Awards Committee 2021
I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to everyone who participated with the awards committees and to the Office of Alumni Affairs. The Awards Ceremony, held on February 10, 2021, was the grand finale in a 10 day series of events for the Cooper Together Block Party. This year’s Alumni Award recipients were:
Stephen P. Welby CHE ‘87- Gano Dunn Award
Ashley Bryan A’46- Augustus Saint-Gaudens Award
Peggy Deamer AR’77- John Q. Hejduk Award
Jennifer Fenton Weishaupt CHE’95 – Peter Cooper Public Service Award
Susan Shaw A’72- Alumnus of the Year Award
Anna Brook BSE ‘04 -Young Alumnus of the Year Award.
The ceremony was revised this year to be held in a virtual format due to the pandemic which presented unique challenges. The digital format doesn’t quite capture the grandeur of the room, the lighting, the atmosphere and the stories told live by the award recipients. While this is a slight lament we look forward to a time when we can celebrate alumni achievements in person when it is safe to do so.
To bridge the gap of not meeting in person and in lieu of a reception, the ceremony was followed by a live Q & A on Zoom with Stephen Welby, Ashley Bryan, Peggy Deamer and Jennifer Fenton Weishaupt. Questions to the award recipients were submitted by the award committees and during the live chat. In addition, registration for the event was structured to allow attendees to submit questions to the award recipients when they registered for the event.
This year there were 166 registrants for the ceremony and 95 joined for the Q & A which ran for approximately 50 minutes. The ceremony was viewed on YouTube and required viewers to switch platforms to Zoom to watch the Q & A. As of Feb. 16, 2021, there have been 325 views of the ceremony.
I encourage you to take a few minutes to nominate an alumnus for an award. The nomination form is open all year round. The start date for deliberations varies slightly from year to year but usually begins the end of October to the beginning of November. Any nominations that are received after deliberations begin are held for the following year. Click on the link to access the nomination form which is found on the CUAA website. Nomination Form
Stay safe and hopefully we will all see each other in person soon.
Laura Spinner A’ Chair,
2020 Awards Committee
2021 AWARDS COMMITTEES
Gano Dunn
Mark A. Vasquez: Chair
Dennis Kong: Vice Chair
Karla Alvarez
Athena DeNivo
Brendan Fernes
Darrell Low
Mary K. Lynch
Scott Lyne
Rob Marano
Kay Nordstrom
Ed Palacio
Patricia Reddington
Ron Vogel
John Q. Hejduk
Lily Zand: Chair
Mariam Cantelmi
James Cornell
Domi Enders
Martin Finio
Steven Hillyer
Joan Ockman
Elizabeth O’Donnell
Anik Pearson
Clara Pugsley
Michael Samuelian
Anthony Titus
Augustus Saint-Gaudens
Henry Chapman: Chair
Bill Wolf: Co-Chair
Claire Kleinman
Genevieve Martin
Katie Merz
Sascha Mombartz
Jason Paul Guzman
Tajh Rust
Laura Spinner
Sam Vernon
Carol Wolf
Maria Yoon
Peter Cooper Public Service
Dr. James Haywood Rolling Jr.: Chair
Nanwei Chen
Athena DeNivo
Claudia Giordano
Patrick G. Girvin
M’Liz Keefe
Larry Levine
Mary K. Lynch
Scott D. Lyne
Devora Najjar
Mauren Termecz