly enlarged campus. Even the weather cooperated for the most part. We hope to present as exciting and comfortable an experience this coming year (but no promises for the weather).

“Please plan to attend our 60th Reunion, June 10–13, 2027. We will be housed on North Campus in an air-conditioned, mobility-accessible dorm with its own parking lot. Bus transportation will be provided to and from all events! A block of hotel/motel rooms will be allocated for those who wish to be off-campus. It is not too early to book a room at one of the Ithaca motels. Most have very liberal cancellation policies. (Rooms at the Statler don’t open up until sometime in the New Year.)

“We are already working with caterers and other vendors and service providers. Class president Margie Greenberg Smith, Reunion co-chair Dave Darwin, MS ’68, and I will attend Reunion kick-off, part of the Cornell Volunteer Summit on October 14–16, followed by Homecoming festivities. If you’re on campus at any of the activities, look for us at the events starting with Thursday’s State of the University Address and reception.

“Some of you who attended our 55th volunteered—or were strong-armed by me—to work on our 60th. I’ll be reaching out to you (if I haven’t already). We welcome input from all classmates and will try to answer your questions and meet your requests as we go along. Most importantly, we implore you to reach out to fellow classmates and encourage them to come to Reunion. See you on campus in June!”

I have just published my third novel, Aging Is Murder, part political satire, part comedy. My husband, Bruce Cohen ’65, ME ’67, promises he’ll visit me in jail.

Joan Klein Cohen ’67

Ivan Blum, MBA ’69 (Southbury, CT) reports: “I am in the process of concluding my fourth and last career as a visiting professor at Fairfield University, where I teach international business, business analytics, and statistics. I wanted to stay on at Cornell for my doctorate after receiving my master’s but was reclassified 1A during the Vietnam War and had to end my academic pursuits and find a job with an occupational deferment. So I joined Northrop Corp. in Southern California, spending the next three years working on the Apollo Program, where Northrop had the contract for its landing systems.

“When my first daughter was born and I had a draft number, I decided to leave aerospace for a new career in management consulting. I spent the ensuing 30 years as a global management consultant, ultimately as a partner in two large professional services firms, one of which eventually became Deloitte. Domestically, my practice focused primarily on the aerospace, automotive, and technology industries, where I served such clients as Boeing, BMW, Caterpillar, Daimler-Benz, the U.S. Department of Defense, Ford Motor Company, General Dynamics, General Motors, Hewlett-Packard, McDonnell Douglas, Raytheon, TRW, and Xerox. Internationally, I also served foreign clients in 15 countries.

“I left management consulting after my second marriage, moving from California to New England. There, I joined IBM (which had offered me a position 30 years earlier when I left Cornell, but without an occupational deferment). I spent a decade with IBM as a director in global services and research and development, then took early retirement to spend my remaining working years in academia.

“I am very proud of my four daughters, four granddaughters, and two grandsons. When not spending quality time with them or engaged in academics, I’ve been upgrading my gourmet cooking skills as well as diligently working on lowering my golf handicap. But that latter endeavor has clearly become a triumph of hope over performance.”

Julia Blank Bentley Macdonald (Ithaca, NY) writes: “After my husband passed away in March 2024, I moved to Longview, a senior living community in partnership with Ithaca College. I participate in activities and enjoy making collages and taking writing classes, as well as going to the theater. Life can still be good after retirement and the death of one’s spouse.” Joan Klein Cohen (Stockbridge, MA) writes: “I have just published my third novel, Aging Is Murder, part political satire, part comedy. My husband, Bruce ’65, ME ’67, promises he’ll visit me in jail.”

Bruce Berlin (Las Vegas, NV) reports: “I recently published my second book, From Camden to Kathmandu: You Don’t Have to Know Where You’re Going to Get Where You Want to Be. It’s a memoir about my journey to self-discovery. My first book was Breaking Big Money’s Grip on America. My daughter, Gioia, recently got married. I turned 80 last April.” Regarding impactful things he learned at Cornell, Bruce observes, “A lot of factors go into achieving success.” Satisfaction, he adds, comes from “being in nature and being in a community of friends.” ❖ Richard Hoffman (email Richard) | Alumni Directory.

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1968

Happy September! Please send more news and updates. Let us know about what you and your family are doing, your visits with our classmates, or your reflections on your years at Cornell!

Marylin “Lin” Beck has brought us up to date since her days on the Hill! Right after graduation, Lin began graduate school at Boston University, then took the law boards and attended Suffolk University Law School evening division, where she met her husband, William. They married in 1976 and both worked for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. William became the assistant attorney general of the environmental division. After leaving the state government, Lin next worked for a civil law firm, then started her own practice during which she became active in the Massachusetts Bar leadership and served as president of the Massachusetts Bar Association from 1997–98. Our classmate Alice Richmond also served as president, from 1986–87! Lin and her husband retired in 2012 to their summer home in Westport, MA, where they currently reside.

Jay Goldstein is still practicing dermatology three days a week and builds harpsichords in his spare time! He sees retirement “perhaps in the distant horizon.” He also plays drums in a local classic rock and blues band, playing mostly pubs and clubs. Jay, along with our classmate Jay Waks, JD ’71, grew up in Paterson, NJ; they met in kindergarten, becoming best friends and, of course, attending Cornell together.

After Cornell, Jay Goldstein attended Boston University School of Medicine, graduating in 1972. He then interned at Herrick Hospital in Berkeley, CA, and practiced emergency medicine in California and Massachusetts for the next four years. In 1977, Jay began his dermatology training at Boston Medical Center and began the private practice of dermatology in Natick, MA, where he has continued his practice. Jay also serves as an expert witness in dermatology malpractice cases. Jay and Jay keep in close touch, most recently meeting at Cornell this past June, where Jay Goldstein played drums in a Redstock Festival band (Cornell’s answer to Woodstock) at the Statler Auditorium during Reunion 2026 and Jay Waks was at Cornell attending his Cornell Law School Class of 1971 55th Reunion.

Steve Unger, ME ’70, reports that 2026 marks 60 years since he started hosting an annual mini-reunion for a small group of his Tau Epsilon Phi (TEP) fraternity brothers and their significant others at his family’s lake house on West Hill Lake in New Hartford, CT. Only one year over this entire 60-year period was Steve forced to cancel this mini-reunion, and that was because of COVID.

It’s been 60 years since Steve Unger ’68, ME ’70, started hosting an annual mini-reunion for a small group of his Tau Epsilon Phi fraternity brothers at his family’s lake house.

For the first 20 years or so, repeat guests were David Muntner (who passed away in 2006) and wife Sally Breckenridge, Michael Schenker, JD ’74, and Susan, Larry, DVM ’70, and Clara Tauber Kahn, and Harold Sasnowitz and Meryl. The list has expanded to include additional TEP brothers and their spouses: Charlie Kohn and Susan, Jim Philip, ME ’69, and Bev, Lenny Rappe and Rona, Joel and Linda Schwartz Negrin ’69, and Rick Simon and Lee Bedsole.

Yours truly, along with Sharon Lawner Weinberg, PhD ’71, and Gordon Silver, attended the inaugural event way back in 1967! According to Steve Unger there is no agenda for the event—“mostly, we just visit and catch up on family news. When the weather is good, we also squeeze in kayaking, sailing, paddleboarding, and swimming. One summer, Jim and Bev came with their own kayaks and tried, with limited success, to teach everyone kayak rolls!” For those interested, there are many YouTube videos available to learn how to do a roll without getting wet!

Peter Susser reports that he and his wife, Nonie Diamond Susser, have been married 56 years. After 52 years living in Great Neck, NY, they sold their home and now live full time in Boca Raton, FL. They have three children, two of whom, Wendy Susser Levinbook ’93 and Carrie Susser Goldin ’96, graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Cornell! Their husbands, Nick Goldin ’96, JD ’99, and Howie Levinbook ’91, also graduated from Cornell. Peter and Nonie’s third child, son Andrew, graduated from the University of California. One of their grandchildren, Emma Levinbook ’26, just graduated from Cornell, Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. Her cousin Parker Goldin ’30 is a Cornell freshman. Grandson Ethan graduated from Yale and grandson Max is studying at the University of Miami.

Peter recalls that the summer after graduation, he and classmate Robert Kantor had summer jobs in California and drove there in Bob’s Volkswagen Beetle. Peter continues to stay in touch with Bob, as well as with classmates Rob Kaplow, Bob Swersky, and Jeffrey Kaiden ’69, who was his “Little Brother” at Sigma Alpha Mu.

After Cornell, Peter received his MBA from NYU in 1970 and went to work for the Chase Manhattan Bank, “where I had a very nice career going—until I hit ‘a ceiling.’ I realized I was never going to be able to achieve my goals, so I quit a cradle-to-grave job, borrowed a huge amount of money, risked my life savings and all of my assets, and bought a wholesale jewelry company on 47th Street. We sold jewelry findings and watch materials all over the country, as well as to South and Central America.” That business, DRS Jewelry (the initials of the original owners), remains in operation today, now in its 77th year!

I look forward to receiving more news and 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

Our classmate Charlotte Bruska Gardner accompanied her father, Walt Bruska ’50, to his 65th Reunion in 2015. The Class of 1950 had commissioned Brad Edmondson ’81 to create a written history of their times, as well as a video (which can be viewed here) that was shown at the Saturday night Reunion dinner.

With the help of some of the material in the video, Charlotte has written her recollections of what Cornell meant to one family, and probably many more. She has shared her remembrance, titled “Growing up in Cornell’s Vetsburg,” with us here:

My father, Walter “Walt” Bruska ’50, liked to joke that after surviving World War II and then playing varsity football at Cornell, there was very little left in life that could intimidate him. But one of the biggest adjustments of his life may actually have come in 1946, when he returned from the war with a determination to build a future.

After graduating from Mohawk High School in 1943, he had enlisted in the Army Air Corps and served in the Pacific Theater. During the war he married his high school sweetheart, Anne King. Like thousands of returning veterans across America, he came home with the discipline of military service and the uncertainty of what came next.

The GI Bill opened doors that might otherwise never have existed for many young men of his generation, including my father. He thought Cornell was out of his reach—but was encouraged by a coach and mentor to apply. To his amazement, he and my mother were soon headed to Ithaca so he could enroll.

Cornell in 1946 was not the quiet, traditional prewar campus. Cornell archivist emerita Elaine Deutsch Engst, MA ’72, noted that during the war, Cornell became, to a large extent, a military institution. In 1946, the University was being transformed again, almost overnight, by the return of veterans. Married students with wives and even children suddenly became a new and major part of campus life. Housing shortages existed everywhere in America after the war, and Ithaca and Cornell were no exceptions.

To meet the emergency, Cornell created what became known as “Vetsburg.” The little community was built from temporary wartime housing units that had originally been used for workers at an aluminum plant in Massena, NY. The structures were dismantled, trucked to Ithaca, and erected near the Ag campus as apartments for married veterans. A New York Times article in March 1946 reported that 100 veterans and their spouses, many with children, had begun “setting up housekeeping” there.

Looking back now, what strikes me most about Vetsburg is how temporary it was intended to be—and yet how enduring its impact became.

Charlotte Bruska Gardner ’69

For my parents and many others, Vetsburg was not simply housing. It was a bridge to civilian life. The apartments themselves were small and utilitarian. Nobody confused them with luxury accommodations. They had been designed as temporary wartime structures, but the families who lived there transformed them into homes. A Cornell Daily Sun article in April 1946 noted that young wives had planted flowers and curtains appeared in windows. There were community gardens. Neighbors watched each other’s children and shared the daily realities of student life and tight budgets.

My father later spoke warmly about the camaraderie that developed among the veterans at Cornell. Many were older and more focused than traditional undergraduates. They had already experienced responsibilities and hardships far beyond campus life. Dad quickly distinguished himself not only as a student but also as an athlete. Football became an important part of his Cornell years, and he excelled on the field during a period when intercollegiate athletics were themselves being reshaped by returning servicemen. Many postwar teams were older, tougher, and more mature because of the veterans who filled their rosters.

Yet when our family talked about those years, it was often the stories of everyday life in Vetsburg that surfaced most vividly. Our parents told us stories about improvised furniture and scarce money, but endless optimism. My younger sister and I were both born while our parents were living there. According to journalist Brad Edmonson ’81, many residents joked that Vetsburg should be called “Fertility Valley.” We were lucky to have a two-bedroom unit. My mother remembered the intensity of Ithaca winters in those drafty buildings and the ingenuity required to stretch every dollar. But there was tremendous hope. Education represented opportunity, stability, and movement into a new middle-class American life.

After the war, the University itself was adapting rapidly too. Cornell had to quickly expand housing, classrooms, and services to accommodate the flood of veterans. Temporary buildings appeared all across campus. Married students, once relatively uncommon, became an important part of Cornell’s postwar identity. When I was 5, Dad bought a parcel of land directly across the street from Vetsburg and helped build our own house.

The transition afforded by Cornell shaped my father permanently. After graduating in 1950, he remained closely connected to the University. He became an assistant to the president of Cornell, as well as serving as an assistant football coach. Near the end of my junior year at Ithaca High School we moved to Wilbraham, MA, where Dad was VP at Springfield College. His years at Cornell helped define both his professional life and his understanding of leadership, teamwork, and public service.

In Wilbraham, all I wanted was to return to Ithaca and Cornell! Lucky me, I got the chance. Looking back now, what strikes me most about Vetsburg is how temporary it was intended to be—and yet how enduring its impact became. And those veterans changed Cornell too—into a more open and accommodating institution. The Vetsburg buildings eventually disappeared, but the community they fostered left a lasting mark not just on me, but on an entire generation—and nurtured lifelong connections to Cornell. ❖ Class of 1969 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1970s

1970

Sitting at my computer in the north suburbs of Chicago, around 10:30 a.m., a Cornell alert for the Ithaca campus about severe weather appeared on my phone. Interestingly, the same type of alert appeared here, accompanied by sirens and warnings of possible tornadoes just last night, at about 10 p.m. Looking at radar maps, it appeared to be the same weather that had traveled further east. So many things have changed, with more energy in our atmosphere making weather much more concerning in daily life.

Something from my Cornell past is making me feel for earlier times. I have a white coffee cup sitting in front of me, definitely a souvenir of a much earlier Cornell Reunion. On one side is our class number, 70, with the name Cornell superimposed on it, while on the other side is a bear, with sunglasses and a necktie, leaning on a large letter “C.” Can someone in the Class of 1970 tell me what Reunion that is from? And sitting on a shelf above is another can with a handle, labeled “Cornell Class Reunion 1975” and a logo of a local brand of beer, from our very first formal Reunion, now 51 years ago!

Why all this history? Well, just a couple of weeks ago (from this writing) was Reunion weekend at Cornell. And your correspondent was there! The formal weekend was for the years ending in ones and sixes. Yet there is another less-formal group, for those who just want an excuse to be at Reunion, the Continuous Reunion Club (CRC).

Once a non-recognized group, CRC has become a significant part of regular Reunions for those who just can’t wait for five years between gatherings. Now with a headquarters and specific assigned rooms, it is much like regular class Reunions, but with a bit less structure and fewer programs. And I was there, yet again, celebrating the group’s 120th year!

In addition to participating in this, one of my Johnson School classmates had suggested an extended time in the area, exploring more of the Finger Lakes region, and, specifically, visiting some of the wineries. And so we did, with beautiful weather, various places to visit and things to see, and tasting (and purchasing) extraordinary wines, along with marvelous meals at small restaurants in the area. Definitely worth the time and expense, since one is not that far away!

I was there, yet again, celebrating the Continuous Reunion Club’s 120th year!

John Cecilia ’70, MBA ’79

Charles Adelman, JD ’73 (New York, NY) organized a reunion in Miami of Pi Lambda Phi fraternity brothers Stephen Steinberg, Allan Reich, Steven Meyerson, Arthur Litowitz, and Steven Kunkes ’69, as well as Becky Van Buren, widow of Jeff Baer (yes, the Cornell Bear), together with spouses, for brunch and a performance of the Miami City Ballet. They also keep in regular touch with brothers Stuart Lemle, Fred Chanania, Ken Gilstein, Jon Gellman, and Morrie Sandler ’69, and try to get as many Pi Lams back for our reunions as possible.

Steve Ludsin (East Hampton, NY) has thought it would be helpful for classmates to create digital versions of photos and artifacts from our years at Cornell to provide a digital time capsule. He writes, “I have been immersed in using Google’s AI program NotebookLM (which I call “Ludsin Megaphone”) and the results are exciting. I create video explainers that embellish my letters to the editor, advocacy pieces, and daily journal entries. 

“I am highly satisfied raising the level of my communication to my friends, BFFs, and acquaintances by using the AI-generated videos with my content I collected using my ScanSnap or HP scanners. I recently added a Ricoh portable monitor and Bluetooth speaker to have my own traveling drive-in theater to run my videos. I upload the masterpieces to YouTube and I have my own marketing studio. I was always a self-promoter and now that I rely on NotebookLM, I can add a side gig to provide those videos for interested people to tell their stories.” He finds that his “bi-coastal life on the same coast” is a way to keep equilibrium in his life, traveling between New York City and East Hampton, NY.

Attending Cornell changed the trajectory of Steve’s life by helping him expand his people/person skills to enhance his schmoozing lifestyle. “I learn about people by listening to them. I thought about starting my own talk show and calling it ‘No One Has a Chance to Talk!’”

As always, you may contact me directly, or you may use the university’s standard form, the online news form. Please send something! ❖ John Cecilia, MBA ’79 (email John) | Alumni Directory.

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1971

More than 150 attended our 55th Reunion in June, 50% more than anticipated, and some for the first time. In 1967, 2,350 of us entered (and 2,200 graduated).

Reunion was magical—it gave us energy and was also exhausting! The trust created by a shared sense of yesteryear’s “time and place” buoyed our wide-ranging conversations—about current issues, campus memories, footprints in the worlds of work, travel, play, reading, family, and friends, and much more.

We can’t thank these people enough for Reunion planning and execution: Kathy Menton Flaxman, Gilda Klein Linden, Naomi Katz Mintz, Arthur Mintz, Dale Cohen, David Beale, Martha Coultrap, Sandie Feinman Antar, and Mitch (and Randie) Weisberg. Also Craig Ewing, MBA ’72, who could not attend. Class of ’71’s schedule was packed in addition to the ambitious University agenda that included museum, library, and departmental collection exhibits; academic, Greek, and affinity group receptions; bus, walking, and garden tours; balloon rides; gorge hikes; canoeing; rappelling; and professor talks on everything from A(I) to Z. (Visit the Reunion webpage to learn what you missed.)

