Outstanding Alumni Awardees
The CALS Alumni Association's Outstanding Alumni Award recognizes alumni who demonstrate outstanding and uncommon achievement in their professional field and/or distinguished civic or public service. Recipients are committed and proven leaders who are a positive reflection of CALS and Cornell.
Click here for this year's Outstanding Alumni Award winners. Past winners are listed below.
2022 Recipients
Leslie Herzog '77
Leslie Herzog earned his B.S. in food science from Cornell in 1977 and then received an M.S. in food science from Rutgers University in 1978. Upon completion of his studies, he joined Lipton/Unilever, working as principal food scientist, and after that as a Manager in Research and Development. At Unilever, he made significant contributions to the commercial success of many food products, including soups, side dishes, peanut butter, frozen complete meals, and beverages, and has been a leader in translating new technical information into successful applications for market introductions and store shelf success. Following his retirement from Unilever after more than 35 years, Herzog became the Vice President of Operations and Research Services for The Understanding & Insight Group LLC, a position he maintains today.
In the food industry, Herzog is extremely well known. He has been very active with the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT), serving on many committees and task forces as well as its executive committee, both at the local and national level. Additionally, he is a valued member of the editorial advisory board and a freelance writer for Food Processing Magazine. In 2021, he was recognized by IFT, awarded him the Distinguished Service Award in Honor of Calvert L. Willey “for his lifelong, innovative, and passionate service to IFT and the advancement of food science and technology.”
For more than thirty years, Herzog has served on the Cornell Food Science Advisory Council, including serving as chair. During his time on the Council, he has provided strong mentorship and support for food science students, including the Cornell Food Science Summer Scholar Program which, among other initiatives, recruits and retains students representing traditionally underrepresented minorities in food science. He has also encouraged and assisted Cornell’s highly successful Institute of Food Technologists Student Association product development teams, which have placed in the national finals for the last 13 years.
Philanthropy to food science at Cornell and other universities is a focus of Leslie and his wife, Jacqueline’s driving force. Starting in the early 1980s, Leslie and the Herzog/Flegenheimer family have created endowments that support food science programs, undergraduate and graduate students. As his family is fond of saying, if blood wasn’t red, it would be for Leslie given his love of Cornell and the food science program.
Nancy Roistacher ’72
Nancy Roistacher is a clinical cardiologist and echocardiographer and the medical director of the Adult Echocardiography Laboratory at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where she evaluates and manages the cardiovascular risks of cancer patients who are undergoing surgery or chemotherapy. She investigates new echocardiographic and other noninvasive cardiac modalities into the evaluation and treatment of cancer patients. She also serves as an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. Earlier in her career, she was a noninvasive cardiologist at St. Luke’s Hospital and Medical Center in Manhattan and was an assistant clinical professor at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Nancy is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology and a member of the American College of Physicians and the American Society of Echocardiography.
At Cornell, Nancy worked at the Cornell Daily Sun, was a member of Delta Phi Epsilon sorority, Ho-Nun-De-Kah, Raven and Serpent and Alpha Epsilon Delta. In her junior year, she was among the initial members of Risley Residential College.
Nancy has spent her spare time as a lifelong volunteer for Cornell. She currently serves as the president of the Class of 1972, a position she has held several times before, as well as her class reunion chair. A sustaining member of the President’s Council of Cornell Women, Nancy is in her third term as a member of the Cornell University Council.
A native of Queens, NY, Nancy earned her B.S. in biology with a concentration in genetics in 1972, received her medical degree from New York Medical College and completed her residency, internship and chief residency from St. Vincent’s Hospital and a cardiology fellowship at St. Luke’s Hospital. She and her husband, Wayne Merkelson ’73 JD ’75, have two sons, Randall ’01 and Jeremy, and four grandchildren.
John Toohey ’84
John R. Toohey, known on TV as John Morales, is an atmospheric and environmental scientist with a long tenure as a widely respected broadcast meteorologist. He also founded and is the lead certified consulting meteorologist at ClimaData, a boutique firm specializing in forensic meteorology and weather consulting.
During his 38-year career, Toohey-Morales has been proud to participate in the public, academic, and private sectors of America’s Weather Enterprise. Even though he retired this year from Florida’s legacy television station, NBC-owned WTVJ Channel 6 in Miami, he still functions as their first-ever hurricane specialist. John is also an influential climate communicator with a following in the hundreds of thousands on social media, and a climate change columnist for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. John was elected Fellow of the American Meteorological Society and was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Silver Circle for exceptional and exemplary contributions in broadcasting for over 25 years.
