Robert Barker/University Photography

A portrait of Peter C. Meinig, outgoing chair of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, was unveiled Jan. 20. Meinig, at the podium, speaks to a crowd of well-wishers.

In a Broadway-style musical comedy sketch, "Pete Gets a Rave," with lyrics by Cornell's Alumni Affairs and Development staff, Peter C. Meinig '61, outgoing chair of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, got an A+ in all subjects but one. He got an incomplete in leadership, as Cornell still hopes to benefit from his expertise for at least another 20 years, quipped the revue at a Jan. 20 gala dinner in his honor.

Robert Barker/University Photography

Nancy Meinig '62 shares a laugh with President David Skorton at the gala.

Trustees, deans, vice presidents, provosts, friends and Meinig's family members -- including his 90-year-old mother, Betty -- gathered Jan. 20 at the New York Public Library to lavish praise, gently jibe and share personal stories about Meinig, who stepped down as chair Dec. 31 after a decade of service at that post.

Meinig's accomplishments as chair include steering the university through a difficult presidency transition culminating with the hiring of David Skorton, guiding Cornell during the Great Recession, and supporting the winning bid to build an applied sciences and technology campus in New York City.

Robert Barker/University Photography

Peter Meinig presents a red phone -- a hotline to President David Skorton -- to incoming board chair Robert Harrison '76.

"The words to describe Pete Meinig are many. Some that come to mind are a calm spirit, absolute integrity, a clear-eyed view of the best way forward and the courage to follow that way," said Skorton.

Meinig's leadership offers a good example of alumni who lead because they love the institution, not because they are driven by political aspirations, said Cornell President Emeritus Hunter R. Rawlings III, adding, "Pete Meinig has character oozing out of every pore."

Robert Barker/University Photography

President David Skorton offers a framed athletic jersey emblazoned with "Meinig 1" to Peter Meinig.

Robert Barker/University Photography

Nancy and Peter Meinig embrace at the close of the event in Peter Meinig's honor.

Robert Harrison '76, Meinig's successor as board chair as of Jan. 1, presented Meinig with a volume of letters of appreciation from colleagues and friends. Meinig is never directed by ego, he said, but by what is best for the university. "He appreciates that the line of management is neither bright nor fixed," Harrison said, who added that Meinig has been an invaluable mentor.

Cornell came out on the other side of significant challenges thanks to Meinig's ability to get people to work as a team, said Sanford Weill '55, chair of the Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) Board of Overseers. "Pete, you leave Cornell a better place than you found it," Weill said. For example, he said, Cornell not only got through the 2008-09 economic crisis with a recovery but with a groundbreaking on WCMC's $650 million Medical Research Building.

Some of the things the audience may not know about Meinig include that he is a detailist who is unobservant, and a relentless negotiator except when it comes to Cornell and his grandchildren, said his wife, Nancy Meinig '62, who is co-chairing Cornell's Sesquicentennial Committee with Pete Meinig. The last 10 years have been an incredible ride, she said. "As we are stepping down, we are also stepping up and stepping out -- and always will be -- for the Big Red," she said to a standing ovation.

The guest of honor took the stage as Skorton unveiled Meinig's official portrait, which will hang in Uris Library alongside those of other board chairs. The artist, John Boyd Martin, "had pretty mediocre material to work with," Meinig quipped, "but he did a great job."

Meinig presented several gifts in return: green eyeshades for three members of the board's finance committee; a bottle of aspirin for Joanne DeStefano, Cornell's chief financial officer and vice president for finance; and a red rotary phone for Harrison -- a hotline to Skorton.

"When I look out at this ballroom, all I see are friends," Meinig said. "Cornell has truly transformed Nancy and my lives. We thank you for your friendship and for what you have done for our great university and for what you will continue to do in the future."

He noted that he and his family had spent several years in Mexico City in the late 1960s and 1970s, where friends don't say "adios" to each other. Instead, they say, "hasta luego," "until then." To a standing ovation, he said, "To all of you, Nancy and I together say, thank you, thank you and 'hasta luego.'"