There was a Service of Remembrance at Sage Chapel. Our class tent outside Toni Morrison Hall on (way) North Campus had our cider tasting and talk on Thursday. Trillium was the Saturday site of after-dinner remarks by Provost Kavita Bala. We collaborated with the Arts College to bring Ambre Dromgoole (assistant professor, Africana studies and music) to a wide audience in Klarman Hall for her presentation, “The Music That Moved Us: How Soul Powered the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s.”

Some missed classmates Bob and Nina Gordon Schwartz playing at the jazz/R&B “Redstock” concert Saturday night at Statler Auditorium. Many missed most of the late-night dancing in Arts Quad tents. There were buses that ferried some, some reserved with the university-provided car service, and at least one classmate confessed to hitchhiking a few times. Don’t tell her children!

The Class of ’71 History Project was eye-opening, even to those who’ve participated in its regular virtual meetings, thanks to Naomi and her committee (Dale, Craig, Arthur, and Kathy). At our dorm HQ, the project displayed classmate-donated memorabilia and created an interactive mural. All have been delivered to Evan Earle ’02, MS ’14, University archivist. Check out our class website and Facebook page.

You’ll like these numbers: In fiscal year 2026, 461 donors raised over $31,433,322, including $496,074 in our Annual Fund. We exceeded our goal of 55 (!) Tower Club donors by three gifts of over $10,000. And here’s a bit more: lifetime giving from classmates exceeds $175,000,000!

We visited the Collegetown house where we had rented a basement apartment in 1971. The owner saw us and allowed a peek.

Elisabeth Kaplan Boas ’71

The following slate was elected to serve until June 30, 2031: co-presidents Martha Coultrap and David Beale; vice presidents Laurie Berke-Weiss and Gayle Yeomans; membership chairs Dale Cohen, Mitch Weisberg, and Maria Yurasek; secretaries Martha Coultrap and Linda Germaine-Miller; class correspondents Elisabeth Kaplan Boas and Ken Werker; treasurers Arthur Mintz and Peter Gilman; Reunion chair Katherine Menton Flaxman; affinity chairs Dale Cohen and Mitch Weisberg; website community manager Craig Ewing; class historians Naomi Katz Mintz and Kathleen Ellison Lindeman; and class council members Sandie Feinman Antar, Rick Furbush, Shelley Smith Johnson, Gilda Klein Linden, Martha Hurd Meredith, Barbara Brem Noveau, and Daiva Tucker Woodworth.

“Reunion surpassed even my high expectations,” reports enthusiast Marcia Wities Orange (Fort Lee, NJ). “Cornell historian Corey Ryan Earle ’07 helped us look back on our tumultuous time on the Hill. President Kotlikoff’s State of the University Address reinforced support of the administration with insights into its process and current challenges.” She adds, “On a personal note, I loved getting reacquainted with classmates and sharing stories of our now-adult lives. Thank you to everyone who made the trip back.”

Also on a personal note: One of Reunion’s many surprises for your correspondent was hearing my childhood name called by a voice booming across the class dinner at Trillium: “Betty Kaplan!” No one has called me that way in decades. Joe McCourt, ME ’72, and Burke McCormack strode toward me, and we all had broad smiles on our faces.

Joe shared: “As freshmen, Ignatios Hadjiloukas, ME ’72, was in U-Hall 5202, I was in U-Hall 5203, Burke was in U-Hall 5204, and Rick Boas, MD ’75, was in U-Hall 5206. Barbara and I spent a lot of time with Burke and Iggy. We were disappointed that the State Street Diner dropped the Tully Burger from its menu (but fortunately still includes the Bo Burger). We visited the Collegetown house where we had rented a basement apartment in 1971. The owner saw us and allowed a peek. The old linoleum floor was replaced, but it had the same pipes running along the ceiling, the same tiny kitchen cabinets, and the same clawfoot bathtub. We took pictures and sent them to the kids.

“We attended Sunday Mass at Sage Chapel and met the priest. We told him that prior to our wedding in 1971, a radical priest at Cornell signed our Pre-Cana certificate (required to be married in the Catholic church) without bothering to give us any of the mandatory marriage preparation classes. It seems our marriage could be invalid in the eyes of the church, and, if so, we may have to take makeup classes and get married. He is checking the records and will notify us if there an issue. So far, we have heard nothing.”

John Henrehan, BS ’76, tells us he spends his retirement socializing: “Dinner once a month with former recreational volleyball teammate; swing dancing on most Mondays; hustle dancing twice a month on Saturdays; then there’s the men’s group at my funky Unitarian church—that’s twice a month; and there’s trivia night at my Elks Lodge. I watch movies and shows with my ‘TV wife’ about twice a week. A gal-pal and I investigate every happy hour in Alexandria, VA, each Tuesday. And I visit my daughter, her husband, and my grandson about once a month. Busy.”

We received sad news that Susan Stevens Suarez died in June. Devoted wife of Wayne Gottlieb, mother, grandmother, friend, and Cornell scientist, she collaborated with biologists, biochemists, physicists, mechanical engineers, statisticians, and other specialists worldwide to optimize research. A newly discovered fish species, Ogilbia suarezae, was named in her honor. She was also active in Dryden, NY, town politics and many local service projects.

Friends, take note. Ken Werker, our newest class co-correspondent, may be persuadable to us writing fiction should we lack input from you. ❖ Elisabeth Kaplan Boas (email Elisabeth) | Ken Werker (email Ken) | Alumni Directory.

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1972

Fellow classmates, this is Wes Schulz, ME ’73, your class correspondent who produces this column. Your input is appreciated.

Thanks to Gary Goldberg, DVM ’76, for the following update: “I met my wife, Sharna Kahn, over six years ago on a South American cruise from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile. Two weeks later, I visited her in Boquete, Panama. After COVID caused the Republic of Panama to close its borders, we had an eight-month relationship over calls that were two to four hours long. Eventually, we purchased an eight-acre farm and now grow coffee. It also serves as the site for one of the few equine embryo-transfer operations in the country.

“I bought my wife her horse. We also now have four dogs, two cats, and a miniature swine named Porky. We converted an old bodega into a one-bedroom rental and plan to complete a two-bedroom rental later this year. Our coffee received a cupping rating of 84.25, making it a specialty coffee with a slight chocolate and cinnamon aftertaste. We have bananas, pineapples, oranges, lemons, and limes growing on the property. Restoration of a greenhouse will soon be completed.

“We have gone off the grid by using our own solar power. We have completed drilling a well. One of our renters is a Costa Rican veterinarian. We adopted Amanda, her husband, Carlos, and their two children, Pilar and Andres. We now have a large number of relatives and friends from Panama and Costa Rica as our new extended family.

We purchased an eight-acre farm in Panama and now grow coffee. It also serves as the site for one of the few equine embryo-transfer operations in the country.

Gary Goldberg ’72, DVM ’76

“Our house is on two levels with two guest rooms and a full kitchen below. We are located 35 minutes from David, Panama, and enjoy living in paradise. If any of my classmates are planning a trip here, let me know. If any folks are thinking about retiring here, we have helped many with the details. Adios. Hasta luego.”

Our 55th Reunion will be June 10–13, 2027. Nancy Roistacher (our dedicated class president) encourages everyone to join in the planning and celebration of our 55th Reunion year. We will have a lot to celebrate and a lot to be thankful for. The class treasury will subsidize our 55th Reunion to make it more affordable. The class also plans to subsidize local events around the country as well, so more classmates will have the opportunity to get together.

Many members of the class came to our 50th Reunion in 2022, but a significant number still felt constrained by COVID and did not attend. Nancy hopes that many of those who did not feel comfortable in 2022 are now planning on coming in 2027!

Our class has scheduled some events in the past years and plans to arrange more. The coming year will provide other opportunities for our classmates to get together either in person or virtually. We encourage everyone to attend.

That’s the news for now. I am really looking forward to next June. I have been to every one of our class Reunions and highly recommend that people attend. Start making plans now and encourage your friends to be there with you.

Thank you to all who have written in. Keep the news coming! As always, you may contact me directly, or use the University’s standard online news form. ❖ Wes Schulz, ME ’73 (email Wes) | Alumni Directory.

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1973

Our class is likely preoccupied with grandchildren and transoceanic travel, and so I am feeling lonely here at the Class of ’73 correspondents newsroom. Not much correspondence. I myself haven’t had time to correspond because, like so many of you, Patti Miller Ross ’72 and I have found that downsizing is not the joyous journey into nostalgia that we thought it would be. It’s one of those full-time jobs where you live at the office.

In our case, the fundamental mistake was not starting the process the moment the kids left. At first we kept their rooms as shrines in case they got famous, but even when we finally realized they were gone for good (and not famous) we stayed put in the big house because—eureka! We had inherited two free in-house storage lockers!

Alas, the problem with storage lockers is that you eventually forget what’s in them, and (worse) fail to realize the sheer size of the accumulating payload.

Several times in our downsizing process I was ready to declare the house empty, only to open a forgotten closet bearing more buried treasure. I suspected that we were the victims of reverse burglaries—perverse criminal gangs who torture downsizers by sneaking in and offloading unread paperbacks and old souvenirs.

Patti Miller Ross ’72 and I have found that downsizing is not the joyous journey into nostalgia that we thought it would be.

Dave Ross ’73

But I can now report that 14 months after my original (clearly overoptimistic) deadline, we’ve officially changed addresses and are ready to start filling the new smaller place. Which won’t be a problem because of the huge head start provided by our larger place. The challenge now is that (as I learned in Physics 201) two solid objects cannot simultaneously occupy the same space without a catastrophic release of energy.

And yet we all know that there are many things that, although they have no market value or practical use, cannot be discarded until it’s a choice between clearing the bed or sleeping in the backyard inside the 30-year-old eight-person tent I saved just in case.

And now to our news item: Steven Fruchtman reports that life as a retired doc and biotech executive is rather boring. His favorite pastime was sports, but as that becomes more difficult, his focus is on his three kids—of whom he is justly proud because all three followed his example and are working in healthcare.

Steven writes, “My oldest works in the ER at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston and is getting married at the end of August. Hoping some Cornellians attend. My younger daughter is at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, going for a PhD in behavior and education, and her twin brother is a medical intern at Stony Brook. I hope with a new knee I can return to playing some sport, any sport other than golf. Stay well, all!”

Congratulations Steve—and to those of you too busy to correspond this month for whatever reason, I feel your exhaustion. But we’re only in our 70s, so get busy! Don’t force me to re-run old columns because—guess what—I’ve saved them all! ❖ Dave Ross (email Dave) | Phyllis Haight Grummon (email Phyllis) | Pam Meyers (email Pam) | Alumni Directory.

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1974

Lois Freeman Bennett writes, “I recently attended Cornell Black Alumni Association’s (CBAA) 50th reunion in Washington, DC, in April and it was wonderful to see so many classmates I knew from my campus days. There were at least 20 from the 1970s classes and quite a few from ’74. The weekend events were amazing! I have attended the majority of CBAA’s reunions over the 50 years and it’s been wonderful catching up with or keeping in contact with not only my classmates, but also more recent grads whom I met throughout the years. Congratulations to CBAA for keeping us connected to Cornell.”

Jose Ramos reports that he’s been working on a new startup. “This fall we disrupt elder loneliness with UberCARE—affordable eldercare from afar.” You can learn more here!

Roberta Bandel Walcer shares that her husband, Lou Walcer, retired from his position as director of Cornell’s Center for Life Science Ventures in July 2025. “He is keeping busy: the College of Engineering appointed him to be visiting professor of practice and executive in residence, supporting the College’s ‘Combined Innovation Collaborative’ classes for graduate engineering students. Lou has enjoyed the student interaction … but notes that on-campus parking is just as difficult now as it was when we were students!

“Additionally, Lou serves as a subject matter expert for startup company formation, incubation, development, and investment in the Commercial Law Development Program—offered jointly by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. State Department—to foster economic development in other countries.”

Roberta also retired from her work as a legal nurse consultant in December 2024. She is keeping busy during retirement also, volunteering at Ithaca’s History Center and the Tompkins County Public Library. She recently completed training and is now certified by New York State as a long-term care ombudsman and is working as a volunteer out of the Tompkins County Office of the Aging.

Lou and Roberta are working through their “bucket list” travel. Since retirement, they’ve toured the Canadian Maritimes, Chile, Antarctica, and Argentina, and are planning for new adventures in the future. ❖ Linda Meyers Geyer (email Linda) | Betsy Moore (email Betsy) | Perry Jacobs (email Perry) | Alumni Directory.

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1975

It is late June and our 50th Reunion is on my mind. I periodically hear from classmates about disappointments over recent University decisions. Cornell is not perfect, but I try to concentrate on the fact that it helped mold me into who I am now—and that I met some of the most important people in my life there! And those four days in June (the best time to visit!) always reminds me of that!

Before providing some class news, I am looking for some guest columnists. This will NOT be a regular obligation. If you get together with classmates at a sorority/fraternity/dorm/team get-together, why not send in a summary with what you did at the get-together, who was there, and what they are up to?

On to some classmate news: Matthew Sieger writes from Martinez, CA, that he recently had a new book published, In My Humble Opinion: Musings of a Sports Columnist. He previously wrote The God Squad: The Born-Again San Francisco Giants of 1978. Both are available at Amazon. Matt retired as a sports reporter covering high school sports for the Vacaville Reporter in 2021. We now know what he has been doing since! Matt has been married since 1981; they have three children and three grandchildren. Matt’s favorite memories from the Hill include writing about sports for the Cornell Daily Sun, and one of his favorite classes was a children’s literature class taught by professor and author Alison Lurie.

Another class author is Mark Powers. He recently launched his fifth novel, The Warrior and The Woodpecker. Mark retired from Duke University as an associate professor emeritus of medicine and began his writing career. He also took a deep dive into beekeeping, which led to the presidency of the county beekeeping association and certification as a Master Beekeeper. Mark keeps in touch with roommates Tom Berry, ME ’76, and Howie Green (until his passing in 2024) and engineering and Sperry friends Peter Herzog, Wayne Henderson, Andy Talkington, ME ’76, and others.

Mark and wife Karen Lauterbach live in Chapel Hill, NC. They have two sons and three grandsons. Karen retired as director at RTI Press at RTI International. She is a certified beekeeper, a Master Gardener, and a Master Naturalist in training, and takes classes at the Duke Osher Lifelong Living Institute and at the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Karen is learning photography, participating in citizen science projects in Duke Forest, and trying to keep up with three book clubs. She enjoys hiking in Duke Forest, cycling on the American Tobacco Trail, and traveling to volcanic islands (Iceland, the Azores, Hawaii) and other places.

Mark Powers ’75 took a deep dive into beekeeping, which led to the presidency of the county beekeeping association and certification as a Master Beekeeper.

Richard Kapuscinski is retired and living in Springfield, VA. Rich is “Poppy” to five grandchildren, “Dad” to three adult children and their spouses, and “Kap” to his wife of almost 50 years. They married in Anabel Taylor Chapel. After Cornell and master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard, his life as an environmental engineer covered two phases: 1980–87 as an assistant professor at two state universities (Vermont and Michigan) teaching about drinking water quality, wastewater treatment, and environmental microbiology and conducting related research; and 1988–2024 helping regulated entities identify and fulfill their obligations regarding cleanup of contaminated groundwater and land pursuant to federal or state regulations, while working in the D.C. area at consulting firms and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. His current part-time volunteer activities include gleaning excess fruit, vegetables, fish, and meat from local grocery stores and providing those foods to a local food bank that can be accessed by folks in need.

Randi Kanuk Dauler lives in Pittsburgh, PA. After moving to Pittsburgh in 1988, she turned her focus to philanthropic leadership, serving on nonprofit boards, and she currently serves as a trustee of a charitable foundation. In 2015, when her husband, Van, of 32 years passed away, she became board chair of his family’s 100-year-old company, Neville Chemical Company.

Mike Zak lives in Concord, MA, and is retired as general partner at Charles Rivers Ventures and is a trustee emeritus at Cornell and member of its president’s council. He was the founder of Cornell’s program on China and Asia-Pacific studies. After graduation, he spent 49 months in the U.S. Marine Corps, completing Cold War deployments throughout the western Pacific, East Asia, and West Germany. He spent time after Harvard Business School in the greater Boston area in the high-tech sector, mostly doing some form of telecommunications or computer networking. He now spends lots of time with nonprofits.

Steve Foreman lives in San Francisco, CA, where he has pursued a career as a psychiatrist, had a private practice, done research, and lectured on how psychotherapy works. He authored a book, Breaking the Spell: Understanding Why Kids Do the Very Thing That Drives You Crazy. He has been on the board and is past president of the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group. He and wife Jennifer enjoy their three grown children and first grandchild.

The above contributions were mostly from news snippets from classmates sending in emails to Cornell that I enhanced by going to our Memory Book at Brightcrowd. The book closed June 30, 2026 for new additions, but is still open for reading about classmates. Take a gander, check out old friends, and click the links to contact them!

Please continue to send us highlights of your life and we will share the news in our upcoming columns (we promise!) ❖ Deb Gellman, MBA ’82 (email Deb) | Karen DeMarco Boroff (email Karen) | Joan Pease (email Joan) | Mike Tannenbaum (email Mike) | Alumni Directory.

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1976

Some news came in before Reunion. Philip Loud wrote that he retired in 2010 and has lived on the Leelanau Peninsula of Northern Michigan since then. Both of Philip and Jennifer’s sons live nearby in Traverse City, and they have three grandchildren and one on the way. He is involved in the local clean energy group, in the Lions Club, and with assisting a nonprofit to develop affordable housing.

Their community, especially in the off-season, is predominately folks age 70+ with lots of thoughts on our current administration. When not volunteering and whining about the world, Philip is boating, skiing, biking, and trying to keep his failing joints up to date with titanium and ceramics. He wished that he could have attended Reunion, but a knee replacement and the pending birth of a grandchild took precedence.

Also missing Reunion, Lynda Gavigan Halttunen and Steven Leigh ’73, BS ’75, recently returned from a 21-day transatlantic cruise to England and Norway on the Queen Mary 2. They were celebrating Steven’s 75th birthday. They spend January to June at Steven’s home in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and June to January at her home in Carlsbad, CA. Lynda would love to hear from you.

At Reunion, I met Pat Relf Hanavan, our other class correspondent. We communicate through email, but it was good to finally see each other. I spent time catching up with my friend from the nursery kindergarten program in Human Ecology Suzy Schwarz Quiles and her husband, Jose. The best part of Reunion was that I could introduce my husband, Joel Marcus, to Cornell. We married almost two years ago and he had never been. He was really impressed and delighted with the weekend and wants to return.

