Alumni Recognized with Highest Honor for Service
Each Homecoming, Cornell honors its most dedicated graduates. The Frank H. T. Rhodes Awards for Exemplary Alumni Service—bestowed by the CAA and named for Cornell's ninth president—recognize a lifetime of selfless service to Cornell. This year's honorees gave their time in a wide variety of ways—serving their local clubs, their classes, Cornell Plantations, Big Red athletics, the Board of Trustees, and more.
At a ceremony hosted by CAA President Stephanie Keene Fox '89 and attended by President David Skorton, these six alumni shared their motivations for devoting their time to Cornell. Frank Rhodes himself was on hand to pay tribute to Jim Hazzard '50, who had passed away a few weeks earlier—and who, as director of alumni affairs, helped establish the awards.
Robert Abrams '53
When Bob Abrams's daughter was in first grade, she was asked to explain her father's job. "My dad works for Cornell," she replied. That wasn't his full-time job at the time (he was running his own real estate firm). But given the amount of time he contributed to Cornell, it's no surprise a seven-year-old would come up with that response.
Take a look at Abrams's impressive volunteer resume and you'll understand why. He's a past president of CAANYC. He has served on advisory councils for Architecture, Art, and Planning; Arts and Sciences; and athletics. He's a founder of the Cornell Real Estate Council and the Cornell Real Estate Investment Subcommittee, on which he still serves. The capstone of his service to the University has been his thirteen-year membership on the Board of Trustees; he is currently a Presidential Councilor. In 1992, Abrams joined the faculty of the Department of City and Regional Planning and helped found the Program in Real Estate, serving as its director for five years. "Cornell has been central to my life, exceeded only by devotion to my family," he says. "Actually, it is part of my family."
Walter Bruska '50
Walt Bruska enrolled at Cornell as a married student following his service in World War II. He then began working at the University—first as an end coach for the football team, then as an associate director in development, then as a special assistant to President Deane Malott, and finally as director of development. In the Sixties he left to take a series of posts in higher education, but everywhere he went, he stayed involved with Cornell. "Whenever I'm asked where I went to school," Bruska said at the Rhodes Awards ceremony, "I reply with the deepest pride, 'Cornell University.' "
Bruska has held various leadership roles for the Class of 1950, including ten years as its president. He was instrumental in starting two regional clubs, those of Vermont and Alaska. A life member of the University Council, he serves on the Athletics Advisory Committee and on the board of directors of the Cornell Football Association. Said Bruska: "The debt of gratitude I have to Cornell will never be fully repaid."
Anne Evans Estabrook '65, MBA '66 "Fifty years ago yesterday, I stepped on to this campus for the first time," Anne Evans Estabrook said as she accepted her Rhodes Award. "I was seventeen. I was the first in my family to attend college. It was my first time away from home. My life had changed and I had to adjust, and adjust I did. Fast forward twenty-five years. It was time for me to give back and show Cornell how much I appreciated all it had done to mold me into the adult I had become."
And give back she has. Estabrook has served on the Board of Trustees as well as on the Medical College Board of Overseers. She has worked in a variety of capacities for the advisory councils of the ILR school and the Johnson School, and is a member of the President's Council of Cornell Women (PCCW). In accepting her award, Estabrook said she wanted to create a culture of volunteerism, one generation at a time. She has indeed set a fine example for others to follow.
Muriel "Micki" Bertenthal Kuhs '61
During her four-year tenure as president of the Cornell Alumni Federation (now the CAA), Micki Kuhs would often lead the meetings with a tiara on her head. The crown was there not because Micki thought of herself as royalty, but to remind the board not to take themselves too seriously. But one thing Micki has always taken seriously is her commitment to Cornell.
A longtime leader among Chicago alumni, she is known for hosting scholarship dinners at her home and book club meetings at her office. She is a member of PCCW, currently serves on the administrative board of the University Council, and chaired the 2011 Trustee Council annual meeting planning committee. "What keeps me involved?" Kuhs muses. "In my mind, there are two things: education and relationships. We all have one thing in common: we came here to get educated. We carry that on throughout our lives and we learn to follow a path of intelligent inquiry and civil discussion. Then there are the relationships—among students, faculty, alumni, and staff. We each find something as an alumnus that turns us on and keeps us at work in the volunteer community."
Ginny Wallace Panzer '55
Ginny Panzer has served on the board of the Cornell Club of Northern New Jersey, as '55 class correspondent, and now as vice president of her class. She has also been a tireless fundraiser for her class campaign, the Johnson Museum, the College of Human Ecology, and the Plantations. A life member of the University Council, she is also a past board member of the CAA. Panzer said she was thrilled to receive the recognition. "I am doubly honored," she said at the ceremony. "First, to receive an award named for Frank H. T. Rhodes; second, for something I love and enjoy doing. Thank you, Cornell, for fifty-six years of wonderful and exciting experiences."
Steven Siegel '68
Steve Siegel is a volunteer for all seasons; there's hardly an area of Cornell volunteer activities that he has not been involved in. He started with the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network—first in New Jersey, then in Manhattan, and eventually as general chair for New York City. He has served on the boards of the former CAA of New York City and helped create its successor, NYC Cornellians. A vice president of the CAA, he is also president of the Class of 1968. He is a longtime member of the Cornell Hillel board and serves on the University Council. Siegel has overseen the Cornell University Gay and Lesbian Alumni Association for more than thirty years, steering it through its initial creation to its current status as one of Cornell's main diversity alumni organizations. "My alumni volunteer activities have enabled me to meet, collaborate with, learn from, and become dear friends with an amazing community of Cornellians," he says. "These alumni, students, staff, and faculty have enriched my life as a Cornell alumnus."
