Three alums honored with awards for their ILR School service

Francis N. Bonsignore, senior vice president of human resources and administration for Marsh and McLennan Cos., has been awarded the 2000 Judge William B. Groat Alumni Award by Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Award winners, from left, L. William Kay II, Francis N. Bonsignore and Robert H. Bluestein. Dewey Neild

The Groat Award, named for the New York State Supreme Court justice who was instrumental in the founding of the ILR School and in drafting its charter, is presented annually to an ILR graduate who has demonstrated exceptional professional accomplishment in the field of industrial and labor relations and service to the school.

Bonsignore received a B.S. from the ILR School in 1968 and a master of public administration degree in 1971 from Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, then called the Graduate School of Business and Public Administration. He was honored April 11 at a dinner at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City.

At Cornell, Bonsignore served as chair of the ILR Advisory Council and continues as a member of the council. In addition he is a member of the Cornell Council administrative board, chair of the council's Public Relations Committee and chair of the Cornell Club of New York board of directors.

In Washington, D.C., Bonsignore is chairman of the Employee Benefits Research Institute, a non-partisan research organization.

Also at the April 11 event, the ILR School formally announced two recipients of its Jerome Alpern Distinguished Alumni Award: Robert H. Bluestein and L. William Kay II. The award is presented annually to recognize extraordinary service and support to the school by alumni whose professions are primarily outside the field of industrial and labor relations.

Bluestein earned a B.S. from the ILR School in 1967 and an MBA from the University of Michigan in 1969. He is the president of R.H. Bluestein & Co., an investment consulting firm in Birmingham, Mich.

Kay received a B.S. from the ILR School in 1951 and is a real estate developer and managing partner for Drexelbrook Associates, the third largest apartment complex in the Philadelphia area.