The best part of Reunion was that I could introduce my husband to Cornell. We married almost two years ago and he had never been.

Lisa Diamant ’76

A huge thank you to our 50th Reunion chairs. Terry Wolff Heinichen, MBA ’83, Skip Newman, and Martha Plass Sheehe made the weekend fabulous, along with the members of the Reunion committee, who welcomed our class back with a fun and activity-packed weekend for us all.

To start off the weekend, there was a welcome reception with mini versions of food truck specialties. Later on there were lectures, a Reunion 5K, the State of the University address, a photo op, receptions, dinners, and Cornelliana Night. Plenty of food and refreshments kept our “older legs” nourished for the walks through campus. It was apparent that organizing our Reunion took an enormous amount of time and effort to make it so successful. I know that I am looking forward to the next Reunion in five years.

Another personal thank you goes to our editor, Alex Bond ’12, who sends all of your news to your class correspondents! We could not possibly write this without her assistance. Pat and I did meet her when she was welcoming everyone to the Terrace Restaurant at the Statler.

Please continue to send your news! And please note that my email was not listed correctly in the Reunion brochure, but the following link is correct. ❖ Lisa Diamant (email Lisa) | Pat Relf Hanavan (email Pat) | Alumni Directory.

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1977

Less news this time, but what is lacking in quantity is made up in quality. Linda Adams Chateauneuf and her husband, Dennis (Holy Cross ’75), live in Marshfield, MA. Linda reports that she is not retired and continues to work in finance and operations for a small nonprofit commercial real estate association.

Linda enjoys her frequent visits with her three grandsons, Rory, 4, Hunter, 4, and “Sam the Man,” 7, who live nearby. She also enjoys living near the South Shore of Massachusetts, traveling often with Dennis and knitting and collecting yarn. She reads copiously and bikes often—both on the Peloton and outside. She writes, “I’m happy to be able to enjoy life still!” We hope that you are able to spoil all of your grandsons, especially Sam the Man.

Believe it or not, the countdown for our 50th Reunion has started. We are less than a year away, June 10–13, 2027. Updates will be provided in this column and through other venues. In anticipation of this momentous occasion, please share all of your news and views via the online news form! ❖ Howie Eisen (email Howie) | Mary Flynn (email Mary) | Alumni Directory.

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1978

Greetings from Paris! Julian Vrieslander, PhD ’81, and I sweltered in the heat dome that plagued Europe in late June. Before we flew to France, we attended my great-niece’s high school graduation in my hometown of Hannibal. We also spent a day in Ithaca and had dinner with friends, then drove to Nyack to visit Roger Cohen, BS ’80.

I shook my inbox hard and didn’t find much to report for this issue. The class dues schedule was changed, which didn’t give me the usual large volume of news forms at this time of year. However, I have a couple of tidbits. Mark Rust writes, “I recently returned to Ithaca for my annual performance at the Ithaca Festival. At the show this year I recorded a new CD, ‘Live at the Ithaca Festival Vol II,’ with songs written for and about Ithaca. It’s planned for release next year, when the festival will celebrate its 50-year anniversary.”

Hillary Sokolsky Waxman writes, “In February, after spending a majority of my adult life in New York, I migrated south to Boynton Beach, FL, along with moving my 97-year-old mother. My mother moved to a wonderful assisted living facility in Boca Raton and I moved to a 55+ community (can that be possible? LOL). While still unpacking and getting used to Florida life, so far it’s proving to be a great move. I’m enjoying my new home and am amazed by how much Florida has to offer. I hope to connect with Florida Cornellians in the near future.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, a subset of class officers has had a Zoom happy hour that has morphed into a book group. The core group consists of Mary Bowler Jones, Lori Wasserman Karbel, Cynthia Kubas, Suzanne Bishop Romain, Pat Reilly, Angela DeSilva, and yours truly. To be honest, the discussions include updates on our respective lives and travels as well as the books. A few of the books that we’ve read over the years include Tom Lake by Ann Patchett; Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus; A Long Petal of the Sea by Isabel Allende; and Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn. It has certainly kept my neighborhood bookstore in business.

That’s it for now. Keep the news coming! ❖ Cindy Fuller, PhD ’92 (email Cindy) | Ilene Shub Lefland (email Ilene) | Alumni Directory.

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1979

While it was not a milestone Cornell Reunion for our class, some ’79ers were very visible, especially at Cornelliana Night (photos and video are available online to prove it!). Dan Mansoor, MBA ’80, was honored as the William “Bill” Vanneman ’31 Outstanding Class Leader Award recipient with a tribute video.

This Reunion featured the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Nothing But Treble (NBT) women’s a cappella group. Mary McDonald and Marsha Mortkowitz Schreier participated and sang several times during the weekend, including on the Bailey Hall stage during Cornelliana Night. A founder of NBT, Marsha wrote and self-published a history of the group and did a book talk for current and former Cornell Chorus members. Congrats to Dan and Marsha! Brad and Mary Maxon Grainger, MPS ’87, thoroughly enjoyed Cornelliana Night and dinner beforehand with Dan. Steve Magacs was also in attendance.

Another writer, Leslie Bulion, is a children’s science author and poet. Her newest science poetry collection, Nature’s Remarkable Partners: Wild Poems for Two Voices, was published this spring with Peachtree Publishing. It is an invitation to young readers ages 8–12 to play an active part while exploring cooperative relationships between disparate critters around the globe. Leslie has a wonderful website that includes her books and background. Her husband, Rubin Hirsch, is a retired family physician, and they just returned from a terrific bike/barge trip along the Rhine River with Vermont Bike Tours.

Murphy Wilson writes, “I did a fabulous trip to Peru last fall. I climbed to the Machu Picchu ruins and broke my foot in the Amazon basin. It’s a great adventure, but not for the weak! I love my gardening—I could stir the dirt every day.”

Deborah Seidman Petti enjoyed a mini Class of ’79 reunion touring Portugal from north to south with Class of ’79 classmates Rosemary Brosnan, Douglas Sage, and Katherine Moy, BS ’80. They report that the Cornell Alumni Travel journey was fantastic—“wonderful people exploring a beautiful country.”

I climbed to the Machu Picchu ruins and broke my foot in the Amazon basin. It’s a great adventure, but not for the weak!

Murphy Wilson ’79

Kathy Zappia Gould and her husband, Bob, also recently returned from a trip to Portugal and Spain that included time in the Azores, Lisbon, Fatima, Porto, and cruising the Douro Valley. Kathy shares that the scenery was beautiful and they enjoyed sampling lots of great wine and cheese along the way. They also drove to Santiago de Compostela, which is the end of the pilgrimage known as El Camino. “It was amazing to feel the energy from walkers from all over the world as they completed the walk,” she writes. Kathy and Bob always enjoy talking with people from other countries to gain their perspective on the world. On the homefront, this year they had their sixth grandchild, bringing their total to five grandsons and one granddaughter. They are glad to live close enough to see them often because they grow so fast.

Jeff Berg, MBA ’81, and his spouse, Debra Paget, enjoyed a two-week vacation in Morocco visiting Casablanca, Rabat, Fez, and Marrakech. They traveled with a group of 25 people from the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Arizona State University and Northwestern. In the continuing saga of “Cornellians are everywhere,” two other participants were also Cornellians—Jong, PhD ’98, and Sherry Kung Chow, ME ’97—and both received degrees from the same engineering department at Cornell as Jeff, ORIE.

This month’s columnist, Linda Moses, has been thoroughly enjoying New York City by seeing lots of theater, museums, and all the city has to offer. In terms of travel, this year I took a fascinating trip to Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Montenegro. Last year’s big trip was to many parts of Argentina and it was also an amazing place to visit. I am looking forward to next year’s trip, wherever that may be. Closer to home, I traveled a bit to Boston to see two of my sons who live there. My oldest, Eric, just finished his first year as a professor at Harvard in the history of science department, teaching and researching the history of technology.

Your classmates love hearing from you, and we always need news, so send updates via the Share Your News form, the online news form, or emails sent directly to any of our class correspondents. ❖ Linda Moses (email Linda) | Larry Bunis (email Larry) | Cynthia Ahlgren Shea (email Cynthia) | Alumni Directory.

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1980s

1980

Hello, Class of 1980! I hope this time of year finds you mixing and mingling with those dear to you. Anytime is a beautiful time to catch up with those important to us, especially when Cornell plays a part. Where were your CU connections made—your dorm, classes, Collegetown haunts, the library, Greek life, an extracurricular endeavor, work life? My own recent mini Cornell reunions are filled with connections from my freshman dorm, Delta Gamma, engineering, and high school, where memories are shared and laughter never ceases.

Jill Abrams Klein and I (Karen Vecchio DeFusco) are Delta Gamma sorority sisters who have both been living in the Washington, DC, area since the early 1980s (in fact we moved to D.C. the same summer). We get together often by combining a fun lunch with something cultural. Recently we enjoyed the “Miró and the United States” exhibit at the Phillips Collection, a vibrant expression of the connection between Spanish artist Joan Miró and American artists. Jill and I have also been Reunion traveling buddies for decades—riding in her convertible with the top down, the radio blasting, singing our hearts out as we pull into the CU campus.

On one of our recent NYC jaunts, Nancy Twombly and I recently saw Daniel Radcliffe (of Harry Potter fame) in the Broadway show Every Brilliant Thing. Daniel personally selected us from the audience to sit on the stage during the show, and I played (through complete improvisation) Mrs. Patterson, his early childhood school librarian. Although I was an engineer at Cornell, I longed to be an actress and took theater as an elective. Let’s just say I checked off a bucket-list item, and my Broadway debut was not only fun and exhilarating, but just “brilliant.”

Another reunion spurred on by our Cornell 45th was dinner in Massachusetts with Vicki Butler Miles, her husband, Phil, Nancy Twombly, and my husband, Mark DeFusco. This gathering has been almost 45 years in the making! Vicki, Nancy, and I were fourth-floor Donlonites freshman year. As we spent hours reminiscing about our Cornell time, you can only imagine our husbands’ reactions to our stories.

Through our class column, I was fortunate to hear from a high school classmate who is also a CU connection, Henry Joe ’82. Henry has lived a life full of travel and adventure, and currently resides in Prague. We reminisced about our hometown and Cornell connections. What a treat to catch up, Henry. Thank you for reaching out!

I am pleased to report that I have been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, based upon my work at Dupont in the early 1990s.

Paul Bechly ’80

Dave Ayers (another fourth-floor Donlonite) and I try to reconnect when I am in New Jersey visiting family. Our moms are longtime friends who have lunch together monthly with a group of friends. If timing is right, we each drive them and then escape for our own catch-up time, for fear of being the subjects of their luncheon!

Another freshman Donlonite, Bruce Falzarano writes: “Since retiring a few years ago, my wife, Diane, and I have been doing a lot of traveling. We just returned from our most recent trip to France. We started in Paris, where we met with friends and enjoyed many fine dinners and museums. I fulfilled another bucket-list item by running the Paris Marathon. It was extremely fun and a spectacular 26.2-mile tour of the City of Lights. We then embarked on a wine-focused riverboat cruise through the Burgundy region of France from Dijon to Lyon, making many stops at famous Burgundy Chateaux and vineyards, including the famed Romanée-Conti! After Lyon, we spent some time driving through the Rhone Valley along the Rhone River, tasting Rhone wines and even chocolate from the famous Valrhona chocolatier.

“Next up, we are extremely excited about returning to Cornell this summer for our third time attending Cornell’s Adult University (CAU). We will be meeting up with our special friends and classmates Nancy Twombly and Nancy Brass, who are also attending CAU, as well as classmate Kathryn Boor, former dean of CALS. CAU is a fabulous way to enjoy the Cornell campus without the pressure of finals, prelims, and homework assignments. The course offerings are very diverse and fun. One of the classes I am attending this year is a Cornell history class hosted by historian Corey Ryan Earle ’07 and his brother, Evan Earle ’02, MS ’14, who is the University archivist. I must say that I have never had so much fun on campus as when attending CAU these past two summers. I highly recommend it. That’s it for now!”

Note that Dean Boor was also a freshman fourth-floor Donlonite! There is a theme! Nate Weiss, of deep Cornell connections and a freshman Donlonite as well, writes: “Shelley Goldstein Weiss ’79 and I have been together since September 1978, when we met in Dean Bob Scott’s office in Goldwin Smith. We have two sons: Michael took my job in real estate development, and Joseph is an options trader. We live in Connecticut by Mystic and in Delray Beach, FL. Shelley is a retired lawyer who gardens as avidly as she advocated for her clients. I play pickleball and consult for my partners. We both babysit frequently for Sadie, 1, and Charlie, 2. Charlie was named for his great-grandfather, Cornell football and baseball standout Charley Weiss ’44. Big thanks to the Cornell alums who paid my dad’s tuition so he could later afford to send my brother, Andy Weiss ’71, and me to the Hill!”

Our sincere congratulations to Paul Bechly for his distinguished achievement in chemistry. Paul writes: “I am pleased to report that I have been elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, based upon my work at Dupont in the early 1990s. This is the Royal Society of Chemistry’s highest professional award, which recognizes outstanding contribution to the chemical sciences.”

Our 1980 class column would be nothing without you. As we gear up for our 50th Reunion, please keep the connections and the updates real! Share some memories from your time on the Hill, your world since then, or your Cornell connections. We look forward to hearing from you! ❖ Karen Vecchio DeFusco (email Karen) | David Durfee (email David) | Dik Saalfeld (email Dik) | Chas Horvath, ME ’81 (email Chas) | Alumni Directory.

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1981

Did you make it to Ithaca for our 45th Reunion in June? I’ve still got a warm feeling after reconnecting with so many old friends and meeting classmates I didn’t know until now.

Many of us are at or near retirement—or we can’t figure out how to do it. That was the topic of a panel discussion Friday morning organized by Daniel Weisz and moderated by me on “Next Acts.” Our panelists were classmates Michael Bell, Sylvia Reeves, Dana Cooperson, and Renee Miller-Mizia, with a special guest, Cornell history professor emerita Isabel Hull.

Michael wowed the crowd with tales of his life as a forensic pathologist. He retired as the chief medical examiner of Palm Beach County, FL, but still travels the country as a locum tenens forensic pathologist—providing his services temporarily where needed.

Sylvia retired last year from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where she had been the agency’s Ithaca-based Northeast Drought Early Warning System coordinator. She’s now living in Cincinnati and searching for her next act.

After a long career that included stints as an engineer, market analyst, artist, and teacher, Dana says she has often reinvented herself. After the death of her husband from ALS in 2018, she “jumped at the chance” to become a volunteer working with ALS patients and their caregivers. “It’s a singular disease and people don’t understand it,” she says. With volunteering, “I feel like I can make a difference.”

Renee, a Cornell engineering grad with a law degree from Western New England University, also has had multiple careers. She worked 20 years with General Electric, then another 20 in professional services and consulting. Then three years ago, she came back to Cornell, where she’s now the executive director for corporate relations at the College of Business. She says she’s too busy to think about retirement right now.

Professor Isabel Hull’s Cornell career started at the same time as ours, in 1977. She retired in 2019 from the history department but hasn’t slowed her writing and research. She has a book on international law in press right now. In “retirement,” she has become a serious amateur mycologist. So serious, in fact, that her next book will be a study of a particular species of fungi.

After the discussion, we heard from other classmates about their next acts: David Hoff is nearing retirement as an expert on employment of people with disabilities and community inclusion at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. He’s building his chops as a stand-up comedian in the Boston area. And Andrew Knobel, who was editor-in-chief of the Daily Sun while at Cornell, says he retired in 2024 after nearly 37 years at the Baltimore Sun. But he can’t give up the work. He’s a freelance editor these days, including at the Baltimore Sun and on a University of Maryland web and video project titled “Creating Camden Yards,” about the origin of the Baltimore Orioles’ beloved stadium. Look it up.

Speaking of next acts, Jordan Strub’s biggest news is that, after about a year of working half time as a contractor, he finally called “last spin” in the slot-machine software industry at the end of December 2025. With a little more free time on his hands, Jordan was able to return to one of his favorite passions: skiing. In February, he joined his Colorado Springs ski club, the Sno Jets, for a fabulous two-week adventure in Switzerland, skiing at Andermatt and Verbier while also touring Zurich and Geneva. The Sno Jets have been Jordan’s second family since shortly after his graduation from Cornell, and it was through the club’s first winter bus trip that he met his wife, Michele Strub-Heer (Iowa State ’76). Jordan has remained deeply involved with the organization over the years, serving on the club board for several years and becoming president in May.

In retirement, John Roche ’81 has taken up kiteboarding and flying. ‘Every day is summer camp,’ he says.

Over the decades, Jordan has enjoyed connecting with fellow Cornellians wherever life has taken him. During his graduate studies in the late 1980s, and later through the Sno Jets, he met M. Heidi McClure ’83, with whom he has shared countless winter and summer outdoor adventures. While living in Las Vegas, Jordan discovered that a coworker’s wife was their classmate Josephine “Josie” Daluga, a remarkable physician and mother whose life was sadly cut short by cancer. Back in Colorado Springs, he connected with fellow classmate David Phelps, another Sno Jets member, and enjoyed learning more about David and his brothers’ Fiji stories at Reunion. His closest Cornell friend remains ski buddy and fraternity brother Paul Leo, who lives about an hour away outside Golden, CO.

Jordan and Michele have also dedicated much of their time to giving back. They are actively involved in local philanthropy, supporting scholarships and programs for first-generation college students, performing arts organizations, foster families, children facing difficult circumstances, and disadvantaged youth. Their commitment to helping others has become an important part of their shared journey.

Jordan’s Cornell connection is also a family tradition. His 97-year-old father, James “Jim” Strub ’52, BArch ’53, lives nearby in a memory care facility, where he continues to share stories of his Cornell years—including his time with Sigma Chi, with crew, and as chimesmaster, and involvement in various honor societies—as well as stories from his remarkable 32-year career as an Air Force officer. From Cornell friendships that have lasted more than four decades to new adventures on the slopes, Jordan continues to embrace the connections, experiences, and values that have shaped his life since his years on the Hill.

The Reunion turnout was impressive. Official numbers weren’t in as of July 1, when I’m writing, but co-chair Celia Rodee tells me we were close to a record for a 45th Reunion. We saw classmates affiliated with groups like the track and field team, the Daily Sun, and Greek houses. There was a crowd from the tiny and obscure off-campus dorm 140 Thurston Ave., where I lived freshman year. Patty Bahr Breslin, Daniel Weisz, Bernadette Mullins Burns, Laura Fratt, and John Roche were all there, joined by our honorary members Laura Dake Roche and Pam Bulcroft Moore.

