Jack Lowe receives a retirement tribute after 38 years at CU

By David Brand

For 38 years Jack Lowe has toiled in the Cornell bureaucracy, rising from junior contract officer to executive vice provost for research, in between directing the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP). With so many years of decision-making and negotiating behind him, it might be thought that retirement would be a time to leave the hectic life behind.

President Hunter Rawlings, left, was among those honoring Jack Lowe, executive vice provost for research, during a retirement party Jan. 29 in the A.D. White House. Robert Barker/University Photography

Hardly. Consider the fact that Jack Lowe is a master builder of model ships. He is a cabinet-maker who can fashion chairs and tables after simply looking at a photograph. He is a carpenter who takes joy in fixing up his summer home in New Hope. He is an outdoorsman and bird-watcher, a fan of Cornell polo and a passionate squash player. And he and his wife, Janet, are devoted to their three children, James, Christopher and Karen, and six energetic grandchildren.

"I'm hardly going to dye my hair purple and hang out on the Commons," he said, laconically.

On Jan. 29, Cornell honored the man who has spent his life building things, whether it be model ships or an extraordinary record of helping to attract the funding that has made Cornell one of the world's great research institutions. Said President Hunter Rawlings at the retirement party for Lowe at the A.D. White House on campus: "Jack is a consummate professional. He doesn't just tell you want you want to hear. He always tells you the truth he really is a person of tremendous integrity."

In fact Lowe officially retired on Jan. 2 and has been working part time as executive vice provost for research until a successor is appointed. He wanted to retire a year ago, but was persuaded to stay on by Robert Richardson, vice provost for research. At the reception, Richardson presented Lowe with a pair of birdwatching binoculars, while noting: "One of the reasons I have enjoyed my job is because of the regular contact with Jack and his never-failing good humor he is one of the most loyal Cornellians around."

Replying to the tributes from other colleagues -- ranging from Denise Clark (who took over from Lowe as director of the OSP in February 2000) to Norman Scott, professor of agriculture and biological engineering (who served for nine years as vice president for research), Lowe said: "My years at Cornell have been extremely rewarding. I will miss the daily associations with all of you. We're all a very small family, and it's that I'm going to miss."

Lowe was born in New York City and graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in animal science and agricultural economics (he had dual majors) in 1956. It was a memorable two days, he recalls. On the Sunday he was married in Annabel Taylor Hall to Janet Wolff; on the Monday morning he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army; two hours later he and his new wife graduated from Cornell.

He spent seven years on active duty in the army, in Spokane, Wash., and in Germany, retiring in February 1963 as a captain. The next month he traveled to Cornell to seek employment advice from the placement office and "fell into" a job on campus as a projects representative in the Coordinator of Research Office, the forerunner of the OSP. He became director of administration and finance in the College of Arts and Sciences in 1977, associate vice president for research and director of the OSP in 1986 and executive vice provost in 1998.

During this time he has worked in the administration of five of Cornell's 10 presidents, from Deane Malott to Hunter Rawlings. And he has seen many changes in the university. "The biggest change is the physical facilities. There are lots of buildings that weren't here 38 years ago, and there is a larger student body."

Research has become a much larger part of Cornell's activities, he commented. Indeed, since he arrived on campus in 1963, Cornell's research expenditures have shot up from $26.8 million to $283 million in 2000. Also, he noted, dealing with sponsors has grown in complexity. "Intellectual property issues are so much more complicated than they once were, and liability issues have become a much greater concern."

Above all, as Lowe looks forward to his actual retirement -- when he no longer walks to his Day Hall office from his Belle Sherman home -- what he will miss most are "people and associations." Their personalities and their interests, he said, "have made Cornell a very rewarding place to be."