2007-2008 Alumni Leadership and Service Awards

Jerry Ringer '59

Presented by Lisa Naaktgeboren '90, President of the Alumni Association
Homecoming Convocation
October 10, 2009

Jerry Ringer, your generous nature and steady reliability have made you a highly effective leader on the Hilltop over most of your lifetime. You have never not known Cornell, having grown up in Mount Vernon the son of a Cornellian.

You graduated Phi Beta Kappa 50 years ago, and after medical school and a residency, established your ophthalmology practice in Bloomington, Ill., and immediately began service on the Cornell Alumni Association Board of Directors. Ten years later, in 1980, you were elected to Cornell's Board of Trustees and served nine three-year terms. Your distinguished service includes chairing the board from 1999 to 2002.

You and your wife Carole, an honorary alumna, have helped finance virtually every major campaign and major campus project over those years. From chairing the 1990's Program for Cornell campaign, to honoring your parents with the Ringer Recital Studio, to creating the Ringer Distinguished Professorship, your support and leadership is exemplary.

Throughout the years you have been a leader in Bloomington-Normal civic enterprises, your local Presbyterian church, and your state and local professional organizations. You are past president of the Kiwanis Club, president of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival Board, and president of Senior Professionals, which serves Illinois State University. Cornell, as well as your local community, is indeed fortunate to be the recipient of your generosity and leadership. For all you have done, we award you Cornell's Leadership & Service Award. Thank you, Jerry.

Class Agents

Presented by Lisa Naaktgeboren '90, President of the Alumni Association
Homecoming Convocation
October 10, 2009

Elizabeth Hoyer Beeman '69

Cornell's class agents serve as a vital link between the college and its alumni. Class agents' letters share news of the campus and classmates, encourage classmates to support the college financially to ensure the continued quality of the Cornell experience, and help to deepen alumni ties to the Hilltop. The personal touch class agents provide through shared memories and experiences cannot be duplicated by any other program.

Today we recognize Liz Hoyer Beeman, Class Agent for 35 years for the Class of '69, with a Leadership and Service Award. Liz teaches English and speech at Union High School in Tusla, Oklahoma, where she was department chair for 15 years and Teacher of the Year in 1995. Last year Liz was nominated by a former student and honored as one of three recipients of the Secondary School Teacher Prize from the University of Tulsa. She and Jim Beeman, Class of '70, have three sons and five grandchildren.

Thank you, Liz, for your lighthearted class letters and your commitment to the college and your classmates over many years. Congratulations on your Leadership & Service Award.