John Roche retired three years ago after a career in the digital printing business. He and Laura live in West Hartford, CT. He did a bit of consulting after retiring, but now sticks to skiing and cycling. He has also taken up kiteboarding and flying. “Every day is summer camp,” he says.

Class of 1981 track and field team members at Reunion included Tom Dziedzic, Jim Draddy, Scot Martin, MBA ’83, and Cindy High-Fischmann. (I was on the team briefly, but dropped out freshman year.) Cindy lives near Charlotte, NC, with husband Rob Fischmann. They both had careers at Eastman Kodak, including a stint as expats in Shanghai. After returning to the States and leaving Kodak, they built a fire and water restoration business in Charlotte, which they sold last year.

Scot Martin still looks like he could throw the shot put and outskate most of us at the hockey rink. After 30 years as an executive with big Canadian banks, he got the entrepreneur bug, too. For the past 12 years, he has run a Canada-based digital signage company, which was acquired last year by a large software company. Look him up in Toronto.

Daily Sun alums from our class reunited during the weekend. Besides me, our group included Wayne Citrin, Andrew Knobel and wife Julie Steinberg ’82, Jonathan Landsman, Steven Ritchey, Steve Harf, and Roberta Moudry, PhD ’95. Roberta is an architectural historian who also spoke to us Saturday night about the centennial of Willard Straight Hall.

By the way, 1981 alums dined Saturday night at Okenshields in Willard Straight. A fine meal, as always. For one group, it was their first-ever 1981 reunion. Karen Oestreicher Caffrey, Kathy Jones Stahl, and Beckie Brown Robertson ’82 all lived together on Stewart Avenue in 1980–81 and decided to reunite. Karen lives in West Hartford, CT, and continues working as a counselor and psychotherapist. Kathy is in Oregon, and still works part-time as a bookkeeper. And Beckie works in healthcare venture capital in Palo Alto, CA. She’s also co-vice chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees. They all fondly recall the Chapter House on Stewart Avenue. Karen jokes that she’d like to start a class gift to revive the pub, which was part of campus social life for 50 years before burning in 2015.

Many thanks to our Reunion committee who brought us all together, Celia Rodee, Tanis MacKay-Bell, Daniel Weisz, and Heidi Fleischman, plus all the others who helped recruit participants and organize events. See you in five years for Number 50?

Send us your news! ❖ David Boraks (email David) | Jonathan Landsman (email Jonathan) | Betsy Silverfine (email Betsy) | Alumni Directory.

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1982

Happy fall! This is a fantastic time to be in Ithaca and to be on campus with a new class of students. It’s also a great time to re-connect with classmates and to start making plans for our next Reunion. Hope to see many of you for our 45th in June.

We received news from Neil Best. Neil retired at the end of last year after 43 years as a sportswriter, including 40 years at Newsday of Long Island. Neil notes that his retirement plans “include watching every episode of ‘The Simpsons’ in sequence, playing softball three times a week, and learning more about expensive tequila.” He also reports that he has seen a sizable number of classmates recently including Marc Rockford, Nathan Rudgers, Andy Bjork, Brian Pickerall, Steve and Lisa Mummery Crump, Rick Eno, Charles Weinberg, Rich Gold, and Brian Hayward. Best wishes on a great retirement, Neil.

In other news, our classmate and class co-president Charles Stuppard reported that he has been serving as the dean of administration and students at the national defense university, Joint Forces Staff College, for the past two years. In reporting on this experience, Charles noted, “I have enjoyed transferring my knowledge to the new generation of military officers whose job is to protect and defend our Constitution. I’m so thankful for Cornell for all it has done for me as a person, and as a responsible citizen.” Charles and his wife, Nidda Melendez Stuppard ’85, reside in Virginia Beach, VA.

John Pisacane ’82 won a tour of the Enzo Ferrari Museum and factory, which entitled him to a one-hour drive in a Ferrari on the streets of Modena, Italy.

John Pisacane (San Jose, CA) reported that he and his wife, Teresa, celebrated the first anniversary of their retirement with a three-week tour of Italy and Spain. John noted that he was never able to find time for such a long vacation while practicing dentistry as a solo practitioner. He also reported on one of the highlights of his trip: John was the winner, at a charity auction, of a tour of the Enzo Ferrari Museum and factory, which entitled him to a one-hour drive in a Ferrari on the streets of Modena, Italy. As John noted, it was “truly a once-in-a-lifetime, slightly scary experience (narrow roads, drivers who don’t really defer to the mighty cars).”

As you consider your Reunion plans, please remember that we are always looking forward to hearing from you. Your news helps us stay connected as a class. Please send us your news. ❖ Doug Skalka (email Doug) | Mark Fernau (email Mark) | Nina Kondo (email Nina) | Alumni Directory.

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1983

No news this round, but we’d still love to hear from you. Whether you’ve moved, traveled, retired, started something new, or simply rediscovered your favorite Cornell memories, send along an update for a future issue. ❖ Class of 1983 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1984

Greetings, classmates! There is news to share and we are always on the lookout for more, so please keep the news coming, and don’t be shy!

Diane Matyas, MFA ’89, reports that, as with many of our classmates, she is preparing for retirement from some of her art teaching responsibilities with the Guggenheim Museum—but at the same time she is enjoying huge growth in her work as a reemerging artist. She received several residencies this year, including the Center for West Park’s Object Movement Puppetry Festival (along with Daniel Toretsky ’16), which led to her first theatrical work using puppetry since living in Ithaca. The shadow theater/puppetry story about the Luna Park Elephant—who escaped from Coney Island and swam across New York Harbor to Staten Island—was presented at the Dixon Place theater in Manhattan, and will be reprised in October 2026 at the Noble Maritime Collection at Snug Harbor on Staten Island.

Diane enjoys making new connections with her creative work, especially with younger colleagues. She also enjoys seeing her children become independent and reach their goals: son Abraham is in his second year of law school at University of Tulsa, and daughter Winsome is looking for another Brooklyn apartment.

Diane Matyas ’84, MFA ’89, received a residency at the Object Movement Puppetry Festival, which led to her first theatrical work using puppetry since living in Ithaca.

Diane is also preparing for a five-week pop-up studio residency/exhibition in November and December in Manhattan at Art on the Block NYC, where she will lead workshops connected to her practice. Diane loves connecting with fellow alumni, most recently including Adam Potkay ’82, Nephelie Andonyadis, and Laurie Sheffield, and she hopes some Cornellians stop by in person!

Meanwhile, Tom Allon writes to let us know that his son, Jonah Allon, the eldest of four (the others are daughters: Tess, Lena ’21, and Sandy), was married on June 6, 2026 in a beautiful ceremony at Seminary Hill in Callicoon, NY. Jonah is the deputy communications director for New York Governor Kathy Hochul. His wife, Jahnna, is a digital marketing strategist at the largest real estate company in the country, Compass. They met 11 years ago as seniors at Tufts University, when they both were taking a seminar on the works of Philip Roth, taught by Saul Bellow’s widow.

On a personal note, I am extraordinarily honored to have been inducted this year into the Fellows Program of the American Health Law Association (AHLA), which recognizes sustained commitment and outstanding service to the health law profession and the AHLA itself. Becoming an AHLA Fellow was almost as gratifying as finally seeing the Knicks win the NBA championship!

If you have any updates to share, please let us know! Your faithful class correspondents: ❖ Charles Oppenheim (email Charles) | Michael Held (email Michael) | Alumni Directory.

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1985

“Well, 2026 is our 80th year of growing crops here at Votypka Farms!” shares Dave Votypka. “My dad came from Hicksville, NY, on Long Island to Springwater, NY, in 1946. He amassed 1,100 acres and starting growing potatoes that year. 2026 is also my 45th year of full-time farming, including the college years. I just wanted to toot my horn about that.

“My father, who never went to college, had every one of his four children attend. He was so proud to have me graduate from Cornell. He made many connections with people of agricultural intelligence at Cornell and through the Cornell Cooperative Extension programs. This propelled me to want to attend. I have many friends and colleagues that have been made by attending Cornell. I have been a part of many trials, research projects, and educational meetings through the University, which has propelled me to join other groups and organizations involved with ag.

“On another note, Cornell alumni Jeff Dunlap ’86, Neil Hoyt ’86, and Jerry Clinton ’86 all attended the Reunion this past June with me. It’s their 40th and I, along with fellow friends Scott Chapman and Byron De la Navarre ’86, DVM ’96, usually go with the Class of ’86. Unfortunately, Scott and Byron couldn’t make it this year.

Well, 2026 is our 80th year of growing crops here at Votypka Farms!

Dave Votypka ’85

“We also ran into Leora Brayer Mechanic ’86, which is always a wonderful, fun time! We just hung out and talked most of the time. Reminiscing, talking about children, grandchildren, travels, entertainment, and everything we all want to do in retirement—which is very soon for this one. My son, Austin, doesn’t want to take over. He has a great engineering job and lives with his wife, Lindsay, in Scottsdale, AZ. I may end it after this crop, on the 80th year. Who knows?”

In 1985, you may recall, Jonathan Miller (Las Cruces, NM) was our class banner bearer at graduation and the host of convocation. This year, he has two new books out, Rattlesnake Lawyer: Breakdown Docket and a companion book of photography, Enchanted Dockets New Mexico: A Judicial Journey. He was profiled in the Wall Street Journal last year for his work as a contract attorney handling criminal defense.

Jonathan writes, “As a attorney with almost 40 years’ experience, I’m now the guy who gets called first at docket calls. However, my photography of my travels as an attorney around New Mexico is bringing the most joy. My mother was Cornell Class of 1958. I was originally wait-listed when I first applied. I transferred here for my junior year and graduated from AAP.” ❖ Class of 1985 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1986

I can’t help being jealous of the 419 members of the Class of 1986 and their 74 guests who attended our 40th Reunion in June. I wish I could have attended. From the pictures and posts on social media, it is obvious that a good time was had by all. We can thank chairs Lisa Hellinger Manaster and Katie Roth Boyar, with significant help from Amy Underberg Applebaum, for putting together such a wonderful weekend. Joan Button Thakor led the annual campaign. 531 of us made donations, 47 are Tower Club members, and 109 are Cornell Giving Partners. In all, our donations totaled over $7 million.

Michele Adelman, a member of our class council, took time to update us. She had a great time at Reunion, especially dancing outdoors on the last night. She came away with a great kindergarten gift (shout out to Margot Tohn’s Murray Goes to the Playground). Michele is excited to remain in touch with classmates, and she encourages people to reach out to her if they are coming into Boston!

Michele and her husband are still content lawyers and have no plans to retire at this time. She is the general counsel of PHC Group, overseeing their medical device companies that operate in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. She enjoys travel, including with daughters Michaela Eichel ’25 and Jordana Eichel (Hamilton College 2028). Recent trips included the Canadian Rockies, Poland, Vietnam, Cambodia, Switzerland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Michele remains an avid skier (although she is now left in the dust by her ski-racing daughters) at Loon Mountain and other New England resorts and occasional trips to Utah’s Snowbird and Alta. She is an active participant in the Cornell Club of Boston, which maintains a great roster of events and volunteer opportunities.

Elizabeth Molloy Coluby (class membership chair) and I have become email buddies since she updated me on her life. I am lucky that she wrote me in English and not in one of the many languages (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German, and Hebrew) that she has learned or is currently learning. Elizabeth loved seeing her classmates at Reunion. It was great for her to be back on the Hill, meet new classmates, connect with friends, attend lectures, walk around, and eat ice cream every night.

Elizabeth currently lives in Cleveland, OH, in what is her 30th (!) home. She has lived in five countries and eight different U.S. states. She and her husband, Manuel, have two sons; one is a student and the other is a filmmaker preparing to move to Alaska. Elizabeth worked in banking for 25 years and is now consulting and coaching other professionals. She has no intention to retire at this point and looks forward to more international travel in the near future. Not to rest on her laurels, she and Manuel are on a committee that the Jewish Federation of Cleveland is running to bring the Jewish and Latino communities together.

Martin Schulz and Elizabeth serve on the board of the Cleveland Council on World Affairs, which brings the world to Cleveland (speakers, hosting, Model U.N., training, etc.). When working at Key Bank, Elizabeth and Jeff Weaver, MBA ’90, were coworkers. Nowadays, she sees him (and his wife Tracey Forde Weaver ’90) at the Cleveland Orchestra, where Jeff is on the board. She also sees Mark Brandt, who is “Mr. Cornell” in Cleveland.

Class council member Aruna Inalsingh found writing her update therapeutic. She attended Reunion with three friends from the Class of ’85 and she enjoyed reconnecting with classmates she did not know well—fellow engineers, members of the Greek system, and those in the entrepreneurial network. She has already had some follow-up exchanges and conversations and is hopeful that they won’t wait until the next Reunion to see one another.

Peter Tan ’86, MArch ’88, was recognized by Madison365 as one of Wisconsin’s Most Influential Asian American Leaders.

Aruna is working with a variety of startups, building up her portfolio by doing as much as she can to keep herself engaged in her field. She recently visited Budapest, where she enjoyed the amazing culture and variety of culinary delights. While there, she used her newly acquired drone pilot license to fly agricultural and spray-wash drones and to get certified for drone distributorship and service. She is the CMO of an organization called Wevise; they match mentors with mentees to help give access to folks who want to start or grow their careers in technology. In her down time, Aruna is learning to play the piano. She also serves as the house corporation president for the Cornell Tri Deltas.

Julie Bick Weed, who also is a member of the class council, is living in Seattle and still writing travel trend articles for the New York Times. She’s taking lots of improv comedy classes and loves seeing classmates Rob Harpel and Shera Raisen when she’s in NYC. She was unable to make it to Reunion but was excited to receive event photos from two people who made freshman year so memorable—Sarah Thomas Taylor and CJ “Jeff” Biederman.

Peter Tan, MArch ’88, writes: “I grew up in Malaysia in the 1960s and 1970s, the two decades after my country gained independence from the British in 1957.” He shares that his passion for architecture began in early childhood, while playing with Lego. One of his most memorable creations was a suspension bridge, using Lego and strings salvaged from an old tennis racket. To this day, he’s amazed that his parents let him hammer four nails into the floor of his bedroom as anchor points for the bridge!

While in high school, Peter was introduced to Teng Kok-Seng ’70, BS ’71, who studied engineering at Cornell and recommended that Peter study architecture there. Upon graduation, Peter married fellow Cornellian Rachel Durfee ’87, his best friend and a fellow artist. They have two adult sons, John and Kevin. When not engaging in their lifelong conversation on art and design, the two of them love dancing and enjoying the outdoors together—camping, kayaking, biking, and skiing.

Peter retired in 2025 after 31 fulfilling years as design architect and chief design officer at Strang in Madison, WI. His favorite design projects of his career include the Touchstone Theatre at the American Players Theatre (the recipient of the 2026 Regional Theatre Tony Award) and the headquarters for Electronic Theatre Controls, the world’s leading producer of theater lighting and controls, whose lobby is themed as a movie set rendered in the style of Edward Hopper, replete with a replica of the diner in his Nighthawks painting. Peter’s community service includes serving on the Madison Urban Design Commission and as scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 122. He was recognized by Madison365 as one of Wisconsin’s Most Influential Asian American Leaders.

Recently, Rachel and Peter had a surprise alumni connection with Claire Schaefer Oleksiak ’05, who is executive director of Sustain Dane, an organization that runs the Efficiency Navigator program with the goal of reducing energy costs and increasing energy efficiency in affordable rental housing. At the March 2026 Efficiency Navigator press conference, where Rachel and Peter were the featured participant speakers, they put it together with Claire that they were all Cornellians!

I so appreciate receiving these updates so classmates can be apprised of what is happening in your world. Please keep these chronicles coming so your class correspondents can catalog them for us all. We will see you on the Hill in 2031 for our 45th Reunion. ❖ Toby Goldsmith (email Toby) | Lori Spydell Wagner (email Lori) | Michael Wagner (email Michael) | Alumni Directory.

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1987

It’s difficult to believe that our 40th Reunion is coming up on June 10–13, 2027. It seems like yesterday we were unloading our cars and moving into our dorms. Anyone remember their parents parking their car on Libe Slope?

Our Reunion chairs and committee members are already hard at work. Melissa Hodes Friedenberg, Claudia Regen Johnston, Stacey Pineo Murdock, and Scott Pesner attended Reunion this past June, going to many events, visiting several class headquarters, and attending as many class dinners as possible (they only sampled!) to help put together what we know will be an amazing weekend. They said that many classmates were in attendance for the Class of 1986 Reunion weekend, including Scott Armstrong, Alex Young Barclay, Charles Bechmann, Gabe Boyar (whose wife Katie Roth Boyar ’86 was the Reunion co-chair!), Lisa Cocchi, Theodore Ferguson, Lisa Panek Francese, Norm Hurlbut, Helaine Rosenblum Sanders, Ann McCaffery Sessler, Caroline Wellens Silver, Mimi Harris Steadman, Leyla Kaplan Toksoy, Hadley Harper Witcher, and Jack Zinn, MS ’90.

Also spotted on campus at Reunion were Bill and Lois Fischer Black, Michael Bonarti, Sally Henninger, Karen Smith Kratzer, and Heidi Claus Perry.

And finally, a special group of our classmates were celebrating their 35th Reunion from the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, so congratulations to our DVMs Mary Lou Falsarella Broadwell, Tracy Durham, Karyl Hurley, Sharon Brown Marx, Scott Nachbar, Andie Newman, and Judy St. Leger.

Remember, just because you attended Reunion this year doesn’t mean you can’t come back next year!

Congratulations to our classmate and President’s Council of Cornell Women member Shari Brasner ’87 on receiving the CALS Outstanding Alumni Award!

Speaking of Reunions, Donna Lee McMaster wrote, “I am new to the D.C. area—just moved to Vienna, VA, six months ago from California. Pam Mandell Freedman was my inspiration to move to Virgina because I fell in love with her FB photos of the green pastures and trees around her house. My husband and I were looking to move to the East Coast for a change of pace and a more peaceful lifestyle now that our three kids have all graduated college. My friend and KD sister Nanci Klein Sundel recently introduced me to our other sorority sisters in the DMV area. My cousin Karen Lee Nichols, who happens to be my KD little sister, was out for a short visit, and I thought it would be fun to invite Pam (her college roommate) and some of the DMV KDs for a little reunion. In attendance, in addition to Donna, Pam, Nanci, and Karen, were Nancy Williamson Ropelewski, Delia Park Swigart ’88, Susan Boyle, and Debbie Doorey Bartels ’88.”

