Jim Moore, EE ’63, became involved with the college through his support of the undergraduate research program. His gifts helped to initiate the program in the college almost twenty years ago, and he continues to provide financial support. He is also a mentor.
Jim worked for Westinghouse and Sprague Electronics before going into the family business, Moore Products Co. Founded by his father, C. B. Moore, ME ’24, Moore Products was purchased by Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. in 2000. At that time Jim, then the director of corporate technology, decided to retire. Jim holds eight patents and was active in the Cornell Society of Engineers.
Jim has spent retirement pursuing his interests in hunting, fishing, and off-road motorcycling. He is also very concerned with environmental issues and stewards the family’s Great Marsh in Pennsylvania. (Find out more at The Marshlands Web site.) He has collaborated with Professor David W. Winkler in Cornell’s Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department on various projects, most recently on a trip to Belize to study environmental sensors for the rain forest there.
He met his wife, Joan, at Zinck’s—she was at Elmira College. They have three children and two grandchildren. Jim’s latest engineering project was building a Slip ’n’ Slide for the grandkids.
"My father set up a trust fund to pass Moore Products on to his three children. Before his death, the interest went to Cornell. When I received my portion of the trust, I was used to living on my engineer’s salary, so I elected to continue funneling the interest back to Cornell. I decided that if I was going to give money, I was going to be involved. It’s a lot more fun that way.
"I talked to Dean Streett, and he was interested in improving the whole undergraduate experience. That fit in with my interest in creating an undergraduate research program. As an undergraduate, I worked summers as a technician for Professor Bolgiano, and I really liked the hands-on experience.
"My involvement as an alumnus led to meeting David Winkler at my 40th reunion. He was interested in engineering technology and knows environmental work; I know about gadgets and am interested in the environment. We’ve worked together on the Great Marsh, using networked sensors to monitor the environment. Technology has taken a lot from the environment; now it’s time to take something back."
