Robert A. & Donna B. Paul Awards for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising

Established in 1992, the Robert A. and Donna B. Paul Endowment for Academic Advising enables the College of Arts & Sciences to honor undergraduate advisers who make a difference in the lives of their Cornell students. The awards are open to professorial faculty, lecturers and senior lecturers who have demonstrated exceptional effectiveness as an adviser and/or mentor of undergraduates, either through a formal advising role or through other substantial interactions with individual undergraduates outside of the classroom.

The Paul Advising Award is given to two individuals annually; each recipient receives one-half an academic year’s salary and fringe benefits for a leave that is taken within the next three years.

Eligibility

Eligible Title:

Professorial faculty, lecturers and senior lecturers

Criteria: 

Exceptional effectiveness as an advisor and/or mentor of undergraduates, either through a formal advising role or through other substantial interactions with individual undergraduates outside of the classroom

Available Awards:

One award - one-half an academic year’s salary and fringe benefits for a leave to be taken within the next three years

Nomination Process

Students:

To nominate an adviser, send a letter to the department chair by February 10th, 2023.

Chairs and Directors of Undergraduate Studies:

All nomination packages must be submitted to the dean by either a department chair or a director of undergraduate studies. The 2023 nomination submission deadline is Friday, March 10th, 2023.

Each nomination must include:

  1. Chair’s nomination letter, written in collaboration with the director of undergraduate studies, describing the extent and character of the nominee’s work as an advisor and/or mentor of undergraduate students
  2. Candidate’s CV

All materials in the nomination package should be submitted as a single pdf.

Click here to submit a nomination package.

Questions should be directed to the Arts & Sciences Awards Committee

About Robert Paul

Elected to the Cornell University Board of Trustees in 1990, Robert Paul '59 was named trustee emeritus and presidential councillor in 2002. During his tenure on the Board of Trustees, Paul served as chair of the Investment Committee, and was a member of the Executive Committee and the Committee on Alumni Affairs and Development. A member of the College of Arts & Sciences Advisory Council from 1989 to 2013, Paul served as co-chair of the college's "Creating the Future" campaign. An animal and pet lover, Paul joined the College of Veterinary Medicine Advisory Council in 2006. Active with the Class of 1959, Paul served as chair of the class' 50th Reunion Campaign Major Gifts/Gift Planning Committee.

Paul served as Chairman and CEO of Ampco-Pittsburgh Corporation (AP) from 2004 to 2014, where he began his career in 1964.  He is also chairman of The Louis Berkman Company, president of the Louis and Sandra Berkman Foundation and a life trustee of the Jewish Healthcare Foundation of Pittsburgh. He has served on the board of trustees of the Pittsburgh branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, is a former chairman of Montefiore Hospital, and a trustee emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Pittsburgh Health System.

Two of Paul's three children are Cornellians: Karen Paul Zimmer AB '91, MD '98 and Stephen Paul BS Hotel '90.

Recipients

2022-23

  • Kendra Bischoff, sociology

2021-22

  • Alex Ophir, psychology

2020-21

  • Kelly Liu, molecular biology and genetics
  • Phillip Milner, chemistry and chemical biology

2018-19

  • Ananda Cohen-Aponte, history of art and visual studies
  • Khena Swallow, psychology

2017-18

  • Edward Swartz, mathematics
  • Vivian Zayas, psychology

2016-17

  •  Margo Crawford, English

2015-16

  •  Linda Nicholson, molecular biology and genetics

2014-15

  • Jane Juffer, English and feminist, gender and sexuality studies

2013-14

  • Caitlin Barrett, classics
  • Kate McCullough, English

2012-13

  • Jane Fajans, anthropology
  • Erich Mueller, physics

2011-12

  • Alison Van Dyke, theatre, film & dance
  • Dagmawi Woubshet, English

2010-11

  • Stephen Morgan, sociology
  • Shelley Wong, English

2009-10

  • Holly Case, history
  • Debra Fried, English
  • Michael Goldstein, psychology

2008-09

  • Derek Chang, history
  • Roger Gilbert, English
  • Kelly Zamudio, ecology & evolutionary biology

2007-08

  • Laura Donaldson, English
  • Kathleen Perry Long, Romance studies

2006-07

  • John Whitman, linguistics
  • Barry Maxwell, comparative literature

2005-06

  • Steven Pond, music
  • Mariana Wolfner, molecular biology and genetics

2004-05

  • Robin McNeal, Asian studies
  • Andrew Galloway, English

2003-04

  • Szonja Szelenyi, sociology
  • Michael Koch, English

2002-03

  • Stuart Davis, English
  • Walter Mebane, government

2001-02

  • Christopher Way, government

2000-01

  • Ken McClane, English

1999-00

  • Dorothy Mermin, English

1998-99

  • Davydd Greenwood, anthropology

1997-98

  • Lydia Fakundiny, English
  • Glenn Altschuler, dean of continuing education and summer sessions

1996-97

  • Richard Galik, physics
  • Charles Van Loan, computer science

1995-96

  • Michael Morley, mathematics

1994-95

  • Jane Marie Law, Asian studies
  • Harry Stinson, genetics

1993-94

  • Laurence Moore, government
  • Donald Fredricksen, theatre arts

1992-93

  • Martha Haynes, astronomy

1991-92

  • Patricia Carden, Russian literature
  • Marshall Cohen, mathematics