Lastly, congratulations to our classmate and President’s Council of Cornell Women member Shari Brasner on receiving the CALS Outstanding Alumni Award! This award honors alumni who have achieved recognized success in their businesses, professions, or other avocational endeavors; have been actively involved in, worked for, and demonstrated leadership on behalf of the college and Cornell University; and have made significant contributions to the betterment of society through humanitarian and charitable endeavors.

Special thanks to Scott Pesner for providing me with the Reunion update! Looking forward to seeing you next June in Ithaca. Keep sending your news to us! ❖ Whitney Weinstein Goodman (email Whitney) | Liz Brown, JD ’90 (email Liz) | Alumni Directory.

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1988

The leaves are changing colors all around me, which means that autumn is here. Pumpkins to carve, warm apple cider to drink, Cornell’s Homecoming weekend, and plenty more football games to watch on television.

Hailing from Stanford, CA, Laura Attardi has been a cancer biology professor at Stanford University for 25 years. During her time on the Hill, she majored in biochemistry in the College of Arts & Sciences. She went on to complete her PhD in molecular and cell biology at UC Berkeley. At MIT, she did a postdoctoral fellowship in cancer biology. Recently, Laura was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, a tremendous honor in her field. Congratulations, Laura, on your accomplishments!

News from the East Coast: Harlan Protass was elected president of the New York Criminal Bar Association. He has practiced criminal defense in the state and federal courts of New York for more than 30 years. “Practicing criminal defense is like playing on the most un-level playing field ever created. But we defense lawyers have our wins, like the 16 guys I’ve freed from federal ‘without parole’ sentences for narcotics offenses,” he says.

Jayne Gilbert Peister traveled through Korea and Seoul with her husband, Darren, visiting many sites, and they enjoyed “spectacular weather.” They were also in Philadelphia, PA, exploring the new Alexander Calder Art Museum and Gardens. She enjoyed the 45-minute tour.

Diane Weisbrot Nagle has been attending Major League Baseball games down in sunny Florida. She’s a true fan—I love getting updates from Diane about MLB news.

Robert Rosenberg and his wife, Patricia Cook ’89, have been attending many musicals and plays recently. In fact, their son Reed ’20 has performed his first one-man show, full of entertaining and funny stories and jokes, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Lastly, Jill Field was traveling through England, visiting small towns and having lots of adventures.

Let’s hear about your summer travels and adventures. How are you celebrating your 60th birthday? 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

Greetings from beautiful Western New York! As you read, autumn is arriving, and here we are excited to watch the Buffalo Bills play football in their brand-new stadium! If you do not have an NFL team you enjoy watching, then please join us in the Buffalo Bills family, a.k.a. “Bills Mafia.”

Maybe you have yet to visit very nearby Niagara Falls, and didn’t know we boast a nifty Art Deco-style City Hall and several regional examples of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. Buffalo sits on great Lake Erie and, as someone who did not grow up here, I think the drinking water is fabulous! I love kayaking past towering grain silos full of Cheerios, a Ferris wheel, and an outdoor carousel, while in winter we come downtown to outdoor ice rinks with “igloos,” sledding down the skyway, the occasional snowy owl in harbor, and so much more than just the Maid of the Mist.

And, for our alumni, we have one of the oldest Cornell clubs here in greater Buffalo! I have a handful of rather bashful alumni neighbors—our vet of course, one who is a landscape architect, one who owns a greenhouse, and another who is a pediatrician. We attended a recent event hosted by the local club featuring an hour of combined Cornell + Buffalo trivia! Did you know Cornell had huge research platforms here? Several of our best ice cream shops credit certain Cornell dairy science professors for their delicious custards and creams.

Recently, en route to Ithaca, Laurie Bechhofer stopped to visit with her fantastic dog, Shayna. She brought her bright, witty, wonderful “basically adopted son” James for the long drive from Michigan, and toted along a couple of homemade craft cocktails in chilled mason jars for us to partake at arrival. Absolutely we imbibed a bit, as they unwound after their long drive from another great lake region. The next morning, we shared memories from time on the Hill, and devoured her scrumptious banana bread.

A few years ago on this platform, I wrote about a most wonderful woman named Alisa Schmitz Evans. I met “Tex,” as she was quickly nicknamed, during my days on campus: solidly she greeted others with a radiant smile, a beautiful spirit, and a “Howdy, y’all” in her Southern drawl. Alisa came up to Cornell all the way from San Antonio, TX, to study pre-vet, but it wasn’t a good fit, and by sophomore year she had transferred to a textiles major in Human Ecology. She went abroad to study in Regensburg, Germany, during her junior year, and when she returned to campus senior year she lived in the International Living Center on the German floor to keep up her language skills.

Rachel Foster ’89 was honored as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2026, in the pioneering category.

Alisa found her deepest passion—after many years and many master’s degrees—in relieving the suffering of women trapped in human trafficking. Both her upbringing in a border state and her work overseas in Southeast Asia with several hunger relief ministries gave her a searing sensitivity to the issues and the faces of those abused. She saw those wanting an escape and needing a fresh start. The organization she dreamed of leading came to life about 12 years ago: Alive at Last. Sadly, Alisa died of brain cancer on October 11, 2020. Her organization is led by other passionate women now.

Perhaps Alisa could have been connected to another classmate with similar zeal—Rachel Foster—had she been allowed more years. Rachel also graduated from Human Ecology and majored in human development and family studies. During her years at Cornell, she volunteered with several compassionate organizations, early on with Empathy, Assistance, and Referral Service, and also with a local center for domestic and sexual violence survivors.

In 1994, Rachel graduated from Brooklyn Law School and began working in a nonprofit, Brooklyn Legal Services, which was initially advocating for the HIV-positive population facing housing discrimination. The populations she served shaped her desire to change and create policy with the voices of survivors leading the narrative. She interviewed more than 150 of these vulnerable and victim voices. She saw the need for a coordinated effort in this sector and moved to create a conglomeration of agencies and organizations serving, in some way, those facing exploitation. Rachel co-founded World Without Exploitation (WorldWE) with Lauren Hersh to answer this need. The pair was honored as one of TIME magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in 2026, in the pioneering category.

Rachel serves as president and, in this capacity, connects many of these dedicated smaller groups, like Alisa’s Alive at Last. As Rachel saw it, these groups are “overworked, understaffed, and under-resourced,” and essentially “working in silos and not necessarily on policy issues like legislation.” At WorldWE Rachel saw the opportunity for groups like Alisa’s to be connected en masse, knit like “connective tissue” so they are stronger, more vibrant and life giving; together they potentially would strike harder at the monster of human exploitation.

Recently, their work to bring the Epstein Files Transparency Act to pass represents a massive win for WorldWE and all members, most vitally the survivors of exploitation. In a February 2, 2026 Cornell Daily Sun article, Rachel referred to her initial inspiration and motivation, which came from her hero and mother Zelda Foster, a pioneering social worker in the hospice movement. Zelda led the way, giving Rachel a liberal Jewish upbringing and a Quaker education; the way these shaped her priorities and passions is best summed up in the Hebrew phrase tikkun olam, meaning “repairing the world.” This seems consistent with our Cornell University charitable slogan: to do the greatest good! You can learn more about Rachel here.

Thank you, classmates, for inspiring us to do the greatest good beginning with the world in front of us. ❖ Lauren Kidder McGarry (email Lauren) | Stephanie Bloom Avidon (email Stephanie) | Kris Borovicka Gerig (email Kris) | Anne Czaplinski Treadwell (email Anne) | Alumni Directory.

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1990s

1990

After his first season as the Big Red men’s ice hockey coach, Casey Jones chatted with Cornellians, reflecting on the highs and lows. According to the story, “When Casey Jones arrived on the Hill as a freshman ice hockey recruit from a small town in Québec, he was 18 years old and—as he describes it with a laugh—‘140 pounds soaking wet.’ Flash forward four decades: not only can the CALS alum look back fondly on a stellar career as a Big Red player; he has just completed his first season at the program’s helm.

“While it was Jones’s rookie year in the top job, it was hardly his debut mentoring players on Lynah ice: he’d previously coached here in 1991–93 and 2008–11 (and then went on to spend 13 years as head coach at Clarkson). After being named the successor to his longtime friend and colleague Mike Schafer ’86—who was retiring after three decades—Jones spent a year in the transitional role of associate head coach.

“For Jones and the Big Red, the 2025–26 season was one to be proud of. The team finished with a 22-11-1 record, clinched the Ivy League championship for the sixth time in eight years, and received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament (though its first and only game ended in a 5-0 loss to Denver, the eventual champ).” You can read more here! ❖ Rose Tanasugarn (email Rose) | Nancy Solomon Weiss (email Nancy) | Allan Rousselle (email Allan) | Liselle Petzen Esposito (email Liselle) | Class Facebook page | Alumni Directory.

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1991

From June 4–7, the Class of 1991 took a break from our normal routines and returned to Cornell for our 35th Reunion. For four unforgettable days, we became students again. We embraced dorm living, walked familiar paths across campus, lingered over conversations with old friends (and new), stayed up far later than we should have, and rediscovered just how quickly the Hill felt like home again.

Once again, the Class of ’91 demonstrated what makes our class so special. An incredible 444 classmates returned to campus, shattering the previous attendance record for a 35th Reunion by more than 100 classmates! Even more remarkably, it marked the sixth consecutive in-person Reunion in which we set a new all-time attendance record—a feat no other Cornell class has ever accomplished. Better yet, 60 classmates were attending their very first Reunion, proving that it’s never too late to come back to the Hill. Everywhere you looked—crossing the Arts Quad, strolling through Collegetown, walking between events, or simply enjoying campus—there seemed to be another familiar face from the Class of ’91.

Our Reunion’s success reflected the efforts of many dedicated volunteers. Our sincere thanks go to Reunion chairs Jeff Weintraub, MD ’95, Bob Baca, and Jeannette Perez-Rossello, along with the many classmates who helped plan and organize the weekend over the past 13 months. A special shout-out goes to Bob for his extraordinary leadership of our affinity networking and outreach efforts, which extended far beyond the traditional Reunion playbook and helped reconnect classmates from across so many Cornell communities. We also celebrated an excellent 35th Reunion campaign, raising more than $20 million from 600+ donors, including 74 at the Tower Club level. Congratulations and thanks to campaign chairs Mark Cisz and Sharlyn Carter Musslewhite and their committee for an outstanding effort.

Mother Nature couldn’t have been more cooperative, treating us to four beautiful days of early June weather. Our headquarters at Court-Kay-Bauer served as a welcoming home base throughout the weekend. Whether stopping by for a snack, gathering under the tent, stopping by the lobby bar, or enjoying our evening ice cream socials, classmates found plenty of opportunities to reconnect between the many activities across campus. A highlight at our HQ tent featured exceptional wine tastings showcasing three Finger Lakes wineries, coordinated by classmate Kim Brown Bixler. Thursday night’s dinner also featured fresh sushi prepared by a live sushi chef, a fun and festive event.

Helping everything run so smoothly were our seven outstanding class clerks—current students who greeted classmates, answered countless questions, solved problems, and somehow managed to be everywhere at once. Their enthusiasm, professionalism, and friendly personalities quickly made them honorary members of the Class of ’91. Spending time with these exceptional students was another reminder that Cornell continues to attract some of the brightest and most engaging young people anywhere.

This marked the sixth consecutive in-person Reunion in which the Class of ’91 set a new all-time attendance record—a feat no other Cornell class has ever accomplished.

Sharing breakfast at the award-winning Morrison Dining Hall brought back fond memories of Noyes Dining, Okenshields, and RPU, although today’s dining experience is on an entirely different level. Morrison’s bright, food hall-style design and wide variety of made-to-order offerings showcased just how much the Cornell student experience has evolved. The breakfasts also provided one of Reunion’s unexpected pleasures: an opportunity to mingle with alumni from every generation. One morning, Kimberly Jordan Stone struck up a conversation while waiting in line with a member of the Class of 1966, and before long the two were exchanging stories about Cornell nearly three decades apart.

There truly was something for everyone throughout the weekend. Some classmates zipped across Beebe Lake or rappelled down Schoellkopf Crescent, while others attended Greek life receptions, explored the Cornell Botanic Gardens, browsed the Ithaca Farmers Market, revisited favorite spots in Collegetown, ran in the Reunion 5K, or enjoyed Cornelliana Night. Many enjoyed hearing fellow classmate, NBC News senior national correspondent, and co-anchor of NBC News Daily Kate Snow in conversation with the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, while Cheryl Strauss Einhorn discussed her new book, The Human Edge: Smarter Decisions in the Age of AI, exploring how human judgment and artificial intelligence can work together to improve decision-making.

The Arts Quad tent parties brought together alumni of all ages, creating the festive atmosphere that makes Reunion unlike any other alumni gathering. And for many classmates, the moments they will remember most weren’t part of the official schedule at all—they were the conversations with friends, the chance encounters across campus, and the opportunity to make new memories together.

Special thanks also go to the many classmates who arrived early to help prepare headquarters, including Dorine Colabella DiConti, Eric Rosario, Kim Brown Bixler, Susie Curtis Schneider, Robyn Lipsky Weintraub, Paul Hayre, Tim Vanini, Ruby Wang Pizzini, Jeff Lamontagne, Abbe Goldberg Groffman, Joe Marraccino, Kris Hurley Van Riper, and Eric Kossoff. Their hard work behind the scenes helped create such a welcoming home base throughout the weekend.

As always, Reunion ended way too soon. Sunday morning brought hugs, promises to stay in touch, and conversations that had many classmates already looking ahead to our 40th Reunion, June 5–8, 2031. If you were able to join us this year, thank you for helping make it such a memorable weekend. If you couldn’t make it this time, we hope to see you back on the Hill in 2031!

Got news to share? Use the online news form or feel free to contact one of us directly. ❖ Ruby Wang Pizzini (email Ruby) | Amy Gellert Lebovitz (email Amy) | Nicole Luecke (email Nicole) | Susie Curtis Schneider(email Susie) | Susanna Suh (email Susanna) | Alumni Directory.

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1992

My longtime friend Liz Robbins collaborated with Billie Jean King on a new book that came out on August 11. See It To Be It: Eleven Champions Leading Women’s Sports Today is geared toward young adults, but it’s narrative nonfiction for all ages and genders, tracing the origin stories of superstars you know (like Caitlin Clark and Naomi Osaka) and those you should know (like paralympic swimmer McKenzie Coan and Olympic wrestler Amit Elor). Liz says, “Here’s to the Daily Sun for starting my sports journalism career by having me cover women’s soccer, volleyball, and wrestling. ‘Robbins Nest’ lives on!”

The very prolific Dylan Willoughby, MFA ’95, has a new long poem in La Piccioletta Barca and new cues in the A&E show “Desert Law.” He says composing music and reading literature bring him the most satisfaction these days. At Cornell, he studied English literature and creative writing. He also got to be a firefighter for five years in the Ithaca Fire Department. Dylan lives in Long Beach, CA.

Another author in our class is Tish Oney. Tish is a lecturer at the Voice Study Centre at the University of Essex (U.K.) and the artistic director of the Tish Oney Jazz Orchestra. She is mentoring chair at JEN Research Interest Group, serves on three editorial boards, and is a composer. Her previous books include Peggy Lee: A Century of Song and Jazz Singing: A Guide to Pedagogy and Performance.

Liz Robbins ’92 collaborated with Billie Jean King on a new book, See It To Be It: Eleven Champions Leading Women’s Sports Today.

Max Chang and Corinne McKamey are thrilled that daughter Hattie ’30 is a freshman at Cornell! She will be studying global development with a concentration in agriculture.

Corinne, along with Cristina Moeder Shaul ’91 and Jen Barber ’93, enjoyed co-creating a multigenerational leadership conference on campus for the alumnae and current sisters of Tri Delta in early May. Corinne drew upon her many years of creating interactive curricula for her classes in higher education to engage members in collaborative problem-solving, arts-based brainstorming, and purpose-finding sessions. The conference culminated in a ceremony celebrating the Tri Delta Class of 2026 graduating into alumnae status in the sorority. Classmate Jenny Andrews attended, along with sisters from other class years. Corinne said, “It was a joy to connect with so many sisters, young and old—I can’t wait for the next time we’re all together!”

Cindy Cheney Wian writes, “Since leaving Cornell, I have spent more than three decades working in education, making the most of my Cornell psychology degree and early Teach For America experience in Texas. As of January of this year, I am now the VP of programs and partnerships for Future STEAM, a national nonprofit dedicated to cultivating STEM and workplace skills through K–12 challenges and competitions in the U.S. and China.”

If you’d like to get together, save the date for our 35th Reunion: June 10–13, 2027! Please share your news with us via email or the online news form. ❖ Jean Kintisch (email Jean) | Sarah Ballow Clauss (email Sarah) | Wilma Ann Thomas Anderson (email Wilma Ann) | Alumni Directory.

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1993

One of our classmates, Tracy Newman Porosoff, recently wrote a personal essay that was published in Cornellians. She wrote, “Although I’m a bird nerd—a devout admirer of avian grace, colors, sounds, and acrobatics—I can only aspire to identify many birds confidently. I’m just a backyard birder, reliant on technology to tell me what I am hearing and seeing. Lucky for me—and for everyone ranging from the merely curious to the expert—the Lab of Ornithology provides free access to a range of multifaceted bird identification, information, and tracking tools.”

One of these tools is Merlin, a free app that helps users identify birds by both sight and sound, using the Lab’s vast database of bird calls to match songs, photos, and descriptions with thousands of species worldwide. As Tracy writes, “Beyond its features and utility, Merlin makes me proud. Our beloved alma mater created this app, widely used by expert and novice birders around the world. I am on a personal mission to promote Merlin to friends, young kids, passersby, and everyone who I think could delight in a bit of discovery about the natural world.

“Launching Merlin transports me in spirit to a magical place of deep rock gorges, splashing waterfalls, picturesque bridges at the edges of campus, a hilly arboretum, and calming lake views. This spectacular setting offers a respite from dense texts of required reading and empty pages (or now screens) that must be filled with insightful analysis, inspiring prose, or complex computations. How fortunate we are to have attended such a jaw-droppingly beautiful school that offers a reprieve from the thrum of competition and anxiety that permeates an intense college campus.” You can read Tracy’s lovely essay here.

A. Burton Tripathi has been appointed CEO of bioProtonics, an innovator in advanced medical imaging platforms and proprietary magnetic resonance histology technology. Burton brings to his new role extensive executive experience, spanning strategic innovation, product management, and the commercialization of disruptive technologies.

