Seven alumni named recipients of Cornell's top volunteer service award
The Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Awards honor alumni who have provided extraordinary service to Cornell through significant and long-term volunteer activities and leadership. Photo: University Photography file photo.
Seven alumni have been named this year's recipients of the university's top award for volunteer service to Cornell.
Now in its 21st year, the Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Awards honor alumni who have provided extraordinary service to Cornell through significant and long-term volunteer activities and leadership within the university's alumni organizations.
"Cornell is fortunate to benefit from the efforts of more than 15,000 alumni, parents, and friends who offer their talents, skills and leadership to strengthen our university," says Jim Mazza '88, associate vice president of alumni affairs.
"This year's Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award winners each have made a profound and lasting impact on our alma mater and on the lives of many other Cornellians. The depth and duration of their commitment continues to inspire all of us who love Cornell."
The award winners will be recognized at a dinner in their honor on Friday, Sept. 18 during Homecoming Weekend on campus. The program, named in honor of the university's ninth president, was established in 1994 by the Cornell Alumni Association, with the endorsement of the Cornell Board of Trustees.
Adelman
The 2015 recipients are:
Deborah Gerard Adelman '71 first engaged as a volunteer with the President's Council of Cornell Women, leading the organization as chair from 2003-05. She is a dedicated member of the Class of 1971 and has served as a member of the College of Human Ecology Advisory Council. She was elected to the Cornell University Council in 2000 and continues her leadership with this organization as co-chair of the Mentoring and Orientation Committee and a member of the Cornell Alumni Trustee Nominations Committee.
Akabas
Shelley Epstein Akabas '51 is a life member of the Cornell University Council and has wide and varied volunteer interests at Cornell. She is a founding member of the board of Cornell's Adult University and was also instrumental in the formation of the Cornell Association of Class Officers, serving on its board for 10 years. She is a devoted leader of the Class of 1951 and a member emerita of the advisory council for the School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
Falvey
Mary Falvey '63 is a university trustee emerita and a presidential councillor. She was a founding member of the President's Council of Cornell Women and an early supporter of Cornell Silicon Valley, serving as an emerita member of its advisory board. She has served in key volunteer leadership positions for the College of Arts and Sciences and Entrepreneurship at Cornell, as well as on the Fraternities and Sororities Advisory Council. An emerita member of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management's advisory council, she was appointed as the school's first female executive-in-residence in 1992.
Gratz
William F. Gratz '53 is a Foremost Benefactor of Cornell who has championed student financial aid. He is a life member of the Cornell University Council, having served on five of its committees, and has been active with Cornell's Adult University for nearly 20 years. He was secretary and treasurer of the Cornell Society of Engineers and serves as treasurer for the Class of 1953. He is the director of the Cornell Club of Fairfield County and previously was president of the Cornell Alumni Association of Westchester.
Peter and Nancy Meinig.
Peter '61 and Nancy '62 Meinig together have advanced Cornell's mission since their earliest involvement in regional activities and as co-chairs of the Parents Fund to their most recent roles as co-chairs of the university's sesquicentennial committee. Peter was elected a trustee chairman emeritus and presidential councillor in 2012 after helping to guide the university through a challenging period of its history and playing an integral role in Cornell's successful bid for the Cornell Tech campus in New York City. He is a member of the Board of Overseers at Weill Cornell Medical College, an active volunteer leader with the College of Engineering, and a leader for the Class of 1961.
Nancy is a life member of the Cornell University Council, a presidential councillor, and a sustaining member of the President's Council of Cornell Women. She is a recipient of the Helen Bull Vandervort Award for outstanding service to the College of Human Ecology, where she has served as a member of the Advancement Committee. She is an instrumental leader of the Class of 1962 and, most recently, joined the Johnson Museum of Art Advisory Council.
Nancy and Pete chaired the Tower Club from 1992 to 1996, starting a great tradition of couples chairing this giving society. The Meinigs founded the Meinig Family Cornell National Scholars Program and most recently endowed the Nancy E. and Peter C. Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering.
Moore
Elizabeth D. Moore '75 is a presidential councillor and a trustee emerita. As a trustee, she served on five committees and worked to increase and strengthen diversity, chairing the Minority Alumni Initiative Implementation Committee. She also has led the Black Alumni Association of Cornell and the Cornell Alumni Association of New York. She is a long-standing member of the President's Council of Cornell Women and the advisory council of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. In 2003, she received the Judge William B. Groat Award, ILR's highest alumni honor.
Diane Lebo Wallace is a writer for the divisions of Alumni Affairs and Development and of Student and Campus Life.