In Memoriam

Jerry Savitsky

Jerome “Jerry” Savitsky, Cornell College professor of economics and business who was renowned for challenging students to think deeply and work diligently, died on May 28, 2020, at age 62. He had just completed 31 years of teaching at Cornell.

Professor Savitsky taught Labor Economics, The Economics of Women and the Labor Market, Industrial Organization, Economics of Sports, and Economics of Crime, as well as Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. His Intermediate Microeconomics course was regarded as the most difficult in the major, and among the toughest in the college.

He brought rigor and passion to the economics classroom. His senior seminars integrated research, writing, and empirical skills. His insistence on excellence motivated many Cornellians to pursue graduate studies in economics, business, and other areas. In recent years, as his interest in applied economics broadened, he developed popular courses in the economics of sports and the economics of crime.

Savitsky earned his doctoral and master’s degrees in economics from Virginia Tech, and his bachelor’s degree in economics and political science from Mercer University. Prior to Cornell he was an instructor of economics at James Madison University and Virginia Tech. His next-door neighbor in Mount Vernon was a stock car racer and Savitsky began assisting him, eventually becoming his crew chief and spending summers on the race circuit.

He is survived by three sisters and two nephews. A celebration of life was held Oct. 22 on campus. Charlotte Vaughan

Cornell College Professor Emerita of Sociology Charlotte Vaughan died Sept. 5, 2020, in Kankakee, Illinois, at age 95.

Vaughan earned her bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University and, in midlife, briefly became a secondary school teacher. She then earned a master’s degree from Illinois Institute of Technology and a doctorate from the University of Chicago, while teaching at Indiana University Northwest and University of Chicago. She was hired in 1972 to chair Cornell College’s Department of Sociology.

Vaughan would ultimately serve the college as assistant dean, director of the Office of Institutional Research, and affirmative action officer before retiring 18 years later in 1990. In 1983 she convened a faculty committee that led to the establishment of the women’s studies program. One Course At A Time began during her tenure and, in 1992, Vaughan and Professor Chris Carlson conducted a study and found that One Course had engaged the faculty deeply in issues of teaching and learning and had increased student engagement in their coursework.

Her contributions to the field of sociology include co-editing a textbook for introductory courses, chairing the section on undergraduate education of the American Sociological Association, and serving as an on-site evaluator of undergraduate sociology programs. In 1987 the association recognized her with the Hans O. Mauksch Award for Distinguished Contributions to Undergraduate Sociology.

Survivors include a daughter-in-law, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Carol Wightman

Carol Wightman, a lecturer in theatre and communications studies at Cornell College for 25 years, died July 5, 2020, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. She was 68.

Wightman directed the Cornell Speech Team from 1987 to 2012. She coached multiple students to the two major national championships— American Forensic Association National Individual Events Tournament and the National Forensic Association National Championship Tournament—throughout most of the 1990s. And among the team’s accomplishments was having two students in 2001 represent Iowa at the Interstate Oratory Competition, then the oldest and most prestigious intercollegiate speech championship. The persuasive speaking contest accepted two competitors from each state, and Cornell was one of only three colleges nationwide sending both competitors.

She served as officer-at-large in the Mid-America Forensics League, making Cornell the smallest college with representation on the League’s governing board.

Wightman earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Nebraska and a juris doctor from the Nebraska College of Law. She practiced law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and later taught high school English. She and her husband adopted two babies from Korea before moving to Iowa, where she began her career at Cornell.

Survivors include her husband, Terry, their two children, and extended family.

Robert “Bob” Reade ’54

College Football Hall of Fame member Robert “Bob” Reade ’54 died July 5, 2020, in Geneseo, Illinois. He led the Augustana College Vikings football program to four straight NCAA Division III national championships from 1983–1986.

Reade, a three-year letter winner in football and captain in 1953, majored in elementary education at Cornell, and was a member of Delta Phi Rho. After graduation he served in the Army. He later received his master’s degree in education from the University of Iowa.

In 1962 Reade was hired at Geneseo High School. His program went 146-21-4 in 17 years and was coming off three straight Class 3A state titles when, in 1979, he accepted the head football coaching position at Augustana. In 16 years at Augustana, Reade compiled a record of 146-21-1. His teams were in the NCAA Division III playoffs 11 times, including 10 straight appearances from 1981-90. From 1983 through 1987 Augustana won 60 games in a row without a loss. That streak still stands as an NCAA Division III record and is the second longest in NCAA history, regardless of division.