According to a recent press release, Burton said, “I am thrilled to lead bioProtonics at such a pivotal moment in our trajectory. We have an incredible opportunity to transform medical imaging and provide unprecedented insights for patient care.” ❖ Mia Blackler (email Mia) | Melissa Hart Moss, JD ’97 (email Melissa) | Theresa Flores (email Theresa) | Alumni Directory.

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1994

“Each summer, in gardens across the country, hydrangeas burst into shades of blue and purple, tomatoes ripen on the vine, and families gather on lush green lawns for backyard cookouts,” reports a recent Cornellians story. “For nearly a century, generations of the Brunner family have subtly helped make those scenes come to life through Espoma, the organic plant care company that Jeremy Brunner now leads.

“Made from naturally derived plant, animal, and mineral ingredients, Espoma’s fertilizers are designed to nourish both plants and the soil around them through the slow release of nutrients. Unlike conventional fertilizers that use synthetic chemicals to deliver nutrients quickly, Brunner explains, the products are designed to improve soil over time and require fewer applications.

“‘The plants are getting fed the way nature intended,’ says Brunner, who was an agricultural economics major in CALS. ‘The fertilizers are long lasting, they’re slow release, they’re safer, and you’re adding organic matter so you’re building a better soil. People want to get away from chemical fertilizers, especially when it comes to things that they’re eating.’”

The article continues, “As fourth-generation president, Brunner has spearheaded the transformation from a regional fertilizer manufacturer into a national leader in organic plant care. Since joining the family business in the late 1990s, Brunner has expanded Espoma’s catalog from about 20 items to more than 100, available at about eight times as many locations. ‘My favorite part is creating new product lines that can be better than what’s out there,’ says Brunner, ‘going from the first concept to creating it, designing the package, and then getting to see it on the shelf.’” You can read the full story here!

Kevinn Matthews was recently honored by the Bixby (OK) Metro Chamber of Commerce with a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition for his “outstanding and invaluable service to the community.” Congratulations, Kevinn! ❖ Dineen Pashoukos Wasylik (email Dineen) | Jennifer Rabin Marchant (email Jennifer) | Dika Lam (email Dika) | Alumni Directory.

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1995

As I write this, your class officers and other Cornell volunteers are getting ready for the first-ever Cornell Volunteer Summit, held on campus right before Homecoming. I’ll hopefully have an update in a future column.

My first update comes from my 3FD (IYKYK) friend Dominic Vu Nguyen, who shared that both he and his wife, Lee (Murashige) ’98, took a sabbatical this summer from Intel and traveled to Europe to help celebrate their daughter Mikayla’s graduation from Sunset High School in Portland, OR. Both parents are extremely proud to share that she is at Cornell this fall as part of the Class of 2030, studying engineering. Both Vu and Lee have been working at Intel since graduating from Cornell: Vu is a technologist and program manager going on his 31st year; and Lee is an engineering manager, going on 28 years. Says Vu, “Cornell changed our lives and opened new doors and opportunities. We are thrilled that our daughter will continue our legacy at Cornell.”

On the other side of the Cornell experience is Christian Cox’s daughter Natalie ’26, who graduated magna cum laude this May with dual degrees in chemistry and biological sciences and a concentration in neurobiology and behavior, in—according to the family—“what might have been the worst Commencement weather ever (and that’s saying a lot in Ithaca!).”

Michelle ‘Mikki’ Knudsen ’95 took home the prestigious Andre Norton Nebula Award for her children’s book, Into the Wild Magic.

In June, Niraj Shah, CEO of Wayfair, was recently named to the Boston Globe’s Tech Power Players 50, a list of the most influential and interesting people working across technology in New England. This year’s list honors the most innovative leaders across AI, quantum computing, consumer tech, cybersecurity, health tech, sustainability, and beyond, demonstrating exemplary contributions to the industry and considerable career impact on technology and business in Boston, New England, and beyond.

Also in June—and as a follow-up to the nomination announcement in my last column—author Michelle “Mikki” Knudsen took home the prestigious Andre Norton Nebula Award for her children’s book, Into the Wild Magic.

Finally, Dani Wolff shared her excitement to have been invited to the Nawat Fes artist residency in Morocco this fall. She is headed there in October for two months to do intensive work on new script development and to explore how storytelling and cultural diplomacy intersect. “While I’m there, I’ll also be leading public programs and workshops on character development and screenwriting practice. I’m interested in how these conversations shift in different contexts, what writers in Morocco are thinking about, and how international coproductions are expanding in that part of the world.”

Dani adds, “I’m also excited about Fes itself. It’s the cultural heart of Morocco, and the medina where I’ll be staying is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now I just need to wake up the Arabic I haven’t used for a few years!” ❖ Alison Torrillo French (email Alison) | Class website | Class Facebook page | Class Instagram page | Alumni Directory.

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1996

No submissions for this column this round—consider this your friendly reminder that classmates enjoy hearing everyday updates just as much as major milestones. So, what have you been up to lately? ❖ Class of 1996 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1997

“When Beth Hodge and Courtney Hodge ’99 moved to a 35-acre property in rural New Hampshire as children, they quickly convinced their father to get them five calves,” reports a recent Cornellians story. “The sisters joined their local 4-H program and began to show the animals—and after they grew into heifers and one of them had a calf of its own, the Hodges taught themselves how to milk the cow.

“‘That’s how we ended up with the dairy farm,’ Beth recalls with a laugh. ‘Well, milking one cow in the garage, then another cow and another cow. Eventually, we built a barn.’ As the family’s herd (and the expenses of their hobby) grew, so did the question of what to do with all the milk.

“They considered nearly every possibility—bottled milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream—but throughout the region, others were already making each of them. One product remained notably untapped: pudding. Today, the sisters run Echo Farm Puddings, transforming milk from their herd of 70 Jersey and Milking Shorthorn cattle into premium products sold in New England and New York.

“The beloved dessert—in flavors like chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, and coffee caramel tapioca—is made just steps from the dairy barn, with milk pumped directly into the kitchen before being pasteurized, cooked, and packaged. Fresh pudding is produced twice a week in steam kettles that can make up to 3,000 pounds at once. Alongside the year-round flavors, Echo Farm produces seasonal varieties such as coconut cream, lemon, pumpkin spice, and white chocolate peppermint. The desserts are sold in grocery stores, co-ops, and natural food shops, including select Whole Foods, Hannaford’s, and Market Basket locations.” ❖ Class of 1997 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1998

“If you’ve gone to college or gotten married over the past couple of decades, there’s a good chance that Tim Chi helped shape your experiences,” states a recent Cornellians story.

“The Engineering alum co-founded pioneering platforms in those two spaces: the course-management site Blackboard, and WeddingWire, an online marketplace that merged with its main competitor to become The Knot Worldwide. Both projects tapped Chi’s lifelong entrepreneurial drive, and both were built during a period that he describes as ‘pretty much the Wild West’ of early Internet platforms. ‘We would stay up and code all night,’ he recalls of fielding constant requests from users, ‘and we’d deliver.’

“Chi’s entrepreneurial instincts surfaced early. He grew up in Southern California as the son of Taiwanese immigrants, and launched a car-washing business with a friend while still in high school. And while that venture failed, he recalls, ‘the hands-on learning really stuck with me.’” You can read the full story here! ❖ Class of 1998 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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1999

“It has been nearly a quarter-century since Lauren Weisberger wrote The Devil Wears Prada—a novel, published when Weisberger was just 26, that became not merely a bestseller but a cultural sensation,” reports Cornellians.

“The 2003 tale chronicles the personal and professional travails of aspiring journalist Andy Sachs, who unexpectedly lands a job as the latest in a long line of beleaguered assistants to Miranda Priestly—the tyrannical editor of the fictional Runway magazine, a figure who’s both feared and revered. Weisberger had been an assistant to Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour, who was widely assumed to be the basis for Miranda (and the author herself for Andy). …

“A much-anticipated film sequel, The Devil Wears Prada 2, debuted in spring 2026, two decades after the original; it too has been a massive hit, grossing $666 million worldwide as of late May. The publicity and red-carpet events around the sequel’s release have given Weisberger—who has published seven other novels since her blockbuster debut—reason to reflect on the legacy of the characters she created, and to marvel at how what was once controversial has become firmly embedded into pop culture.

“‘It’s funny; now you see Meryl Streep and Anna Wintour on the cover of Vogue together,’ marvels Weisberger, who these days mainly lives on a trawler yacht—often at anchor in the Bahamas—with her husband and two children.” You can read more here!

Andrew Addotta is the co-founder of Hamilton & Adams—an Upstate New York lifestyle brand founded in Kingston and best known for its “Upstate & Chill” line of products—which recently opened its second location in downtown Ithaca. “Returning to Ithaca feels incredibly meaningful,” said Andrew. “This community played an important role in my life, and it’s exciting to bring Hamilton & Adams back to a place that already shares so many of our values.”

These days Lauren Weisberger ’99 mainly lives on a trawler yacht—often at anchor in the Bahamas—with her husband and two children.

Bill Riley, ME ’00, an engineering executive at SpaceX, was recently a chief design judge at the Formula SAE competition—the same student engineering competition that helped launch his career. Each year, teams of college students from around the world design, build, and race small formula-style race cars. Bill says this hands-on experience at Cornell prepared him for solving complex engineering challenges at SpaceX. The story was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal.

“When Beth Hodge ’97 and Courtney Hodge moved to a 35-acre property in rural New Hampshire as children, they quickly convinced their father to get them five calves,” reports a recent Cornellians story. “The sisters joined their local 4-H program and began to show the animals—and after they grew into heifers and one of them had a calf of its own, the Hodges taught themselves how to milk the cow.

“‘That’s how we ended up with the dairy farm,’ Beth recalls with a laugh. ‘Well, milking one cow in the garage, then another cow and another cow. Eventually, we built a barn.’ As the family’s herd (and the expenses of their hobby) grew, so did the question of what to do with all the milk.

“They considered nearly every possibility—bottled milk, yogurt, cheese, ice cream—but throughout the region, others were already making each of them. One product remained notably untapped: pudding. Today, the sisters run Echo Farm Puddings, transforming milk from their herd of 70 Jersey and Milking Shorthorn cattle into premium products sold in New England and New York.

“The beloved dessert—in flavors like chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, and coffee caramel tapioca—is made just steps from the dairy barn, with milk pumped directly into the kitchen before being pasteurized, cooked, and packaged. Fresh pudding is produced twice a week in steam kettles that can make up to 3,000 pounds at once. Alongside the year-round flavors, Echo Farm produces seasonal varieties such as coconut cream, lemon, pumpkin spice, and white chocolate peppermint. The desserts are sold in grocery stores, co-ops, and natural food shops, including select Whole Foods, Hannaford’s, and Market Basket locations.

“‘We use high-quality, really minimal ingredients and try to process them as little as possible, so you won’t see fillers or stabilizers in our puddings,’ says Courtney. ‘Our maple pudding only has three ingredients: milk, cornstarch, and maple sugar.’ About 20% of the farm’s milk is used for pudding, while the rest is sold to a dairy cooperative and ultimately made into Cabot cheese. Eventually, though, the sisters hope to use all the milk in their own products. ‘The beauty of working for ourselves is that we always have the ability to change and adjust,’ says Courtney. ‘Innovation is what drives us and gets us excited about doing something that we’re good at.’” ❖ Class of 1999 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2000s

2000

One of our classmates was recently featured in a Cornellians story: “When Alison Sheets-Singer swung on the uneven bars as a competitive gymnast, she wasn’t just concentrating on her routine—she was thinking about the physics that make it possible. Her childhood coach, who held a doctorate in physics, had taught his athletes about the science behind every swing, flip, and landing.

“‘I always had this idea that sport, science, and engineering just lived together,’ says the former Big Red gymnast and mechanical engineering major. ‘If I could understand physics, then I could become a better athlete because of it.’

“That idea never left her. After earning a PhD in mechanical engineering from UC Davis, where she studied human movement, Sheets-Singer ultimately joined global sports gear and apparel giant Nike.

“She’s currently the lead scientist for the company’s Project Amplify—the world’s first powered footwear system for walking and running. ‘You can think about it like having an extra set of calf muscles that are powered by batteries to help propel you along,’ Sheets-Singer explains of the system, which is expected to launch commercially in 2028.

“Unlike a typical sneaker, Project Amplify footwear extends up the lower leg. The three main components—a carbon-plated shoe, motor, and battery pack—are connected via a lightweight titanium frame. The rechargeable battery is housed in a cuff that wraps around the calf and connects to the motor, which is mounted on the outside of the leg.

“From the motor, the frame attaches to a shoe that is reinforced with a carbon-fiber plate throughout the sole. When the motor pulls upward on the heel, the stiff plate transfers that force forward, pushing down on the toe and driving the wearer into the next step. ‘It’s like an e-bike for your feet,’ says Sheets-Singer, whose title is senior principal researcher, innovation. ‘You feel a nudge as you’re pushing off the ground on each step, and that nudge propels you into your next step—which means your calves have to do a little bit less, because it’s doing a bit more for you.’” ❖ Denise Williams (email Denise) | Alumni Directory.

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2001

Extra! Extra! More than 240 of us—plus partners and kids—reunited in sunny Ithaca in early June for the silver jubilee of our lives as Cornell alumni. Thanks to the herculean efforts of 25th Reunion co-chairs Lorraine Medeiros and Marisa Laks at the Class of 2001 headquarters in Becker House on West Campus, we devoured delicacies from Hot Truck, Collegetown Bagels, Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, and the Dairy Bar—followed by a spontaneous D.P. Dough order by Salil Gupte at our Saturday night dance party with the Class of ’96.

Other HQ treats included a squeal-inducing concert by the Hangovers—featuring classic crooners Joe Gregorio, George Jaramillo, and Steve Engelbrecht on fan-favorite “Up the Ladder to the Roof”—trivia, PJ party, photo booth, high-fives with Touchdown, and dodging drizzle for our class photo below McGraw Tower.

Reunion registration chair Claire Ackerman writes, “It was great catching up with classmates I haven’t spoken to in years, including Carolyn Maier, ME ’02, Chris and Alison Louie Anker, and Seema Prasannakumar, to name a few!”

Check out our Facebook group and Instagram page for pics, and share your own! According to the official tally posted at HQ, our class raised more than $11.6 million from 485 donors this year, including 165 Tower Club members. If you’d like to put a pumpkin on top of that tower, your support for a Cornell cause is welcome anytime, whether that’s Cornell Giving Day, Giving Tuesday, or some other occasion that inspires your generosity.

Across generations, Cornell offered a jam-packed mix of activities: tours; tent parties; gorge ziplining; rappelling down Schoellkopf; college, department, and club meals and lectures galore; getting Rickrolled by the Chimes; and singing along with the Big Red Band, Glee Club, and Chorus. It was honestly impossible to get to everything that looked interesting … even more reason to get back to campus more often!

In addition to the usual strong turnout from the Tri-State and Southern-Tier footprints, quite a few classmates schlepped in from Boston (Tara Benedict Desmarais, Mike, ME ’02, and Sandy Martisauskas George, Nathan Connell, who else?) and the DMV area (Michael, MPA ’02, and Susan Mueller Hanson, ME ’02, who else?). Should we consider a party bus from both hubs next time, spinning “Ride Wit Me” among other classic tunes of yore?

While some of us were huffing and puffing up the Slope and not hydrating enough between glasses of Finger Lakes Riesling at HQ and plastic cups of beer at tent parties, Praveen Anumolu, ME ’03, Erica Chatfield Roberts, Jackie Sobota, Erin Tobin, and Victoria Ying, PhD ’04, were up at dawn Saturday for the Reunion 5K. (Meanwhile, I snuck onto their bus in hopes of getting to the CALS breakfast at Trillium without breaking a sweat, not realizing it was heading to the far end of the Botanic Gardens …) Way to earn that free T-shirt, runners!

The Big Red Band coaxed Peggy Imboden Salsbury ’01 to rock the tuba just like in ‘those good old days on the Hill’ for the Cornelliana Night concert at Bailey Hall.

Later that day, the Big Red Band drew alums from every section, and coaxed Peggy Imboden Salsbury to rock the tuba just like in “those good old days on the Hill” for the Cornelliana Night concert at Bailey Hall.

Joining me and Salil, the Daily Sun ’01ers reporting for duty included Aron Goetzl, Navneet Gill Miller, Jason Weinstein, and Melissa Hantman Pheterson. Check them out on LinkedIn to see some impressive career trajectories! Salil and I also spotted our Reunion-cycle pal Jonathan Landsman ’81 and his son at the Sun’s meetup in Willard Straight Hall, but had to rush back to our own kids downslope before we could catch up properly. If you’re reading this, Jonathan, see you in 2031?

Malinda Lovic Lesko did a better job of cross-generational human bonding, meeting up with fellow HumEc alums Laura Nelkin ’95 and Suzy Schwarz Quiles ’76 at the Cornell Fashion + Textile Collection’s exhibit on “Fashioning Justice: Ruth Bader Ginsburg ’54 and the Power of Presence.” She writes, “The exhibition considered dress as signal, shield, and statement. We also had the opportunity to be invited into the collection to hear from current students about their projects, seeing some curated pieces related to their research.” Back in Western Massachusetts, Malinda is diving into entrepreneur life, having “purchased some small-scale fiber processing equipment and started Alchemy Fiber Mill, which will be part of the bus tour Laura and I are leading this September. I work primarily with local sheep farms to clean and process their wool into products they can sell under their own labels.” She also serves as a board member of Western Massachusetts Fibershed and creates online trainings for Massachusetts public safety agencies.

For Garrett Lang, Reunion was a fun-filled mix of reconnecting with old friends (especially Chris Dodd) from his Donlon, Collegetown, RHA, and CIT days—and making new ones, including Melanie Woodrow, whom he ended up driving down to New Jersey for her flight back to California. He recommends staying in touch via Tuesday night discussion groups he offers through the Free Thinker Institute and joining the Global Cornell Alumni Online Community on Discord. “We’re so lucky to be part of the Cornell community—a network of highly intelligent and compassionate people,” he writes. “Thanks to all the Reunion organizers for all your hard work.”

Also from New Jersey, Lorraine Medeiros writes, “To everyone who came home, thank you for filling the weekend with so much warmth and so many memories. To those who could not be with us, you were missed—and the Hill will be waiting for all of us next time.” Please save the date and share with friends: June 5–8, 2031!

For those who didn’t make it to this Reunion, how can we help get you to our 30th? Let us know, as we’d love to see more of each other then, if not sooner! For example, if you’re looking for an excuse to visit Japan, Praveen and I plan to meet at the Cornell Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference in Tokyo in April. Closer to home for most of you, there’s the Cornell-Columbia football game in Manhattan on November 21 (followed by the biennial Sy Katz ’31 Parade)—and possibly Frozen Apple hockey at MSG later that week.