At Cornell, John serves on the Atkinson Center for Sustainability’s external advisory board, the CALS Advisory Board, the Cornell University Council, and is the president of his Cornell Class of 1984. Non-Cornell volunteerism includes the CLEO Institute’s board of directors in Florida, empowering communities to act on climate and champion solutions for a resilient future; and the board of directors of the Open Door Health Center in Homestead, Florida, a free clinic for the poor and uninsured.
Toohey-Morales graduated from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences as an atmospheric scientist in 1984. Extracurriculars on and off campus included the Cornell crew, WVBR and countless afterschool hours at Bradfield Hall trying to win the student weather forecasting contest. John is also an aviator with 1500 hours as a private pilot, including multiengine and instrument ratings. Recently, John attained an advanced degree in environmental science and policy at Johns Hopkins University.
Maria Van Kerkove ’99
Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove is the COVID-19 Technical Lead for the World Health Organization and the Head of Emerging Diseases and Zoonoses in WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme. She is an infectious disease epidemiologist.
Dr. Van Kerkhove’s research spans zoonotic emerging and re-emerging high threat pathogens such as avian influenza, MERS-CoV, SARS, SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, Marburg, plague and Zika. She is responsible for the health operations and technical aspects of the global COVID-19 pandemic response as well as developing strategies for the prevention, preparedness and control of epidemic and pandemic zoonotic pathogens. For more than 25 years, her research has focused on factors associated with transmission between animals and humans, the epidemiology of zoonotic pathogens, and ensuring that research directly informs public health policies for action.
Van Kerkhove completed her undergraduate degree at Cornell University, a master’s degree in epidemiology at Stanford University and a PhD in infectious disease epidemiology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Prior to joining WHO in 2017, she was the head of the Outbreak Investigation Task Force at Institut Pasteur’s Center for Global Health, in Paris, where she was responsible for establishing public health rapid response teams for infectious disease outbreaks. Her previous roles include a senior fellow at Imperial College London in the MRC Center for Outbreak Analysis and Modelling, and an epidemiologist at the Institut Pasteur in Cambodia.
Recipients Prior to 2022
CALS Alumni Association Outstanding Alumni Award Recipients Prior to 2022.
Last | First | Class Year | Year Won |
Herzog | Leslie | 1977 | 2022 |
Roistacher | Nancy | 1972 | 2022 |
Toohey | John | 1984 | 2022 |
Van Kerkhove | Maria | 1999 | 2022 |
Adelman | Michelle | 1989 | 2021 |
Arrindell | Deborah | 1979 | 2021 |
Fraser | Amy | 1984 | 2021 |
Miller | Kathleen | 1982 | 2021 |
Ferreira | Ann | 1988 | 2020 |
Fils-Aimé | Reginald | 1983 | 2020 |
Furie | Martha | 1974 | 2020 |
Winton | Jeffrey | 1980 | 2020 |
Koenig | Peggy | 1978 | 2019 |
Lattman | Jessica | 1990 | 2019 |
