Expanding Student Participation

Professor James A. Gross and ILR Credit Internship Managing Director Brigid Beachler M.S. ‘05 recently established a scholarship in memory of ILR Professor Clete Daniel. The initial gift of $20,000 will help fund awards for first-generation college students, as well as students who otherwise would be unable to participate in the Credit Internship Program.

The first recipient of the scholarship will be named this year and will receive $1,000 to $1,500 in unrestricted aid. One award will be given each year.

Daniel, who taught at ILR for 37 years, died in 2010. He was 66. “It took a long time to recover from that shock to even contemplate doing something like this,” Gross said in an interview.

Efforts are underway to raise additional financial support to endow the gift. Gross and Beachler extend their thanks to the many former students who have already contributed, including a generous gift from Professor Daniel’s friend and colleague, Bruce Raynor ‘72, the former president of Unite Here.

This award is in keeping with Daniel’s legacy as a beloved professor who was as well known to ILR faculty, staff and students for his generosity, as well as for his scholarship.  As he would say, “Smart is good, kind is better,” a motto Daniel lived by.  A generous person who couldn’t tolerate unkindness, Daniel measured his fellow faculty members by the way they treated ILR staff, Gross said.

Like Gross and Beachler, Professor Daniel was the first in his family to attend college. In reflecting on his life, Daniel wrote, education was a “portal to the world beyond my meager and mundane experience.” Beachler said, “It’s important to honor that part of who he was through this gift.”

In the latter years of his career, Daniel promoted the value of global education for ILR students and was one of the first to push for international student experiences. Daniel founded ILR’s Semester in Dublin Program with University College Dublin, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. He served as the director of the ILR Credit Internship Program for 29 years. "The growth of international programming at ILR is a testament to his foresight,” Beachler said.

A hallmark of Daniel’s style was a quiet, no-strings-attached generosity, said his colleagues. “He was a genuine person, who had no affectations, complete with a sharp sense of humor,” Gross said. Daniel was known for helping students who were struggling in class and for staying in touch with alums.

Gross and Beachler hope others will consider honoring Professor Daniel by contributing to the scholarship fund. Raising another $80,000 will endow the fund in perpetuity. For more information, please contact Beachler at bk30@cornell.edu or Haley Singer, in ILR Alumni Affairs and Development, at hs258@cornell.edu.