Got updates or memories to share? Email either of us, visit our website, join and participate in our Class of 2001 Classmates Facebook group, and follow our Class of 2001 Instagram. ❖ Nicole Neroulias Gupte (email Nicole) | James Gutow (email James) | Alumni Directory.

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2002 & 2003

Autumn greetings! We don’t have any news to share from either of these classes this round. Please take a moment to let us know how you spent your summer! If you have anything you’d like to share with your class, please submit an online news form. ❖ Class of 2002 & 2003 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2004

Dorothy Williams-Neagle has written a collection of poems called Imagine a Woman. According to Gnashing Teeth Publishing, “Stories have the power to free us, or to hold us captive. Imagine a Woman is a book about both, and how the retelling of stories we inherit can open a pathway between fear and survival.

“Organized around four feminine archetypes—the Virgin, the Mother, the Prophet, and the Whore—these poems offer a multi-storied perspective on the many ways a woman is defined, and how femininity is shaped by histories ancient and new. Offering new ways to devote ourselves to the myths, nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and playground songs that captivate our memories and inspire our futures, the collection ignites a sharp and stirring transformation from being silenced to learning how to speak.”

A Kentucky native, Dorothy now lives in New York with her family. She is a Yaddo fellow and Pushcart Prize nominee, and her poetry and essays have appeared in many journals and anthologies. ❖ Class of 2004 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2005

Ashley Berke was the 2026 inductee into the Philadelphia Public Relations Association’s Hall of Fame, which honors an individual whose accomplishments have brought distinction to both the public relations community and the Greater Philadelphia region. It is the highest honor given to a member of the association. Congratulations!

One of our classmates has been working to honor a past Cornell president. Bill Clausen, assistant principal at the Anna Julia Cooper Campus of Washington Latin, collaborated with Brad Olander ’89, a parent at Washington (DC) Latin Public Charter Schools, to open the Hunter Rawlings Reading Room at Washington Latin’s Cooper Campus in Northeast D.C.

For the May 17 opening, they wrote to invited guests, “There are moments that remind us why we fell in love with learning in the first place” and described the naming of the reading room as “a naming that honors the man who, as Cornell’s president, championed the humanities with uncommon conviction. … The occasion will bring together Cornell alumni, Latin community members, and friends who share a belief that rigorous, humanistic education belongs to every student—not just those who can afford to seek it out. Hunter once said of Washington Latin’s students: ‘It is not so much that these students need the humanities, but rather that the humanities need these students.’ That sentence captures everything.

“This event is especially personal for the two of us. Between us, we have spent nearly three decades connected to this school—Bill in a variety of roles over the past 19 years, including as the assistant principal of the Anna Julia Cooper Campus for the past three, and Brad as a Latin parent for eight—and we have both watched Hunter’s influence shape the school’s identity and its students’ lives in ways that are difficult to overstate. We can think of few people more deserving of this honor, and few occasions for which it is more worthy to gather.”

I was named the 2025 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year.

Luisa Sparrow ’05

Luisa Sparrow writes, “I teach special education in Boston Public Schools in a class for fifth and sixth graders with significant intellectual disabilities, and I was named the 2025 Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. As part of my year of service, I advocated for several key issues, including access to evidence-based literacy instruction for all Massachusetts students. I had the opportunity to moderate a panel on literacy reform at the State House, present testimony to the Joint Committee on Education, and speak at a U.S. Senate briefing on literacy reform.”

Luisa adds, “I love hiking and aim to go on one solo hike per week. I love taking road trips and visiting national parks with my husband, Patrick, and my daughters Cassidy, 6, and Vivian, 5.”

Three Cornellians recently ended up working together to address affordable housing and energy efficiency in apartment housing in Madison, WI. Our classmate Claire Schaefer Oleksiak is the executive director of an organization called Sustain Dane that focuses on sustainability in the Dane County and Madison communities. One of its programs, called the Efficiency Navigator, focuses on reducing energy costs and increasing energy efficiency in affordable rental housing.

Efficiency Navigator starts with a building energy and health assessment, prioritizes measures, gathers contractor quotes, and then has funding to pay 100% of the implementations at the selected buildings. Rachel Durfee ’87 and Peter Tan ’86, MArch ’88, applied to the program for their four-unit rental property, and their building was selected for funding. At the March 2026 press conference, where Rachel and Peter were the featured participant speakers, they put it together that they were all graduates of Cornell! ❖ Hilary Johnson King (email Hilary) | Jessica Rosenthal Chod (email Jessica) | Alumni Directory.

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2006

Shanah Segal writes, “Since my last update, I have continued my work as a clinical psychologist, supporting individuals and families through the perinatal and childbearing years. I am honored to now serve as chair of the New York chapter of Postpartum Support International, where I help advance awareness, education, and access to maternal mental health resources across the state.

“One of the most rewarding aspects of this role is connecting with volunteers, professionals, and community members who are passionate about supporting families. Cornell afforded me the ability to network with so many, and I hope to continue to foster collaborations and help build stronger networks throughout New York.

“Based in NYC, I am available for both in-person meetings and virtual connections. My husband and kids are keeping me busy with sports (go Knicks!!), museums, books, and lots of chess!” ❖ Class of 2006 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2007

Hello, Class of 2007! Below are some awesome updates on our classmates’ newest publications. I am so happy to be able to share them with you all. As always, my contact information is listed at the end—I love hearing from you, and look forward to future updates!

Congratulations to Jesi Bender on her latest book, Crux, published by Sagging Meniscus Press. Crux is an experimental play set nearly entirely inside Northern Ireland’s HM Prison Maze where, in 1981, revolutionary Bobby Sands is on a hunger strike. The play introduces questions of nonviolent political protests by means of conversations between Sands and other contemporary activists. Jesi worked with and has received praise from Laurence McKeown, a colleague of Sands’s who joined him in his hunger strike.

We also heard from Colin Hodge about his book, Outrageous Startup Growth, which has become a USA Today bestseller. Colin co-founded the dating app Down, and created the “Outrageous Growth Method” based on his experiences in the startup world. His book explores cultivating a growth mindset and engineering user psychology for business growth.

Colin also recently wrote an essay that published in Cornellians titled “What Undergrad Social Life Taught Me about Founding Companies.” In it, he writes, “A key part of my education wasn’t listed on any syllabus—it was the intertwining of my formal and informal education that led me down my particularly ridiculous career path. A campus newspaper that shall not be named is where I built storytelling muscles and attempted humor with mixed results, including my first-hand story of a bungled burglary on Eddy Street in Collegetown that ended with a SWAT team sweeping our lawn.

“On the soccer field, I learned to herd cats: getting people with volatile personalities and wildly different commitment levels to show up, run the same direction, and occasionally win. That’s also a generous description of managing a startup. The most formative development was social. After a breakup with my high school girlfriend, I took crash courses in flirting, rejection, and spotting attraction by hopping around house parties.” Read his full essay here.

I’m loving the breadth of interests and experiences we share as one Cornell class! 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

Santiago Rubio Suarez writes, “I got married 13 years ago and have five little offsprings. I moved permanently to Colombia, where I’m enjoying time with my kids, reading them stories, tickling them, and playing hide-and-seek.”

He adds, “I am the CEO of an Ayurvedic healthcare institution. Life is busy, but very satisfying. I am very grateful for everything learned at Cornell. It provided me with all the skills I regularly use at work, and taught me how to think differently, solve problems, and have a successful business.”

Michele Annibal Hoffman shares, “This past July, five alumni friends from across the U.S. gathered in Ithaca with their families—including 11 kids, ages 4 months to 10 years old—to visit the area and take spouses and kids on a tour of campus!

“Kolene McDade Bailey, Rebecca Gauthier Dullas, Ranjini Bose, Tara Kaushal Maxwell, and I reminisced, pointed out what was new, enjoyed local wineries and the Dairy Bar, and overall felt so grateful for this special place and the enduring friendships that came from it! Especially thankful for no stress of p-sets and prelims.” ❖ Class of 2008 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2009

“I’m excited to share the launch of my first book, Signals: Common Marketing Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them,” writes Angela Morel Troccoli. “Drawing on my experience leading marketing teams across startups and global organizations, along with real-world case studies and interviews with nearly two dozen veteran marketing executives, the book explores common challenges marketers face—and practical strategies to avoid them.

“Writing this book has been a true passion project and an opportunity to reflect on the experiences that have shaped my career. My hope is that it helps marketers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders navigate common challenges with greater confidence while inspiring them to build strategies that put customers first. It’s incredibly rewarding to see this project finally come to life, and I’m grateful to everyone who supported me along the way, including my Big Red family and friends!”

Jinhu Park is the founder of Imunika, a boutique wellness brand that makes specialty coffee infused with the health benefits of mushrooms. According to a recent Cornellians story, “OK, let’s get something straight from the jump: the coffee that Jinhu Park makes and sells does not taste like mushrooms.

“Yes, it has mushrooms in it—seven different varieties, in fact—but they’re essentially indistinguishable in the beverage itself, which has the velvety, smooth-but-complex flavor of a high-end cup of java. The Human Ecology alum is the founder and CEO of Imunika, a brand based in his native South Korea that’s at the intersection of two markets with passionate followings: natural wellness and premium coffee.

“It also taps aspects of Park’s cultural heritage, in which those fungi—such as the reishi (Ganoderma lucidum), nicknamed the ‘mushroom of immortality’—have long been prized for their health properties. ‘Not just in Korea, but across Asia, mushrooms are renowned for their power and potency,’ he says. ‘They were revered by kings and queens, and people would travel across mountains to collect them—almost like an elixir for them to live forever.’” You can read more here! ❖ Class of 2009 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2010s

2010

Fall is indisputably the best Ithaca season. Write me or fight me about it.

If you’re a Cornellian, I’m willing to bet that you signed on the dotted line after you visited campus. Maybe you came from a city and wanted something different. Maybe you took one look at the stone bridge spanning the Cascadilla Gorge Trail and thought, “It looks like Rivendell.” (Maybe both of those examples were me.) My guess is you were as struck by the natural beauty of Ithaca and Cornell’s campus as I was, whether it’s something that drew you in immediately and influenced your decision to enroll, or something you came to appreciate over time. Turns out that “Ithaca is Gorges” is as true a phrase as it is ubiquitous. While it’s easy to point to the waterfalls, the hills, and the gorges, I’d like to draw your attention to the beauty of the trees, displayed to perfection as the leaves change in autumn.

I’m going to go out on a limb here and guess that you had a favorite tree. For me, it was a scarlet oak by the Risley parking lot that absolutely blazed red like a beacon in the fall. I definitely had secondhand heartbreak over the loss of the Ostrander Elms. I’m currently mourning that the tree I used to favor sitting against while studying on the Slope is no longer with us. For you, maybe it was a tree on the Arts Quad with branches perfect for climbing, or hanging a hammock, or slacklining. A tree you passed every day on your walk to campus that—without realizing—you came to know as it changed week by week through the seasons.

Even if you’re not as tree-obsessed as I am, one thing that draws us all together is that we chose this place. As we head into Homecoming, now perfectly aligned for prime leaf-peeping October 16–18, 2026, I invite you to share why. What makes you want to come back? What about campus lives in your head rent-free? If you could visit today, where’s the first place you’d go? (Maybe just let me know you’re reading this?)

May you soon hug a tree too big to get your arms around, and may your next visit to Ithaca hit all the nostalgia buttons.

Your next Class Notes will be from Grace Guichardo Watkins in November/December. ❖ Jennifer Wholey Lehman (email Jennifer) | Grace Guichardo Watkins (email Grace) | Alumni Directory.

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2011

It’s a quiet column this round, but we’d love to change that. Help us fill future columns with news from near and far—career changes, family milestones, travels, volunteer work, hobbies, and Cornell connections alike. ❖ Class of 2011 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2012

Clara Lee is a co-author of Korean Soups: Recipes for Soups and Stews That Nourish, Restore, and Delight. According to the book’s description, “Authors Clara Lee and Eddo Kim tap into the past and present with generational family recipes, nostalgic meals of their childhood, and their years of sharing meals as a couple for more than 50 complexly flavored and simply made soups, stews, and hot pot dishes.

“The book starts with the building blocks—staple Korean ingredients and tools, their soup classifications, and broth techniques—before progressing to guk, tang, jjigae, and jeongol recipes. All the while, each page counters the technicality of Korean soups with the flexibility of utilizing seasonal ingredients or tools on hand.

“Dishes combine traditional ingredients with the most local and timely (even if that means less-traditional) produce, like a Tomato and Young Fermented Soybean Stew with cheonggukjang and heirloom tomatoes. Whether calling for a ddukbaegi (earthenware pot) or a stockpot, the authors portray the diversity and accessibility of cooking and consuming Korean soups.” ❖ Peggy Ramin (email Peggy) | Alumni Directory.

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2013

Brithem LLP recently announced that Jaime Frelich Fried, a commercial litigator with a track record of handling complex business disputes and real estate matters, has joined the firm as counsel.

According to the news release, “Jaime’s practice covers high-stakes commercial litigation from early case strategy through appeal, with a caseload that includes merger challenges, employment actions, and contractual disputes. She has also built a robust real estate practice, advising clients on pre-litigation strategy and representing them in active litigation once a matter reaches court.

“‘I was drawn to Brithem because of the chance to be close to the real decision-making on every matter. At a firm this size, you’re shaping strategy and seeing a case through from the first phone call to the final outcome. That kind of firsthand experience is invaluable,’ said Jaime. ‘I’m also excited to work on the impact litigation Brithem is known for—cases where the outcome genuinely matters to the people and businesses involved. That’s the work I want to be doing, and I can’t think of a better place to do it.’” ❖ Class of 2013 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2014

Hello, Class of 2014! I hope that you are all having a great start to fall. If you have any news that you would like to share for an upcoming column, please reach out. ❖ Samantha Lapehn Young (email Samantha) | Alumni Directory.

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2015

Sadie Garside Falletti writes, “My husband, Brandon, and I welcomed our baby boy, Jack, on January 25, 2026! Also, Mikey Hintsa and Kelsey Mollura welcomed a baby boy, Nico, on March 20, 2026.” Congratulations to the happy parents!

Kate Bemis is a research zoologist with an unusual dual position—working both with the Smithsonian and with NOAA’s National Systematics Laboratory. According to a Cornellians story, “She spends several months a year on the water, photographing fishes and collecting them and their DNA to identify species and add specimens to museum collections; in recent years, she has worked off the coasts of West and East Africa, Japan, Taiwan, and Vietnam, as well as along the U.S. Eastern Seaboard. Her work helps ensure that fish are caught sustainably, that species are correctly identified in the marketplace, and that countries have accurate data on fishery health. …

“For Bemis, ichthyology is the family business: her father is William Bemis ’76, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology in CALS, faculty curator of fishes for the University’s Museum of Vertebrates, and an expert in the comparative anatomy and evolution of sharks. Growing up, she spent hours observing their home aquariums, which housed species like goldfish, tetras, and pufferfish—still among her favorites. Her interest became a lifelong passion when, as a high schooler, she took two classes at Cornell’s Shoals Marine Laboratory, located on an island in the Gulf of Maine. ‘I got to have hands-on experience with frozen specimens,’ she recalls, ‘and it was awesome.’”

Kate Bemis ’15 is a research zoologist with an unusual dual position—working both with the Smithsonian and with NOAA’s National Systematics Laboratory.

Jake Potashnick was also recently the focus of a story in Cornellians, after his Chicago restaurant earned a Michelin star in its second year. “Chef Jake Potashnick runs his kitchen like a magazine. Every Tuesday, his five cooks suggest ideas and he edits them, shaping the ‘stories’ that will define the week’s menu. ‘I take ideas and components from their pitches,’ he says, ‘and combine them into dishes.’

“The result is Feld, his Michelin-starred Chicago restaurant where the 25-to-30-course tasting menus evolve daily, built around fresh, seasonal ingredients. ‘Dinner at Feld feels like a night of theater,’ says Bon Appétit, which called it one of the best new restaurants of 2025, ‘with 20-plus courses unfurling over two hours, a dynamic dinner-in-the-round that is as engaging as it is earnest.’ For the Hotelie, the experience is as much about highlighting the people and places from which he sources ingredients as it is about the meal itself—a concept he terms ‘relationship to table.’” Read the full story here! ❖ Caroline Flax (email Caroline) | Alumni Directory.

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2016

Autumn greetings, Class of ’16! Please consider this your friendly reminder that classmates enjoy hearing your everyday updates just as much as major milestones. What have you been up to lately? Drop us a line. ❖ Class of 2016 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2017

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Michael McQueeney has joined the firm’s New York office as an associate in the business litigation practice group. Michael focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, with experience in securities class actions, merger and acquisition disputes, and shareholder derivative litigation. Admitted to practice in New York and California, Michael received his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. ❖ Class of 2017 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2018

Spencer Kopko was recently featured in a Cornellians story with his wife, Kristen Ferguson Kopko ’20, after the pair bought the Triphammer Marketplace, a venerable Ithaca shopping center.

According to the article, “For Spencer, who grew up in Ithaca, the marketplace—technically located in the Village of Lansing, just off Route 13—was a childhood destination for family dinners, errands, and afternoons spent wandering its halls.

“‘Triphammer has always been a comfortable, community-oriented spot,’ says Spencer. ‘It definitely has some eclectic architecture and layout, but it makes sense for the neighborhood that it’s in. You can just get lost in there.’” You can read the full story here! ❖ Class of 2018 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2019

Amanda Friedman was recently featured in a Cornellians story titled “This Hotelie is Bringing a ‘Superfruit’ to an Airport (or Campus) Near You.” Amanda designs the eateries in the health-conscious Sambazon chain, which is beloved for its açaí bowls and smoothies.

According to the piece, “Among the many dining options at Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport—the world’s busiest, with more than 108 million annual passengers—is an eye-catching storefront where the mounds of strawberries, blueberries, mangoes, and other fruits create a dramatic burst of color.

“It’s an outpost of Sambazon, which sells health-conscious offerings like açaí bowls topped with fruit, granola, and nuts, as well as smoothies and energy drinks. The quick-service restaurants can also be found in numerous other airports, on college campuses, and even in a Major League Baseball park. And one of the creative minds at their helm is Hotelie Amanda Friedman, who helped turn Sambazon from a single, underperforming store near San Diego into a thriving chain—popular on social media, and with more than a dozen locations nationwide.

