Class Notes

The Groner family enjoyed Cornell graduation last year when my son Adam graduated from CALS.  Was great to be back!

Please update my contact info as noted above. 91 BS 92 MEng

I am a Senior Geologist with FPM Remediations, Inc., a small business located in Rome, NY.  We conduct environmental remediation at sites across the USA.  Here is a picture of me at a karst site in Kentucky.  In between stints in the consulting world, I obtained a MS in geology from the Univeristy of Hawai'i with a thesis on mid-ocean ridge lava geochemistry, and a few years in a PhD program at Caltech working on experimental petrology, where I published a fun paper on the discovery of complex zoning patterns of phosphorus in the mineral olivine.  I am married with 3 daughters, and in my free time I enjoy knitting and a weekly horseback riding lesson (not at the same time).

I'm happy to talk to students or recent grads about environmental consulting, grad school, or look over resumes.  (I suppose you can contact me through a LinkedIn request.  Note to moderator - how do alumnae/i contact each other?)  For what it's worth, among the most useful experience I got in college and grad school was the rigorous training in field geology.  The most useful skill I've gained on the job is proficiency with excel.

Erica C. Fischer ('07) graduated with her Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Purdue University August 2015. Ms. Fischer will be moving to Seattle, WA this fall to work for Degenkolb.

As a multi-year member of The Cornell Engineer magazine, I received The Pi Delta Epsilon award as "The Outstanding Journalist of the Year" in 1959.  If I recall correctly, this was the first time in decades that an Engineer received that award.

As a member of the Executive Board of the Cornell Society of Engineers in 1960 (Dean Hollister's last year), I was responsible for the return of the 4-year Bachelor's Degree in Engineering with the 5th year being entitled to a Master's Degree in Engineering.

You may wish to read my article in the 1965 Centennial Issue of The Cornell Engineer on "A History of The Cornell Society of Engineers".

I was responsible for a resurrection of The Cornell Club of Southern California during my 3-year tenure as President.  We won the award for three straight years as The Cornell Club in the nation, from 1978 to 1980.

 I then proceeded to do the same as President for The Ivy League Association of Southern California.  I brought in the "7 Sister Colleges" (e:g: Smith, Vassar,etc.).....we held events which, on average, drew as many as 5,000 local alumni from the 8 Ivies and 7 Sisters.