He is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, Cornell’s Athletic Hall of Fame, and was awarded the Amos Alonzo Stagg Award by the American Football Coaches Association.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Jo, 10 of their 11 children, and their 16 grandchildren. James Berry McWethy ’65

James “Jim” Berry McWethy ’65, one of Cornell College’s most enthusiastic and generous supporters, died at age 76 on June 22, 2020.

McWethy helped shape the future of Cornell as a Cornell Trustee from 1995 to 2004, and through his ongoing and energetic involvement until his death. He and his wife, Susan, invested in programs across the curriculum, most notably with leadership gifts to the Science Facilities Project; the fine arts, including McWethy Hall, home of the art department; the Berry Lobby in Youngker Hall, home of Kimmel Theatre; and the Berry Career Institute.

McWethy majored in economics and business and mathematics at Cornell and earned a master’s degree in economics from Indiana University, where he also taught economics. He was involved in management of his family’s business, Berry Bearing Company, for 23 years and later operated as an independent businessman in Downers Grove, Illinois. His business interests included agriculture, golf facilities, restaurants, charity, real estate development, and local politics. McWethy received the college’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 2007.

Shortly after his death the Cornell Board of Trustees passed a resolution honoring him, which stated, in part, that “Jim represented the highest values of Cornell College through his kindness, honesty, generosity, wisdom, unpretentiousness, and loyalty.”

He is survived by his wife, Susan, their two children, and four grandchildren. James S. Cutsinger ’75

Religious studies scholar and author James S. Cutsinger ’75 died Feb. 19, 2020, in Aiken, South Carolina.

He earned his bachelor’s degree from Cornell College in political theory and Russian language and literature, and a doctorate in theology and comparative religious thought from Harvard University. He was a professor of religious studies at the University of South Carolina in Columbia from 1980–2018, where he earned three teaching awards including the university’s highest honor, the Michael J. Mungo Distinguished Professor of the Year award.

Cutsinger was widely published, primarily on comparative religion, the modern Traditionalist School of perennial philosophy, Eastern Christian spirituality, and the mystical tradition of the Orthodox Church. He was a secretary to the Foundation for Traditional Studies and was an authority on the Sophia Perennis, the traditionalist school, and comparative religion. He is best known for his work on Swiss philosopher and traditionalist Frithjof Schuon.

He was a spiritual man himself, one who found incomparable beauty and inspiration in the liturgy, iconography, and music of the Eastern Orthodox Church. He was a man of strict routine, he was a man of humor, and he was a man who liked to eat.

His parents, Madonna and Everett Cutsinger, established Cornell’s highly regarded academic Madonna Cutsinger Award. His survivors include his wife, Carol Prestegaard Cutsinger ’77, two daughters, a son, five grandchildren, and sister Margery Cutsinger Pabst ’66.