“‘People want that healthy product,’ says Friedman of the açaí—a dark purple berry, rich in antioxidants, that’s frozen and puréed to form the basis of bowls and smoothies. ‘They want something that’s delicious with fresh fruit instead of a prepackaged sandwich or a salad in a plastic box.’” ❖ Class of 2019 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2020s

2020

Lara Patz recently penned a personal essay that was published in Cornellians on how coping with a neurological disorder and helping local disabled athletes have taught her the importance of showing up for others. In it, she writes, “‘Charity begins at home, and justice begins next door.’ This line, written by Charles Dickens, has stayed with me for years. I have come to understand it as a truth that meaningful support should often begin within our own communities, through the people and places closest to us.

“Cornell has brought people—innovators, top researchers, future leaders—from across the globe to Ithaca since 1865. Their stories often make headlines. But there are quieter ones too, rooted not in arrival but in those who grew up alongside the University. This is one of those stories.” Read more here!

Sofia Vila is happy to report that she and Lorenzo Masias got married on June 27 in her hometown of San Juan! The wedding was a big party uniting their families and friends from Peru and Puerto Rico—and of course, a huge contingency of Cornellians! In attendance were both the father of the bride Enrique Vila-Biaggi ’94 and the father of the groom, Ignacio “Nacho” Masias ’86, brother and sisters of the bride and groom, Ignacio Masias ’17, Veronica Vila ’23, ME ’24, and Patricia Vila ’27, and lots of family and friends.

Dray Farley ’21, BS ’20, cofounded a Puerto Rico-based startup with Thais Campos Farley, PhD ’21. BuenoBite is a mobile food marketplace that helps local restaurants, cafés, bakeries, and other food businesses turn surplus food into additional revenue by offering it to customers through discounted “Surprise Bags.” The platform is designed to help local businesses reach new customers, make quality food more affordable, and reduce food waste across Puerto Rico.

Sofia Vila ’20 is happy to report that she and Lorenzo Masias ’20 got married on June 27 in her hometown of San Juan!

Kristen Ferguson Kopko was recently featured in a Cornellians story with her husband, Spencer Kopko ’18, after the pair bought the Triphammer Marketplace, a venerable Ithaca shopping center. According to the article, “For the duo, the marketplace’s future isn’t just about the building itself—it’s also about the merchants that occupy it, and the residents it serves. ‘It’s been us getting to know the community and its needs, talking to the people who live here,’ says Kristen, ‘and then doing targeted outreach to strong businesses that we think fit the gaps.’

“After identifying a need for more dining options in the area, for example, they recruited a Syracuse-based fish fry eatery and a restaurant serving Thai and Laotian food. They’re also expanding the events on offer throughout the year, hosting pop-ups that have included vintage goods, local artists and musicians, and fundraisers.

“Their priority, they say, is to ensure that the marketplace grows while remaining a spot where residents can gather and connect. ‘A lot of the charm is that you see familiar faces—the same owners, the same customers,’ says Spencer. ‘Through your shopping, you form these relationships.’” You can read the full story here! ❖ Class of 2020 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2021

On June 23, 2026, Grady Owens successfully defended his thesis—“The Making of Martial Minds: The American Collegiate Experience and its Influences on Students and Administrators during the First World War, 1870–1918”—before a board of external and internal examiners at the University of Oxford.

Receiving minor corrections to the tune of typos, Dr. Owens’s revised thesis was accepted by the department on June 28. He now returns to Florida to soak up the sun, fish the waters, and make applications for adjunct professorships for the coming school year. Congratulations, Doctor! ❖ Class of 2021 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2022–24

All’s quiet from these classes this round, but we’d love to change that. Help us fill future columns with news from near and far—career changes, family milestones, travels, volunteer work, hobbies, and Cornell connections alike. ❖ Classes of 2022–24 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2025

A new guidebook from the Cayuga Trails Club published this year, called Best 50 Hikes in and around Ithaca NY, featured dozens of custom-designed maps by our very own Russell Kwong, a former urban and regional studies major in AAP.

According to a recent Cornellians story, “‘I thought it was a perfect opportunity to tie in my educational experiences learning GIS [geographic information systems] in the classroom,’ says the NYC-based Kwong, ‘and getting myself more exposed to the Ithaca surroundings.’ Kwong spent more than a year iterating the book’s illustrations, using a program called ArcGIS Pro he’d learned from a freshman-year class.

“He drew on such resources as the New York State Parks system, the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation, the Finger Lakes Land Trust, Cornell Botanic Gardens, Google Maps, and previous Trails Club publications. ‘Maps are amazing—I really love how they tell a story,’ says Kwong, who was recently hired as an environmental specialist at the state Department of Transportation. ‘There are so many stylistic choices involved in making maps. They’re like a mystery you can uncover to understand more about the world around you.’” The rest of the story, as well as several of Russell’s maps, can be viewed here. ❖ Class of 2025 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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2026

Serin Koh, BA ’25 recently wrote a personal essay for Cornellians on a feeling she didn’t expect to experience after graduation: loneliness. “To me and many others, college after graduation settles into a memory. For four years, my identity, habits, goals, and routines were defined by my years as a student. On the narrow streets and brutal hills of Ithaca, community was woven into my everyday life.

“No Cornellian was truly a stranger—clustered on the Hill, all students and faculty shared a certain Big Red camaraderie. From complaints about the winter weather to difficult courses, I had often found myself physically and emotionally immersed in a community. This sense of Ithacan comfort and familiarity vanished as I entered the next chapter of my life: post-graduation, a liminal period of uncertainty, self-exploration, and reevaluation.

“Without the stability of student life, my own identity and priorities are constantly being questioned and altered as I prepare for my own career. As work shifts have replaced classes, and friends once a door away moved to different cities, I’ve found myself accompanied by something new: an unshakable loneliness.”

You can read the rest of Serin’s essay (which we promise has a happy ending) at this link. ❖ Class of 2026 (email c/o Alexandra Bond ’12) | Alumni Directory.

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Grad

Agriculture and Life Sciences

Frieda Kay, MS ’22, recently launched the National Quilt Project on the National Mall in Washington, DC, with her parents, Ithaca fabric artist Mary Milne and David Kay, who recently retired as a senior extension associate emeritus after 44 years in CALS. The project aims to “help repair our torn social fabric” by inviting people across the country to create quilt squares that will become part of a growing national installation, with a final exhibition planned for 2030. “Our quilt will represent the rich mosaic of our country, expressing our histories, identities, and our common ideals of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.”

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Architecture, Art, and Planning

Last fall, Mike Morgan, MFA ’26, curated an exhibition at Cornell that centered around cats, cheekily called “Magnum O-Pspsps.” According to the Daily Sun, the exhibition “displayed feline character in every respect. Against plain white walls in a vast open space, the gallery of cats more than filled the room. The exhibition’s greatest strength was its diversity—roughly four dozen artists’ interpretations of catlike character—varying from portraits of pets to abstract color-blocking with cheetah print, from loose lines to stunningly realistic brushwork.” Following “Magnum O-Pspsps,” Mike was invited to curate an exhibition centered around dogs at the Ely Center of Contemporary Art in New Haven, CT. “Deus Ex Bark-ina” will run through September 13 and bring together more than 50 artists, many of whom are Cornell alumni and faculty.

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Arts & Sciences

Tad Tuleja, MA ’68, has written Skirmishes with Patriotism: Looking for America in the Long Shadow of Vietnam. According to the publisher, University Press of Kentucky, this is a “lyrical and deeply personal memoir” about an overlooked segment of his generation: draft-aged men who stayed home during the Vietnam War. “Tracing his own journey from a flag-waving Boy Scout to a disillusioned humanist wrestling with the consequences of saying ‘no’ to military service, he explores the complex pressures of family, expectations about masculine duty, and the fevered nationalism that continues to grip the United States today. This is not a tale of heroism or protest but a candid reckoning with moral ambiguity and the cost of a life-altering decision. With clarity and wit, Tuleja fills a critical gap in Vietnam War–era literature and offers a powerful reflection on what it means to be an American grappling with the legacy of patriotism and conflict.”

Jane Lynch, MFA ’84, was recently featured in Cornellians after returning to campus to deliver the 2026 Senior Convocation address. The Emmy- and Golden Globe Award-winning actor—who has been in such massive hits as Best in Show, “Glee,” and “Only Murders in the Building”—encouraged graduates to face their fears, embrace uncertainty, and pursue lives of curiosity and purpose. She also reflected on her own journey from Cornell to her career in television, film, and theater. “Now, I have found, as an adult standing here before you, that if you can get fear off your back—if you can just get out from underneath it—you unleash some awesome power,” says Jane, “and you live such a satisfying life. But that was to come. I was not there yet.”

Margaret Weitekamp, PhD ’01, was recently featured in Cornellians for her work as chair of the space history department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. Margaret oversees a collection of more than 5,000 objects and specimens, many of which are real-world space program artifacts and memorabilia, like medals and mission patches, that help visitors understand how humanity’s fascination with space has shaped both imagination and exploration. “It’s a recurring theme in American culture, this fascination with space exploration; it’s persistent, but constantly evolving,” says Margaret, whose most recent book is Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight. “It’s a cultural force for how we understand ourselves and what we project about what might be possible.”

Don Leonard, PhD ’14, is running to represent Ohio’s 15th Congressional District and advanced from his primary election earlier this spring. On his campaign site, Don writes, “I was raised by a single mom who fought hard to give me a better shot at life than the one she had. It wasn’t always easy. My childhood taught me the role that personal responsibility plays in achieving the American Dream. But it also showed me the critical importance of government safety nets, devoted public school teachers, and a little dumb luck. As an educator at the Ohio State University for the past 10 years, it’s been my duty to prepare the next generation to pursue their American Dreams. And now that I’m a dad, it’s my duty to give my daughter a better shot at life. I’m running for Congress to stand up to bullies, fight for working families, and make sure every child in Ohio’s 15th District can dream ever bigger dreams.”

Emily Teera-Hong, PhD ’19, has published a book, Borderland Solidarity: Indigenous Law, Media, and Environmental Activism in Kachinland, which follows a diverse group of activists, punk rock musicians, women farmers, and armed group leaders in Kachinland—an unrecognized state in the borderlands of Myanmar, India, China, and Thailand. According to Stanford University Press, “Through evocative storytelling and sensory ethnography, Hong’s book challenges readers to move beyond a Western lens on solidarity to ask what activists, artists, and anthropologists alike can learn from centering non-Western ways of theorizing and embodying political sensation and collective action.” Emily is an assistant professor of anthropology and visual studies at Haverford College outside Philadelphia.

Nneoma Ike Njoku, MFA ’19, has written The Water House, a gothic novel set in 1967 Nigeria. The story follows Celia, a young woman who is forced to return home after years of estrangement from her family, where long-buried secrets surrounding her brother’s death begin to resurface as civil war looms. Drawing inspiration from Jane Eyre and Rebecca, the novel blends psychological suspense with historical fiction while exploring themes of grief, identity, family, and the enduring power of the past. This is Nneoma’s first novel and will be published in October 2026.

Annie Sheng, PhD ’22, is a speculative fiction writer whose novella, Ellipses, published in August 2026 under the pen name D.A. Xiaolin Spires. Ellipses is about a woman and her space exploration team who are searching for a suitable landing spot for their orbiting spacecraft when they come across alien creatures huddled together. As the book’s blurb posits: “They do not appear to be hostile. Are they intelligent? Is this planet big enough for both them and humans?”

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Business

Claude Samani, MBA ’74, has published a new book, Veridian Station (Volume I of The Veridian Cycle), under the pen name Aris Lorncastle. This science fiction novel is set on a deep-space station in the Saturn system, where a small group of specialists must navigate “an AI apocalypse … and the cost of seeing too much,” according to the blurb. Before he began writing science fiction, Claude spent his career in international business and strategic consulting. He is currently writing the second book in the series.

David Weyant, MBA ’14, was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Law by Mount Royal University for having distinguished himself with outstanding community service throughout his career, including his ethical leadership and commitment to the wellbeing of Albertans through the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. He is currently president and CEO of Alberta Lawyers Indemnity Association, a nonprofit corporation that provides protection to its members and compensation to the public.

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Computing and Information Science

Daniela Rus, PhD ’90, PhD ’92, was recently named to the Boston Globe’s Tech Power Players 50, a list of the most influential and interesting people working across technology in New England. Daniela is an MIT roboticist whose research focuses on AI and robotics, including developing a robot chef and self-driving golf cart. At MIT she is a professor of electrical engineering and computer science and the director of the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She is also the cofounder of Liquid AI, a company that builds AI systems designed to run on everyday devices.

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Engineering

Professor Charlie Trautmann, PhD ’83, was recently featured in Cornellians for developing Engineering in the Community, a hands-on civil engineering course that gives students experience designing and building bridges for local communities. Charlie directed Ithaca’s Sciencenter for 26 years and now holds dual appointments as an adjunct professor in civil and environmental engineering in the Duffield College and in psychology in Arts & Sciences. Through the course, students have helped complete multiple public bridge projects while gaining technical, project management, and community engagement skills that extend beyond the classroom. “When I thought about rebuilding that first bridge, at Flat Rock, I thought, ‘I guess I should, because this bridge is important to the Cornell and local community, and it looks as if it’s not on anyone else’s radar,’” says Charlie. “That’s been my approach all along: spearheading projects that might not otherwise get done.”

Açmae El Yacoubi, PhD ’13, was recently featured in Cornellians for her role as a trajectory analysis, optimization, and retargeting officer for NASA’s Artemis II mission. From Mission Control, she helped provide engineering support to the flight dynamics officers responsible for planning and executing the spacecraft’s flight path. Açmae is now working on the Artemis III mission that is set to launch in 2027, continuing to fulfill her lifelong dreams inspired by her childhood fascination with space. “Like pretty much any kid, I wanted to be an astronaut, and I was stargazing for as long as I can remember,” she recalls. “I used to play around putting a stick in the ground and tracking how its shadow moved during the day.”

Thais Campos Farley, PhD ’21, cofounded a Puerto Rico-based startup with Dray Farley ’21, BS ’20. BuenoBite is a mobile food marketplace that helps local restaurants, cafés, bakeries, and other food businesses turn surplus food into additional revenue by offering it to customers through discounted “Surprise Bags.” The platform is designed to help local businesses reach new customers, make quality food more affordable, and reduce food waste across Puerto Rico.

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Graduate School

Robin Pond, GR ’76–80, became a full-time fiction writer after a career working with pension funds and investment consulting. A collection of his speculative short stories, Future Concerns, was recently published. “I have come full circle from my days as a TA in the Writing from Experience course at Cornell,” says Robin.

Alex Kwan, PhD ’09, was recently featured in Cornellians for his pioneering research into how psychedelics affect the brain. As a professor of biomedical engineering, Alex leads multidisciplinary efforts to better understand the neural mechanisms behind psychedelics, with the goal of developing safer and more effective treatments for conditions including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. “There’s a lot of excitement about using psychedelics in our society, but our actual understanding of the drug remains quite poor,” Alex says. “The promise is so great, but the thing that I strive for, and what Cornell can contribute, is the basic understanding of the science. We need to fill in the rigor that should be there to balance the promise and the excitement.”

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Law School

John Russell Uren, MEng ’68, JD ’72, moved to Bigfork, MT, where his family had a cherry orchard on Flathead Lake. The move was long-desired for him and his family after more than 40 years in Vancouver, Canada. “We purchased the old family orchard land and lakefront property, built a nice cabin on the lake, and—to expedite the development of a decent golf game—purchased a second home on the local golf course,” writes John.

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Veterinary Medicine

Jessica Smith McArt, DVM ’07, PhD ’13, has been named the Austin O. Hooey Dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. She is a professor of ambulatory and production medicine and chair of the Department of Population Medicine and Diagnostic Sciences in CVM. Jessica will succeed Lorin Warnick, PhD ’94, who has served as dean since 2016, and plans to return to research and teaching. According to a recent story in the Cornell Chronicle, she plans to “advance initiatives that combine CVM’s disciplines with other entities at Cornell to drive discovery, enhance programs that meet community and public health needs, and support students’ educational interests, among other goals.”

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Weill Cornell Medicine

George Goldmark, MD ’73, celebrated his 80th birthday with his twin brother, Harry Goldmark, MD ’73, in Aiken, SC, where Harry and his wife, Nancy Seligman Goldmark ’71, BS ’73, live with a horse, two dogs, and four mini donkeys. George lives in Boca Raton, FL, and enjoys playing tennis, golf, and working out. Both brothers are healthy and enjoying retirement after doing orthopedic surgery together for 37 years.

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Group

University Chorus & Glee Club

Sorry, men of the Glee Club—I warned you about it in the last installment—this one is for the ladies. Specifically, the alums of After Eight and the original Nothing But Treble (lovingly referred to as OGNBT) subset of the Chorus, who celebrated their 35th and 50th anniversaries, respectively, at Reunion in June.

As a participant in this incredible event, I am grateful beyond words to the many dedicated women who pulled it all together, including our fearless leader Jessica Graus Woo ’93, Kathy Heppner Trogolo ’95, Erin Flinn ’00, and many others. Many of us stayed on campus in Mews Hall, where a lovely headquarters lounge was set up (complete with electric candles and a grand piano) and used into the wee hours of the morning for singing, reminiscing, and pondering the big questions of life (you’d be surprised what comes up at two in the morning!). Others stayed in hotels and Airbnbs, or at the nearby home of Nancy Snell Weislogel ’93, who is the mother of our first After Eight legacy, Clare Weislogel ’26, BS ’25.

The alums of After Eight and the original Nothing But Treble subset of the Chorus celebrated their 35th and 50th anniversaries, respectively, at Reunion in June.

A few highlights of the weekend included: singing in the Friday night Chorus/Glee Club concert and at Cornelliana Night on Saturday (where I got up the nerve to volunteer for—and sing—a verse in “Song of the Classes”!); the History Tea, where Marsha Mortkowitz Schreier ’79 read excerpts from her newly self-published book on the history of NBT and Kate Benjamin ’93 read a letter she had written to herself at the end of After Eight’s first year—which felt like it was written exactly for this occasion; and the After Eight/OGNBT lunch, where the different eras of A8/OGNBT took turns performing songs from their time in the group. The current group kicked things off with “Life is a Highway” with the help of some more recent alums. OGNBT shared some of the songs from their day, as well as a version of “California Dreamin’” that also included current A8 members, which was heartwarming to witness. The original A8 members from the ’90s sang “Top of the World” and the 2000s performed “Crazy for Me.”

I truly wish I could recount every moment of the Reunion and name every single person who contributed to this wonderful weekend in some way. Suffice it to say—our love is here to stay! ❖ Alison Torrillo French ’95 (email Alison) | Alumni Directory.

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Top: Photo by Jason Koski / Cornell University

Published September 1, 2026