61 Our classmates are special people. Here’s news of recent awards that we’ve learned about. Irene H.S. Su So has been honored by the Cornell Asian Alumni Association. The following information comes from an article written by Susan Lang '72. The celebratory banquet was held at the Grand Harmony Palace in Manhattan ’s Chinatown , January 21, 2012. Irene, a dental surgeon, served as CAAA president 1995-97. “She was recognized for her commitment to Cornell, the Asian/Asian-American community, and CAAA, and for being instrumental in ensuring the organization’s vitality during it’s formative years. In referring to Ezra Cornell’s statement ‘I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study,’ So said, ‘The founder’s purpose for Cornell University is evident in my own experience as a woman and a first-generation Chinese immigrant, enabling me to enter the world of science and the community of educated men and women…Since my graduation, this university experience has become commonplace for persons with Asian background. But none of us should forget the value of the opportunities we have received or the wonder that we are as part of the Cornell experience.’”

Thanks to Phyllis Hubbard Jore ‘54, I have in my hands a clipping from the Sunday, January 8, 2012 Orlando Sentinel. It’s a full page spread honoring Harris Rosen as Central Floridian of the Year. I’ll quote several bits from the long article. “One of Central Florida ’s most successful and visionary businessmen and one of its most generous philanthropists. . . he has created thousands of jobs, given millions to a long list of good causes and devoted much of his personal energy to them. The story of Rosen’s rise is worthy of a Horatio Alger novel. Born in 1939, he grew up in a gritty part of Manhattan known as the Bowery. Rosen and his brother were told by their parents -- neither of whom went to college -- that education was the key ‘to make something of yourself’. It was a childhood insight that would inform his adult philanthropy. He studied diligently, swam competitively, and got accepted at Cornell University , where he earned a bachelor’s degree in Hotel Administration in 1961. After graduating, he served in the U.S. Army, where he learned about motivation and leadership.” The article goes on at great length to tell about Harris’s career from the beginning and his “giving back”. To see the article for yourself, go online to the Orlando Sentinel.

In addition we heard from Dr. Richard L. Berkowitz that he has been named a co-recipient of the 2012 King Faisal International Award for Medicine. The prize was awarded for his work in "developing effective antenatal management of alloimmune thrombocytopenia -- a potentially devastating disease that can cause life threatening intracranial bleeding prior to birth.” Bill Onorato tells us he has published his first fiction thriller The Viking Sands under the pen name Thomas Torrens. "It’s a good fast moving fun read.” The book is available on Amazon (Kindle) and Barnes & Noble (Nook). Frank Cuzzi, MBA '64  (fcuzzi@aol.com) is a professor at both Berkeley College and Baruch College in NYC. He writes “I am creating a sports management college on-line. It is called Universal Sports Education -- USE. It is at Vengo.com/UniversalSportsEducation. Sorry I had to miss the 50^th Reunion. I was at Ashley’s graduation from UC Santa Barbara.”

Joe McKay (swimmerjoe@mac.com) is also writing. “I am now living nine months on Eastern Long Island and three in Key West. Surrounded by salt water in both places, I swim, sail and kayak to my heart’s content. I am on the board of a lifetime learning organization and active in several environmental preservation organizations. These locales also provide a creative atmosphere supportive of my writing, teaching, and motivational speaking activities, new pursuits of the past ten years since I left my human resources career and life in Manhattan. In addition to short stories, poetry, and talks, I write a monthly column, ‘Crazy About Words,’ published on Long Island and in Florida and available as a free e-mail subscription. (Drop me a note at crazyaboutwords@gmail.com if you’d like to receive it.) It would be a great way for me to get in touch.” Also among the writers is Winslow Davidson, MS '62, retired principal of Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) who says “I am completing my book -- '150 years of Agricultural Education and Training in Guyana' -- thoughts and lessons from experience.”

To end this column I want to tell about our classmate and my friend Janet Ballantyne, PhD '76. She fits in with the other writers since she recently finished a history of USAID, in which service she has spent most of her working life. Her special areas have been in Central and South America, where over the years she has served in person and under a variety of conditions. Currently she is doing curriculum development and classroom teaching for diplomats for the Foreign Service Institute of the State Department. Every time she has tried to retire they call her back; but, she says “I will hang up my hat in December.” She’s had 36 years in the Foreign Service. Good on ya', Janet.

Please keep sending your news to Susan Williams Stevens, sastevens61@gmail.com; Doug Fuss , dougout@attglobal.net.