Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award

Six alumni to be honored with Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award

Six distinguished Cornell alumni have been selected to receive the 2001 Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award, which recognizes their outstanding, long-term service to Cornell and university volunteer activities.

The 2001 recipients of the award, established in 1994 in the name of President Emeritus Frank H.T. Rhodes, are: Jerome Alpern '49, MBA '50; Anthony B. Cashen '57, MBA '58; Lewis M. Drusin M.D. '64; William V. Eaton '61; Joan H. Ferreira '51; and William E. Phillips '51.

The award winners, all of whom have been very active in their clubs, classes, schools and colleges since graduation, will be recognized at a reception and dinner on campus at the Statler Hotel, Oct. 12, during Homecoming weekend.

Jerome Alpern

A member of the first class to enroll in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Alpern was a member of the dean's advisory council and co-chaired both the school's 40th Anniversary Committee and the ILR Founders Fund Committee. His family established, and he continues to support, the first scholarship fund at the school. For the class of '49, he has served as treasurer and 30th reunion co-chair and permanent chair of its nominating committee. He is also a life member of the Cornell University Council and a loyal alumnus of the Johnson Graduate School of Management. He was a member of the Johnson School's Executive Council and has served for many years on the Class of '50 Council.

Anthony Cashen

In 1993 then-President Rhodes asked Cashen to lead a group of alumni, faculty, students and administrators in an in-depth examination of Cornell's residential Greek system. Their findings, recommendations and initiatives have led to a renaissance of the Greek system consistent with President Hunter Rawlings' Undergraduate Residential Initiative. Cashen continues to serve as chair of the trustee-appointed, 22-member Fraternity and Sorority Advisory Council. Together with trustee John Dyson, he was instrumental in raising funds to endow the position of associate dean for Greek life and in securing funding for programs within that office. He serves as a director of the Cornell Research Foundation, is a member of the Entrepreneurship and Personal Enterprise Advisory Council and the University Council.

Lewis Drusin

Drusin has served on the Weill Medical College's Admissions Committee, Internship Advisory Committee and, until very recently, was chair of the Medical College Fund Committee. From 1974 to 1992, he was an associate editor of the Medical College Quarterly. Over the years, he has held virtually every position in the Cornell Medical College Alumni Association, including president. In addition, he has found time to work on the Faculty Physician Subcommittee of the New Horizons for Medicine capital campaign and serve on the Advisory Committee of the CUMC Community Service Program. He currently is chair of the Financial Aid Committee and executive chair of the Alumni Leadership and Outreach Committee.

William Eaton

Eaton is an active member of the Cornell Hotel Society, having served as an officer and then president from 1993 to 1994, and he was the correspondent for the Hotel School class of 196l. He is a frequent guest lecturer at the Hotel School and led the design of new food-service facilities at the Statler. He also teaches in the summer Executive Education Program. For more than 30 years, Eaton has been an active member of the Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassadors Network; 10 years as chair of the Maryland committee. As a three-term member of the University Council, he worked on the Admissions, International, and Environment subcommittees. He was co-chair of the Hotel School's Cornell Campaign Committee, served as Major Gifts Committee co-chair for the Class of '61's 40th reunion and is a member of the Cornell Club of Maryland.

Joan Ferreira

Ferreira was a three-term member of the University Council, serving on numerous committees. Alumni then elected her to the Cornell Board of Trustees (1987-1991) and she is now a trustee emeritus. During the Cornell Campaign, she was a member of the Human Ecology, City, and Special Gifts Campaign committees and the Campus Life Campaign Steering Committee. She has served the College of Human Ecology in many ways, including a term as chair of its Advisory Council. In 1993, the college honored her with the Helen Bull Vandervort Alumni Achievement Award. She has served as director of the Federation of Cornell Clubs, president of her class, a board member of the Cornell Association of Class Officers and participated in the Alumni-in-Residence program. Currently she serves on the Cornell Catholic Community Leadership Council.

William Phillips

Phillips has long served Cornell as a member of the University Council, the Cornell Board of Trustees, the Athletics Advisory Council and the Johnson School Advisory Council, among others. He has volunteered his expertise in advertising and marketing for numerous Cornell projects, including the recent scholarship campaign. He is a charter member of the Cornell Club-New York and has been co-chair of the Cayuga Society since its inception in 1993. In 1987, he and Bill Kay established the Frederick Marcham Scholarship Fund in honor of the late professor. Phillips served as chair of the Outdoor Education Advisory Board, and the Phillips Outdoor Program Center, dedicated in 1993, was named in his honor. He also was vice chair of Cornell's 125th Anniversary Celebration in 1991, which helped launch the record-setting $1.5 billion campaign.

October 11, 2001