c1-c1CAMSO05 8/22/05 3:04 PM Page c1 September/October 2005 $6.00 alumni magazine TheLehmanLegacy JEFFREY LEHMAN ’77 CORNELL’S ELEVENTH PRESIDENT How will he be remembered? What did he accomplish? Why did he resign? c2-c4CAMSO05 8/17/05 3:36 PM Page c2 There’s something to be said for delayed gratification. BMW Certified Announcing the Certified Pre-Owned BMW 7 Series. If there’s anything worth Pre-Owned biding your time for, it’s the world-class 7 Series.These vehicles have been carefully bmwusa.com 1-800-334-4BMW The Ultimate inspected and thoroughly reconditioned, and are backed by an unprecedented Driving Machine® 6-year/100,000 mile warranty. Good things do indeed come to those who wait. *Applies only to 2002 and 2003 model year 745i, 745Li and 760Li models. Coverage begins at the original in-service date and lasts for up to 6 years or 100,000 total vehicle miles (whichever comes first). Refer to 2002/2003 BMW 7 Series Extended Warranty book or see participating BMW center for warranty details and vehicle availability. For more information, call 1-800-334-4BMW or bmwusa.com ©2005 BMW of North America, LLC The BMW name and logo are registered trademarks. 001-001CAMSO05toc 8/22/05 3:11 PM Page 1 Contents SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2005 VOLUME 108 NUMBER 2 alumni magazine Features 38 Fortune Before Fortune, 2 Letter From Ithaca Life Before Life The long, hot summer RONALD OSTMAN AND 4 Correspondence HARRY LITTELL Feelings of resignation 2 Before photojournalist Margaret Bourke-White ’27 found fame in the 8 From the Hill Depression-era pages of Life magazine, Redbud resolution. Plus:The search is on, the woodpecker speaks, Ithaca she was a struggling Cornell student returns to the sky,and uncorking New paying her way through school by York State wine. selling prints of campus scenes for a quarter apiece. Bourke-White’s eye for 38 13 Sports landscape and composition was shaped Poker face by her years on the Hill, and the themes she explored with her camera would echo in the iconic images of her later work. 16 Authors End of the road 44 The Lehman Legacy 18 Wines of the Finger Lakes Featured: 2004 Thirsty Owl Dry Riesling THE CAM STAFF It was the briefest presidential term in 58 Classifieds & Cornellians University history,but the two years that in Business Jeffrey Lehman ’77 spent in Day Hall didn’t lack for drama. In the wake of the 61 Alma Matters resignation that stunned the campus, we 64 Reunion Notes try to address the multitude of questions that still linger.What will be Lehman’s 75 Class Notes lasting impact on Cornell? What did he 110 Alumni Deaths accomplish? Why did he resign? Plus:an interview with Lehman by higher educa- 112 Cornelliana tion journalist Scott Jaschik ’85. Take it to the bridge 44 112 52 The Leading Indicator 20 Currents SUSAN KELLEY In the dot-com days of the 1990s, HOT FUN | Scenes of Reunion 2005 investment analyst Abby Joseph LET’S MAKE A DEAL | Student fund managers at Cohen ’73 built a reputation as the Big Red Ventures try to pick a winner plainspoken Wall Street oracle who made fortunes for her clients.Then TENDING THE LIBERTY TREE | Arborist-politician boom turned to bust, and critics turns over a new leaf turned on the stock guru who stayed STORYTELLER | Is he the most prolific writer in Cornell history? bullish too long. But behind the scenes, the Abby Factor can still URBAN LEGEND | A war hero’s last campaign move markets. Plus | A flack gets to be a star, and a big idea pays off Cover photograph by Frank DiMeo / University Photography Cornell Alumni Magazine (ISSN 1070-2733; USPS 006-902) is published six times a year, in January, March, May, July, September, and November, by the Cornell Alumni Federation, 401 East State Street, Suite 301, Ithaca, NY 14850. Subscriptions cost $30 a year. Periodical postage paid at Ithaca, NY, and additional mailing offices. POSTMAS- TER: Send address changes to Cornell Alumni Magazine, c/o Public Affairs Records, 130 East Seneca St., Suite 400, Ithaca, NY 14850-4353. SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2005 1 002-002CAMSO05lfi 8/17/05 11:46 AM Page 2 Letter From Ithaca Trying Times THE SUMMER OF OUR DISCONTENT UMMERTIME AT CORNELL: A RELAXING SEASON when the sun shines almost every day, there are only s a few people on campus, the pace of life slows down, and—as the song says—the livin’ is easy. Not this year. Summer had not even officially begun when we were jolted by the news of President Jeffrey Lehman’s resignation. Once the shock had passed and we had rushed a last- minute report into the July/August issue, there was a prolonged period of inquiry and discussion in our office. What had actually happened? How