Celebrating Achievement and Service
Two 1970s ILR graduates are being honored at the school's Groat & Alpern Awards celebration this week in New York City.
More than 400 ILR students, faculty, staff and others will gather from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday at The Pierre to recognize Barry A. Hartstein '73 and John J. Scelfo '79, MBA '80 .
Hartstein, an employment law attorney based in Chicago, is receiving the Groat Award for professional accomplishment in industrial and labor relations and for service to ILR.
The annual tribute is named for Judge William B. Groat, who played a key role in ILR's founding.
Scelfo, a corporate executive based in New York City, is receiving the Alpern Award. The award is named for business and financial consultant Jerome Alpern '49, MBA '50.
It is given periodically to an ILR graduate or school friend whose career accomplishments have been primarily outside of the industrial and labor relations field.
Groat winner Hartstein, a shareholder in the firm Littler Mendelson, P.C., has a national reputation for his work, which includes more than 30 years of counseling and litigation in representing employers around the country in a broad range of employment law matters.
Hartstein serves on the ILR Advisory Council, the ILR Alumni Association Executive Committee and the Scheinman Institute for Conflict Resolution Board of Directors.
A Cornell University Council member, he is former president of ILR's alumni association.
Named in 2010 as one of the "top 100 Most Powerful Employment Attorneys" in Human Resource Executive and Lawdragon, Hartstein is a 1976 graduate of Northwestern University School of Law.
Alpern winner Scelfo is senior vice president of finance and corporate development for Hess Corporation, a global, integrated energy company based in New York City.
As a member of the Hess Leadership Team, Scelfo has responsibility for the company's treasury, strategy, and exploration and production commercial activities.
Before joining Hess, Scelfo was executive vice president and chief financial officer for Sirius Satellite Radio. Before joining Sirius, he was vice president and chief financial officer for Dell Computer Asia. Scelfo spent 20 years with Mobil Oil.
He is a 1980 graduate of Cornell's Johnson School.
More information about the Groat & Alpern Awards celebration is available at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/alumni/events/celebration/2011/index.html.