Deaths

Charles Field ’42, Rochester, Minnesota, March 12, 2020 Elizabeth Laschanzky ’42, DeWitt, Iowa, May 13, 2020 Virginia Blocher Kouba ’43, Anamosa, Iowa, Jan. 1, 2020 John Tudor Jr. ’43, Nashville, Tennessee, June 5, 2020 Julina Gylfe ’44, Blue Hill, Maine, March 17, 2020 Maxine Surry Wasson ’44, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, May 23, 2020 Donald Struchen ’45, New York, New York, June 28, 2020 Phyllis Putnam Minard ’46, Montgomery, Illinois, March 19, 2019 Carolyn Neal Palmer ’46, Mount Vernon, Iowa, April 29, 2020 Marian Casten Schutte ’46, Postville, Iowa, July 6, 2020 Marian Schueler Siegfreid ’46, Austin, Minnesota, Dec. 17, 2019 Jean Winter Woodburn ’46, Prescott, Arizona, Feb. 19, 2020 Mary Christensen Garner ’47, Moline, Illinois, Feb. 7, 2020 Claire Distelhorst Gregory ’47, Bloomington, Indiana, Jan. 2, 2019 Velma Fanning Lawrance ’47, Marion, Iowa, July 5, 2020 Marjorie Olson Andrews ’49, Durham, North Carolina, April 25, 2020 Virginia Reeder DeLong ’49, Charlotte, North Carolina, March 25, 2020 Allen Eliason ’49, Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, May 18, 2019 Josephine Laible Horst ’49, Waunakee, Wisconsin, March 20, 2020 Georgia Retsinas Sakas ’49, Dubuque, Iowa, Jan. 18, 2020 Margaret Benner Achuff ’50, Scottsdale, Arizona, April 19, 2020 Jeanne Patrick Schoppe ’50, Rockford, Illinois, Feb. 28, 2020 Laurel Presnell Upshaw ’50, Tulsa, Oklahoma, June 30, 2020 Thomas Wier ’50, Denver, Colorado, July 19, 2019 Ruth Drake ’51, Forreston, Illinois, Feb. 4, 2020 Emil Kouba Jr. ’51, Florissant, Missouri, Nov. 25, 2019 Charles Kreeb ’51, Coralville, Iowa, June 13, 2020 Ernest Larsen ’51, Jacksonville, Florida, June 7, 2020 Loraine Todson Moyer ’51, Lexington, Massachusetts, March 5, 2020 M. Joseph Pearson ’51, Ann Arbor, Michigan, Dec. 16, 2019 Mary Jane Proctor ’51, Waterloo, Iowa, July 7, 2020 Emney Igram Shousher ’51, Toledo, Ohio, June 2, 2020 Robert Anderson ’52, Freeport, Illinois, Aug. 17, 2019 Ruth Anderson Erickson ’52, Folsom, California, April 10, 2020 Barbara Jackson Tade ’52, San Diego, California, Jan. 1, 2020 Harold Eakes ’53, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Nov. 27, 2019 Joyce Olson Barrett ’54, Folsom, California, Jan. 8, 2020 Ann R. Hemken ’54, Alden, Iowa, July 14, 2020 Dorothy Cox Stewart ’54, Boulder, Colorado, Jan. 17, 2020 Betty Harper Williams ’54, Hobe Sound, Florida, June 1, 2020 Lloyd Mueller ’56, Crystal Lake, Illinois, Jan. 17, 2020 Janyce Meggers Stephenson ’56, Frankfort, Kentucky, Jan. 31, 2020 James Appleton ’57, Mooresville, North Carolina, Jan. 13, 2020 Jerome Onan ’57, Zion, Illinois, Feb. 14, 2020 Wanda Sietmann Smith ’57, Laurel, Iowa, May 25, 2020 Grey Jewett Jr. ’58, Pensacola, Florida, May 22, 2020 Thomas Mikelson ’58, Belmont, Massachusetts, April 17, 2020 Richard Steiner ’58, Kingwood, Texas, June 26, 2020 James Craigmile ’59, Glenwood, Iowa, Feb. 20, 2020 Joann Stuhr ’59, Davenport, Iowa, June 15, 2020 Darlene Specht Kellogg ’60, Morro Bay, California, Jan. 14, 2020 James Overley ’60, Rockford, Illinois, May 25, 2020 W. Kurt Kuker ’61, South Barrington, Illinois, Jan. 30, 2020 Gary McNee ’61, Littleton, Colorado, Feb. 14, 2020 Jon Andersen ’62, Las Cruces, New Mexico, May 24, 2020 David Arends ’62, Hardy, Virginia, Jan. 24, 2020 Linda Curtis Cuneo ’62, Hickory Corners, Michigan, April 28, 2020 Jerry Meyer ’62, Manhattan Beach, California, Oct. 18, 2019 William Batchelor ’66, Bellevue, Nebraska, May 1, 2020 William McCormick ’66, Tucson, Arizona, March 22, 2020 Duane Schultz ’67, Grants Pass, Oregon, Dec. 14, 2019 David Ecoff ’69, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May 27, 2020 Irwin Tucker Jr. ’69, Woodstock, Illinois, March 9, 2020 Terence Bernier ’70, Sarasota, Florida, July 10, 2019 Ann Hinkhouse ’71, Tipton, Iowa, May 5, 2020 Candice Weaver Ruppert ’73, Summerville, South Carolina, June 29, 2020 Nancy Kurz Wood ’74, United Kingdom, Jan. 21, 2020 Ronald Hardy ’75, Pontiac, Illinois, Jan. 9, 2020 Janice Hedemann ’76, Halethorpe, Maryland, April 1, 2020 Ann Pegram ’76, Bella Vista, Arkansas, May 11, 2020 Craig MacMurray ’78, Lake Villa, Illinois, Feb. 28, 2020 Elaine Burnet ’80, Des Moines, Washington, June 5, 2020 Julie Cruise ’80, St. Louis, Missouri, Feb. 21, 2020 Craig Parkinson ’80, Rocklin, California, Dec. 20, 2019 Raymond Dochterman ’83, Marion, Iowa, May 16, 2020 Jamal Abdullah ’88, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Jan. 12, 2020 Alan Voecks ’90, Mundelein, Illinois, Jan. 10, 2020 Tracie Gibson ’91, Northampton, Massachusetts, Oct. 16, 2019 Jason French ’99, Denver, Colorado, June 25, 2020 Meghan Powers ’15, Wilton, Iowa, Jan. 13, 2020

Robert Lloyd, faculty, Lynchburg, Virginia, June 19, 2020