should we investigate it, and what should we report? Who were the best people to talk to? Calls and e-mails came in from alumni, faculty, and students, most of whom were just as puzzled and concerned as we were. In the end, we decided to interview a cross-section of the Cornell com- munity and prepare a retrospective report on President Lehman’s two-year MARTIN MAYO term.We knew that it could not be the last word—it’s too early for that—but we wanted it to be a first step ident’s office in Day Hall and demonstrators, including faculty, in providing a fair accounting of what he had accomplished and blocking construction work. The stand-off was finally resolved on what his presidency may mean for the future of Cornell. We also July 18 with the signing of an agreement in which the University wanted to speak with Lehman himself, so he could offer his own made some concessions to the protestors in exchange for their thoughts. We were fortunate that he agreed to talk with us, and departure from the site (see From the Hill, page 8). even more fortunate to be able to assign the interview to Scott The terms of the agreement were criticized by some “Red- Jaschik ’85, a talented journalist who was an editor at the Chron- buddies,” who felt the University had offered too little in return icle of Higher Education for twenty years and is one of the for an end to the demonstrations, and also by members of the founders of the well-respected Inside Higher Education website pro-Day Hall faction, who felt the protestors had gotten off too (http://insidehighered.com). easily. In the end, the trees came down but nobody looked like a In early July, as the interim presidency of Hunter Rawlings winner—and the national publicity generated by the furor was began, one ongoing controversy continued unabated: the conflict hardly the kind of coverage that Cornell needed, especially in the over a proposed parking lot on a West Campus site known as wake of the Lehman resignation. Redbud Woods. Our coverage of this flap stretches back to the On top of that, in late July a group of scientists announced March/April 2003 issue, where we ran an opinion piece by Kate that they did not believe there was sufficient evidence to prove the Lunde ’84 in which she encouraged the University to consider existence of the ivory-billed woodpecker, knocking the wind out alternative plans for the lot. (The cover story in that issue, coin- an announcement made by Lab of Ornithology director John cidentally, was “A Conversation with Jeffrey Lehman”—our intro- Fitzpatrick earlier in the year. It was threatening to be a really duction to the incoming president.) glum summer—but then Fitzpatrick presented recordings of the Along with the Daily Sun, the Ithaca Journal, and other local bird’s characteristic “knock-knock” rapping, convincing the skep- media, we have reported on the controversy ever since. As we tics that the ivory-bill was, in fact, alive and well. Let’s hope that noted in our last issue, the confrontation escalated over the past was a portent of more good things to come. few months, with students staging a brief occupation of the pres- — Jim Roberts ’71 2 CORNELL ALUMNI MAGAZINE 003-003CAMSO05cau 8/22/05 3:13 PM Page 3 004-007CAMSO05corr 8/17/05 11:28 AM Page 4 Correspondence Another Connection I ENJOYED YOUR ARTICLE ABOUT Whither Cornell? Cornell connections with Ithaca College and wish to let you know about another CONSIDERING THE LEHMAN RESIGNATION (“The South Hill Connection,” July/ August 2005). In 1980, with the support of fellow students and faculty at both insti- AS A LONGTIME SUPPORTER OF tutions, we developed an exchange pro- Cornell and a former class president, gram of sorts to benefit meteorology I read with concern about the depar- majors at Cornell and communications ture of President Jeffrey Lehman ’77 majors at Ithaca College. The idea was to (“Lehman Resigns,” From the Hill, give prospective weathercasters a chance July/August 2005). I was sad that such to develop on-air television skills while an energetic and brilliant person acquainting IC-trained journalists with would no longer lead our university, basic meteorology in the event they were and distressed that his departure was ever called upon to give a weather report. shrouded in mystery. It should come as no surprise that the If, in fact, he left due to disagree- participants have achieved great profes- ments about how the University can sional success: Cornell meteorologists are best realize its long-term vision, it now reporting the weather in major mar- certainly seems that we are owed a kets across the country, as well as on more detailed explanation regarding national cable networks.