The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences honored eight alumni and faculty at the 24th annual Outstanding Alumni Awards Banquet for “applying exceptional leadership skills towards the betterment of society.”
The banquet, held at the Statler Ballroom on Friday, was hosted by the CALS Alumni Association. Over 250 people from around the country attended the event.
“The Annual Agriculture and Life Sciences Outstanding Alumni Awards Banquet is always one of the highlights of the year for the CALS Alumni Association,” said Geoffrey Yates ’77, president of the organization. “The recognition of these alumni, students and faculty is one of our most important responsibilities as an association.”
The awards recognize individuals for their leadership, community service, professional success and commitment to Cornell.
Alumni award recipients were determined by their level of success and leadership roles in their businesses or vocations, involvement and leadership in the agriculture school and contributions to society through humanitarian undertakings, according to the event’s organizers.
The Outstanding Alumni Awards are presented annually to no more than five individuals. This year’s recipients are George Gellert ’60, Thomas Kent ’71, William Lipinski ’79, Nell Mondy ’53 and David Rice ’51.
“I’m really honored by this award,” Kent said. “A lot of the other award recipients are CEO’s, while I’m just a small-time farmer from Andover, NY.”
Lipinski also felt delighted to be at the banquet. “I’m pleased at the number of people — family and colleagues — who are here,” he said. “This is just as important, if not more so, than the award.”
The Young Alumni Achievement Award, given to an alumnus under the age of 40 , was presented to Nathan Rudgers ’82.
“I’m honored and humbled. Which is more important — getting the Alumni Award or the Young Alumni Award?” Rudgers joked. “I’m on the cusp and am close to getting the Alumni Award.”
The Outstanding Faculty/Staff Award annually recognizes up to two faculty members for outstanding contribution to the college. This year’s recipients are Dale Bauman, a Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Nutritional Biochemistry, and Prof. Emeritus Kenneth Roberson ’47 in the department of agricultural, resource and managerial economics.
In addition to the alumni and faculty awards, three CALS undergraduate students were honored for high grade point averages in the 1999-2000 academic year.
The Alpha Zeta Scholarship Key, presented to biological sciences major Nieraj Jain ’03, recognizes outstanding academic performance after freshman year. The college presented the CALS Alumni Award to biological sciences student Colleen MacLachlan ’01 and the CALS Transfer Award to communication student Jesseca Margill ’02.
Archived article by Peter Lin