This spring, Cornell’s LGBT Alumni Association (CUGALA) will be honoring William F. Gratz ’53 and James A. Bruno with the Steven W. Siegel ’68 Award.

Bill and Jay have been longtime Cornell volunteers and members of CUGALA, whose dedication and generosity have benefitted many areas of the university.

For many years, Bill and Jay have played an important role in advancing Cornell’s fundraising and generously and consistently supporting CUGALA’s campus partners.  Bill and Jay have been staunch supporters of financial aid and scholarship opportunities for Cornell students, including but not limited to establishing the William F. Gratz Cornell Tradition Fellowship in 1983 and the James A. Bruno Cornell Tradition Fellowship in 1998.

As active participants in their local communities, Bill has also served as the director of the Cornell Club of Fairfield County and he and Jay regularly engage with local LGBTQ+ organizations and events in Connecticut.  When they lived in New York, Bill served as president of the Cornell Alumni Association of Westchester.

In 2015, Bill was presented with Cornell’s Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award, an extremely prestigious award presented to only six (6) alumni annually in recognition of extraordinary service to Cornell through long-term volunteer activity.  We were so proud to see a CUGALA member recognized by the University in such a significant way, and we remain grateful to Bill and Jay for helping pave the way towards ever-increasing LGBTQ+ inclusion at our alma mater.

As CUGALA gears up for our 2nd all-alumni Reunion, Bill is also helping to plan his 65th Reunion with the Class of 1953.  We look forward to honoring Bill and Jay with the Steven W. Siegel ’68 Award on May 5th in New York City, and then seeing them back on the hill at Reunion in June!

Location: Pera Brasserie, 303 Madison Avenue, NYC

Questions: diversity-aad@cornell.edu