Preger Sellew | Lisa | 1979, MBA '79, MBA '82 | 2019 |
Rosenberg | David | 1989, MD '93 | 2019 |
Sellew | Mark | 1978 | 2019 |
Mullarkey | David | 1988 | 2018 |
Mullarkey | Kim | 1988 | 2018 |
Simon Gross | Lorette | 1989, MBA '90 | 2018 |
Teich | Natalie | 1965 | 2018 |
Thompson | Michael | 1977 | 2018 |
Braunstein | Scott | 1986 | 2017 |
Grainger | Brad | 1979 | 2017 |
Grainger | Mary | 1979, MPS '87 | 2017 |
Mackey | Catherine | 1977, PhD '83 | 2017 |
Dukart | Gary | 1976 | 2016 |
Troy | Michael | 1981 | 2016 |
Westring Pike | M. Elizabeth | PhD '83 | 2016 |
Dalrymple | Dana | 54, MS '56 | 2015 |
Everett | Elizabeth | 1997 | 2015 |
Gaffney | Catherine | 1989 | 2015 |
Magee | William | 1981 | 2015 |
Nozzolio | Michael | 73, MS '77 | 2015 |
Baccile | Peter | 1984 | 2014 |
Malchoff | Godfrey | 1943 | 2014 |
McGonigal | Jane | 50, PhD '84 | 2014 |
Mueller | George | 1954 | 2014 |
Pamkowski | Peter | 1974 | 2014 |
Ambrosia | Lynn | 79, MBA '81 | 2013 |
Bornstein | Dale | 1985 | 2013 |
Goldman | Daniel | 1987 | 2013 |
Hooker | Patrick | 1984 | 2013 |
Lamb | Jonathan | 1994 | 2013 |
Kligerman | Alan | 1952 | 2012 |
Kornet | Mitch | 1976, DVM '79 | 2012 |
Levine | Johnathan | 1976 | 2012 |
Olayan | Lubna | 1977 | 2012 |
Wagner | Kim | 1985 | 2012 |
Atkinson | David | 1960 | 2011 |
Joh | Sun Paik | MS '77 | 2011 |
Joh | Yongkeun | MS '78 | 2011 |
Marino | Thomas | 1978 | 2011 |
Mogil | Laurey | 1976 | 2011 |
Pollard | Ken | 1958 | 2011 |
Calpeter | Lynn | 1986 | 2010 |
Fessenden | Edwin | 1954 | 2010 |
Frank | Frederick | 1979 | 2010 |
Janick | Jules | 1951 | 2010 |
Manelski | Joseph | 1956 | 2010 |
Bleyler | Ruth | 1962 | 2009 |
Curtiss III | Roy | 1956 | 2009 |
Eckhardt | Lawrence | 1980 | 2009 |
Resnick | Gene | 1970, MD '74 | 2009 |
Teele | Stephen | 1972 | 2009 |
Fenstermacher | Gary | 1961, PhD '70 | 2008 |
Lele | Uma | MS '63, PhD '65 | 2008 |
McManus | Geraldine | 1978 | 2008 |
Pulver | Mary | 1980 | 2008 |
Vincent | Richard | 1959 | 2008 |
Borton | Raymond | 1953 | 2007 |
Houseknecht | Karen | PhD '94 | 2007 |
Lincoln | John | 1960 | 2007 |
Saltonstall | Peter | 1975 | 2007 |
Tobin | Robert | 1960 | 2007 |
Lamont | George | 1957 | 2006 |
O'Connell | Frank | 1965, MBA '66 | 2006 |
Rippy | Marian | MS '79 | 2006 |
Van Deusen | Marie | 1974 | 2006 |
Wilcox* | G. Harris | 1943 | 2006 |
Bishop III | C. Morton | 1974 | 2005 |
Byrnes | James | 1963 | 2005 |
Herdt | Robert | 1961 | 2005 |
Stern | Ernest | 1956 | 2005 |
Yunker | Craig | 1972 | 2005 |
Bandler | Ned | 1949 | 2004 |
Herendeen | Nathan | 1964, MS '69 | 2004 |
Malchoff | Kevin | 1974 | 2004 |
Odak | Perry | 1968 | 2004 |
Rodee | Celia | 1981 | 2004 |
Coombe, Jr. | Richard | 1964 | 2003 |
Han | In Kyu | PhD '65 | 2003 |
Holliday | Susan | 1977 | 2003 |
Jeffers | Thomas | 1963 | 2003 |
Wilkerson | L. John | MS '67, PhD '70 | 2003 |
Bickford* | Robert | MS '50 | 2002 |
Everingham* | Robert | 1941 | 2002 |
Lo | Winston | MS '67 | 2002 |
Putnam | Lloyd | 1944 | 2002 |
Tetor | David | 1965 | 2002 |
Clark | J. Thomas | 1963 | 2001 |
Dallas | Glenn | 1958 | 2001 |
Marrone | Pamela | 1978 | 2001 |
Nolan | Peter | 1980 | 2001 |
Valla | Michael | 1976 | 2001 |
Gellert | George | 1960 | 2000 |
Kent | Thomas | 1971 | 2000 |
Lipinski | William | 1979 | 2000 |
Mondy* | Nell | PhD '53 | 2000 |
