Alex B. Vollmer ’62, MCE ‘64
2017 Frank H.T. Rhodes
Exemplary Alumni Service Award
Frank Rhodes congratulates Alex Vollmer on receiving
the 2017 Exemplary Alumni Service Award
At a special ceremony in Ithaca in October, Alex Vollmer was recognized as a 2017 Frank H. T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award winner. This recognition was well deserved as shown by the following recap of Alex’s long history of exceptional service to Cornell. Congratulations, Alex. Your Class is very proud of you.
Alex built his career overseas for 15 years after graduating with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering; he then moved to California where he found community and purpose within San Francisco’s Cornell alumni network. The large alumni base in northern California welcomed him, and soon he was involved in the alumni association leadership and Cornell Alumni Admissions Ambassador Network (CAAAN). He finds interacting with prospective students particularly rewarding.
Until June 2017, Alex served the Class of 1962 as immediate past president and continues to serve as its nominating chair. He is currently a member of the Class of 1962 55th Reunion campaign, a position he also held for his 40th, 45th, and 50th Reunions. He was president of the Class of 1962 for two terms and also served the class for several years in various roles: vice president, membership chair, and Reunion chair. Alex was also a director-at-large of the Cornell Association of Class Officers from 2004 to 2005.
Alex served three terms on the Cornell University Council, and he was the board chair of the Cornell Alumni Association of Northern California from 2005 to 2009.
For more than 30 years, he has been a member of one of the San Francisco Bay CAAAN committees and is an emeritus member of the CAAAN Advisory Committee, having been a member since 1983 including two terms as its chair.
Past Class of 1962 Award Recipients
Stephen B. Ashley 2016
Nancy Schlegel Meinig 2015
Samuel Fleming 2013
Ruth Zimmerman Bleyler 2013
Nancy Williams Clark 2006
Frank H.T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award
The 9th president of Cornell University, Frank H. T. Rhodes is one of the most
beloved and respected administrators in Cornell’s history. An international
advocate for education and research, he has played a significant role in the
development of national science policy under several U.S. presidents. As
Cornell’s president, he established initiatives that continue to shape the university
today, including Asian studies, supercomputing, biotechnology, and
nanofabrication. Be inspired! Watch the Library Reunion Lecture – Ezra’s
Unreasonable Vision, featuring President Emeritus Frank H. T. Rhodes and Carl
A. Kroch University Librarian Anne Kenney.
The Cornell Alumni Association, with the endorsement of the Board of Trustees’
Subcommittee on Alumni Affairs, established the Frank H. T. Rhodes Exemplary
Alumni Service Award in the spring of 1994. An eloquent national spokesman for
the importance of higher education, President Rhodes inspired alumni of all ages
as well as an entire generation of Cornell students to continue their life after
Cornell as dedicated Cornellians.
The Frank H. T. Rhodes Exemplary Alumni Service Award honors alumni who
have demonstrated extraordinary service to Cornell through long-term volunteer
activities within the broad spectrum of Cornell’s various alumni organizations.
Such service may be reflected in the leadership roles that the individual has
assumed, or through the unique contributions made by the individual as a part of
his or her service to Cornell. Consideration is given to the length and depth of the
individual’s activities; however, gifts are not among the criteria used to select
honorees. University trustees are not eligible for consideration until they are no
longer active members of the board. A maximum of six awards may be presented
annually.