Meet the Cornell Alumni Association Board
Heather Knauss Wells '02
Position: Director at Large
Location: Los Angeles, California
Profession: Assistant director of alumni relations, Loyola Mary-mount University
Cornell major: Human development and family studies
First volunteer experience: Cornell Club of Los Angeles, young alumni events
Current activities: Cornell Club of Los Angeles board, Cornell Alumni Student Mentoring Program, Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network
Favorite place on campus: Sage Chapel, for its beauty, serenity, and the memories I have of making beautiful music there as part of the Cornell Chorus
Favorite professor: Tracy Mitrano (Family Law), JD '95, because she taught us to simply love learning
Kim Jones Gilliam '98, MBA '02
Position: Director from the Region, Mid-Atlantic
Location: Alexandria, Virginia
Profession: Association and communications management
Cornell major: Applied economics and management
First volunteer experience: Johnson School alumni class officer and reunion co-chair
Current activities: University Council member, Johnson School '02 reunion chair
Favorite place on campus: Behind Uris Library looking down Libe Slope. I love seeing where my days at Cornell began on West Campus with the backdrop of Ithaca and Cayuga Lake beyond.
Favorite professor: Ralph Christy (AEM), for taking me under his wing when I changed majors sophomore year, transferring from Engineering to CALS. He took a personal interest in helping me navigate the curriculum and requirements to ensure my success in studying business and marketing.
More profiles of CAA board members will appear in future issues.
Remembering Helen "Happy" Keane Reichert '25
The worst thing about Prohibition was that it codified in the American psyche that if you did something illegal, you would become rich."
Those were the first words spoken to me by (then) 102-year-old Helen "Happy" Reichert. Happy stood up as I entered the room, looked me in the eye, and asked if I understood how important those words were. "Alice," she said, "it became fashionable to break the law." In retrospect, right there, I learned so much about Happy.
Brilliantly smart, in command of the room; realist, teacher, mentor; all wrapped in fashion, however it was defined era to era; morphing with it, critiquing it, influencing it, ever living in the moment.
Happy's second sentence to me: "I bet I will shock you, Alice, when I tell you that I had a flask at Cornell!"
I laughed, "Happy, I had a flask at Cornell too—a rather fancy one from Gucci, silver and leather, a gift from my father, Class of 1931, seemingly to ensure that I would not (in 1962) drink bad bathtub gin." Happy and I bonded instantly.
As co-founder of Cornell's oral history project, I had flown to Ithaca to record Happy's story. I remember everything about that first meeting, and every one after.
Happy was not supposed to go to college—until a mentor urged her mother to send her. In a flurry, she took math, science, and other "non-female" courses during her last high school summer. At Cornell she rowed crew, was active in theater, was asked out by dapper future movie star Franchot Tone '27, played bridge, smoked cigarettes, worked to pay for those cigarettes, ate pie à la mode, studied under renowned history professor Carl Becker, and chose not to join a sorority. "Oh, Alice," she told me, "the girls were nice, and it was fine. But I didn't want a slice of the pie; I wanted the whole pie. I was being allowed into classes taught by men, and that meant the world was opening up to me. And I wanted it all." She and her female classmates bobbed their hair and emerged into a new era. After graduating Phi Beta Kappa from Arts and Sciences, Happy became a writer, hosted an award-winning television show, taught history of theater costume design at NYU, and married a prominent cardiologist, Philip Reichert, MD '23.
When I asked how often she had been back to Cornell, Happy replied, "Haven't thought of the place in eighty years!" Startled, I asked, "Why now?" Happy laughed. "Cornell found me," she said. And it did, and Happy rediscovered Cornell. "I don't know why I haven't come back before," she said. "Cornell made my whole life, professional and personal, possible. It gave me the world."
At 102, Happy came to campus to visit Alice Cook House. She shared 'smores, Twenties-era stories, and her varsity crew photos with students. They embraced her history and passion for the future, and she avidly returned that embrace.
On her 105th birthday, Happy— with glee and relish—led the Big Red Band's Sy Katz '31 Parade down Fifth Avenue with President David Skorton. Students, alumni, family, friends, New Yorkers, and tourists seemed to sense that something unique was happening in the city, and someone unique was leading the way. As an early 110th birthday gift, Cornell named the guest suite at Carl Becker House in her honor—so that, in spirit, she might return to the living/learning "classroom" of her beloved professor
Happy passed away in September at the age of 109. I shall miss her profoundly and cherish our found friendship. And I shall carry the impact of Happy's intelligence and vitality—and her glorious panache—with me always.
— Alice Katz Berglas '66
Alumni Leaders to Convene in D.C.
The annual Cornell Alumni Leadership Conference, now in its third year, will host hundreds of alumni volunteers from around the world in Washington, D.C., January 27-29. A dynamic weekend schedule includes training sessions to develop volunteer skills, as well as sessions that explore best practices for expanding engagement. A full day of session tracks is planned for class leaders, regional club leaders, chairs from the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN), and affinity, diversity, and young alumni leaders. Reunion classes will also spend a day planning details for June.
President David Skorton and vice president for student and academic services Susan Murphy '73, PhD '94, are expected to speak about the University's most pressing issues. The weekend would not be complete without the presentation of the Bill Vanneman '31 Award, given annually to a veteran class leader for commitment to class activities. This year's CALC will also include a special Saturday event featuring a call to action from President Skorton as the University launches its "Cornell Now" fundraising campaign. This Saturday lunch event, as well as a Friday afternoon panel, will be open to D.C.-area alumni in addition to CALC attendees.
The conference will again be held at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. Registration and additional details are available at www.alumni.cornell.edu/calc/ .