Rice | David | 1951 | 2000 |
Colby* | James | 1950 | 1999 |
DeGolyer | Willard | 1969 | 1999 |
Ladd, Sr.* | Robert | 1943 | 1999 |
MacMillen | Glenn | 1954 | 1999 |
Noble | John | 1976 | 1999 |
Ashley | Stephen | 1962 | 1998 |
Bitter | Carole | 1981 | 1998 |
Hicks | Alfred | 1962, MBA '63 | 1998 |
Voss | Elwyn | 1964 | 1998 |
Wickham | Thomas | 1962 | 1998 |
Niederhauser* | John | 1939 | 1997 |
Nolan | David | 1949 | 1997 |
Offutt | Susan | 1980 | 1997 |
Ten Eyck, II | Peter | 1960 | 1997 |
Winch, Jr. | Fred | 1937 | 1997 |
Coombe, Jr. | Philip | 1958 | 1996 |
Keene | Richard | 1957 | 1996 |
Meister | Richard | 1940 | 1996 |
Mulcahy | J. Patrick | 1966 | 1996 |
Wille* | Charles | 1950 | 1996 |
Francis | Cheryl | 1976 | 1995 |
Longley-Cook* | Jane | 1969 | 1995 |
Teng-Hui | Lee | 1968 | 1995 |
Walkley* | Frank | 1943 | 1995 |
Widger | Bruce | 1951 | 1995 |
Wing | Kenneth | 1958 | 1995 |
Boek | Walter | 1946 | 1994 |
Flora | Cornelia | 1966 | 1994 |
Mix | Lewellyn | 1946 | 1994 |
Mix | Maurice | 1950 | 1994 |
Rowley | Jean | 1954 | 1994 |
Axinn | George | 1947 | 1993 |
Curtis, Jr. | Austin | 1932 | 1993 |
Gowen | Gordon | 1952 | 1993 |
Lynch* | Ronald | 1958 | 1993 |
Warner* | Richard | 1951 | 1993 |
Beard, Jr.* | Albert | 1952 | 1992 |
Brodie | Douglas | 1955 | 1992 |
Cook | Solomon | 1942 | 1992 |
Johnson | Raymond | 1954 | 1992 |
Kennedy | W. Keith | 1941 | 1992 |
Baker* | Robert | 1943 | 1991 |
Longhouse* | Alfred | 1937 | 1991 |
Riehlman | Judith | 1980 | 1991 |
Sands* | Fenton | 1942 | 1991 |
Smith* | Steve | 1935 | 1991 |
Bay | Donald | 1955 | 1990 |
Gellert | Philip | 1958 | 1990 |
Hurd* | T. Norman | 1936 | 1990 |
Kling* | Herbert | 1936 | 1990 |
Earle* | Wendell | 1948 | 1989 |
Greig* | Robert | 1936 | 1989 |
Levine | Gilbert | 1949 | 1989 |
Peck | Joseph | 1960 | 1989 |
Slusarczyk* | Edwin | 1949 | 1989 |
Abraham* | George | 1939 | 1988 |
Abraham* | Katherine | 1943 | 1988 |
Bitz | Robert | 1952 | 1988 |
Conklin | Gordon | 1949 | 1988 |
Thompson | Robert | 1967 | 1988 |
Allen | Norman | 1946 | 1987 |
Mellor | John | 1950 | 1987 |
Severinghaus* | C. William | 1939 | 1987 |
Shepardson* | E. Stanley | 1936 | 1987 |
Smith* | Robert | 1942 | 1987 |
Bondareff | Esther | 1937 | 1986 |
Hamilton, Jr.* | William | 1926 | 1986 |
LaBastille | Anne | 1955 | 1986 |
Lounsbury* | Albert | 1955 | 1986 |
Pendergast* | H. Joseph | 1938 | 1986 |
Bernays* | Edward | 1912 | 1985 |
Call | Richard | 1952 | 1985 |
Call, Jr. | Robert | 1950 | 1985 |
Dalrymple* | Daniel | 1927 | 1985 |
Neel, III | Harry | 1962 | 1985 |
Dyson | John | 1965 | 1984 |
Luders* | Clifford | 1938 | 1984 |
Warren* | Stanley | 1927 | 1984 |
Wigginton | B. Eliot | 1965 | 1984 |
Wiley* | Frank | 1944 | 1984 |
Brody | Jane | 1962 | 1983 |
Carter* | Julian | 1937 | 1983 |
McClintock* | Barbara | 1923 | 1983 |
Robinson, Sr.* | Donald | 1941 | 1983 |
Sipher | Erton | 1943 | 1983 |
Davis | Lloyd | 1942 | 1982 |
Edick* | Glenn | 1940 | 1982 |
Jones* | Robert | 1982 | |
Potter* | Bernard | 1943 | 1982 |
Smith, II* | William | 1938 | 1982 |
Fuerst* | Myron | 1929 | 1981 |
Talmage | John | 1952 | 1981 |
Adams* | Mort | 1933 | 1980 |
Creal* | Harold | 1919 | 1980 |
Wickham* | Don | 1924 | 1979 |
Shaul* | Max | 1942 | 1978 |
King* | Joseph | 1936 | 1977 |