Seven are honored with the Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award

Seven distinguished Cornell alumni have been selected to receive the 2000 Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award, which recognizes their outstanding, long-term service to Cornell volunteer activities.

The 2000 recipients of the award, established in 1994 in the name of President Emeritus Frank H.T. Rhodes, are: Marguerite Moore Baker '45 and W. McNeill Baker '43; Marcia Goldschlager Epstein '64; William F. Fuerst, Jr. '39, M.S. '61; Richard J. Keegan '49; Curtis S. Reis '56; and Carmen Luz Santiago de Ramos M.S. '63.

The award winners, all of whom have been extremely active in their clubs, classes, schools and colleges since graduation, will be recognized at a reception and dinner Friday, Sept. 22, on campus during Homecoming weekend.

Marguerite Moore Baker and W. McNeill (Mac) Baker

Lifetime members of the University Council, Mac and Marguerite Baker have served Cornell for nearly 40 years. Both were active in Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network activities as interviewers, with Marguerite serving as the Maryland committee chair for two decades until she "retired" to become the Baltimore region chair until 1999. They are particularly supportive of their respective Cornell clubs, where both have served all the offices. Marguerite was president of the Cornell Club of Baltimore (women) before it merged with the Cornell Club of Maryland (men). Mac was the last president of that club and the first president of the combined Cornell Club of Maryland. Both are still active board members. Mac was appointed scholarship committee chair of the Federation of Cornell Clubs in 1979 and served in that capacity until 1997. In 1994, the Cornell Club of Maryland recognized the couple by renaming its endowed scholarship after them.

Marcia Goldschlager Epstein

Inspiring enthusiasm among her fellow Cornellians is one of Epstein's many talents. She has served as the general chair or co-chair of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network in the Philadelphia area for almost 20 years, guiding hundreds of volunteers. In 1991 she was one of eight alumni to receive the first Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network Recognition Award. Epstein was a steering committee member of the "CU in Philadelphia in 1993" events and chair of the gala dinner. The Cornell Club of Greater Philadelphia named an undergraduate scholarship in her honor in 1995; she was also recognized in 1984 with the G. Ruhland Rebmann Jr. Award for outstanding service to the club. She has served as secretary and vice president of the Class of '64, on the administrative board of the University Council and is a member of the steering committee of the President's Council of Cornell Women.

William F. Fuerst Jr.

A man whose Cornell interests are broad and deep, Fuerst has been especially nurturing and supportive of the university's students for more than 50 years. He cherishes his relationships with undergraduates to whom he provides scholarship support and life-long friendship. He established the first student worker awards at Cornell University Library and has served as an adviser to generations of Beta Sigma Rho fraternity brothers and student-athletes. His love of the Cornell Plantations once prompted him to buy a watering truck to keep Cornell's natural areas ever green. Serving as treasurer of the Class of '39 since 1974, he remains the lynchpin of his class in Ithaca. He is a life member of the University Council, an active College of Agriculture and Life Sciences alumnus, a member of the Continuous Reunion Club and a Foremost Benefactor of Cornell.

Richard J. Keegan

Keegan is a life member of the University Council who has been an officer of Cornell clubs wherever he has resided. He is a dedicated member of the Class of '49, serving as president, vice president, secretary, class correspondent and reunion chair. He is a past president of the Cornell Association of Class Officers, a frequent lecturer at the Johnson Graduate School of Management and the School of Hotel Administration and a Cornell Entrepreneur and Personal Enterprise program mentor. A well-known contributor and member of the Cornell Magazine committee, he also is a member of the Athletic Advisory Board. He has been actively involved with many Cornell groups, including the Cornell Alumni Federation, the Cornell Connection Program, the Cornell Fund, the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network, the Cayuga Society, trustee subcommittees and with recent undergraduate class councils.

Curtis S. Reis

A three-term University Council member and past vice chair, Reis is one of Cornell's most creative advocates. He was founder of Cornell's Adult University, established the West Coast Tower Club dinner and introduced the concept of "phonathons" to the Cornell Fund. He created the first conference for regional Cornell leaders. He was elected a university trustee in 1983 and is now an emeritus trustee. He has served on the College of Arts and Sciences Council for over 25 years and is a member of the Department of Astronomy's Advisory Committee. He has brought Cornell professors to California for 11 different educational weekends. He helped lead the fund raising, design and completion of the Reis Tennis Center. He served as president of the Class of '56 from 1959 to 1981 and on the Cornell Club of Los Angeles board for almost 20 years.

Carmen Luz Santiago de Ramos

Santiago de Ramos has been one of Cornell's most dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers in Puerto Rico for the past 20 years. She is a three-term University Council member and has served on the President's Council of Cornell Women since 1990. She was a member of the President's Council of Cornell Women's Student Life Committee and Student Leadership Committee. Instrumental in the founding of the Cornell Club of Puerto Rico, she has been a board member since 1991. Also a key leader for local and Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network activities, she is responsible for organizing an annual visit to Arecibo for incoming Cornell freshmen from Puerto Rico. With her family, she has hosted Cornell presidents as well as several deans. She received the Helen Bull Vandervort Alumni Achievement Award for service to the College of Human Ecology in 1997.