ITHACA, N.Y. -- Peter C. Meinig, a 1962 graduate of Cornell University and chairman and chief executive officer of HM International Inc. of Tulsa, Okla., was unanimously elected chairman of the Cornell Board of Trustees at its first meeting of 2002 in New York City, Jan. 25.

Meinig's one-year term begins July 1. He will succeed Harold Tanner, a 1952 Cornell graduate who has served as chairman since 1997.

"I consider it an honor and privilege to be asked to serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Cornell University succeeding Harold Tanner, who has distinguished himself in this role for the past five years," Meinig said. "We are fortunate to have a dedicated and hard working board, which provides thoughtful policy guidance to the university. I look forward to working with President Hunter Rawlings, who is a visionary and an innovative leader. We have a world-class faculty and 19,000 of our nation's best students. With the assistance of our alumni and the other members of the Cornell community, we will work together to enhance our mission of teaching, research and service, thereby ensuring Cornell's position as one of the world's truly outstanding universities."

"Peter Meinig has been an exceptional trustee and leader ever since he joined the board in 1991," Tanner said. "He has done everything Cornell could have asked and is well respected by everyone. He will be an outstanding chair of the board."

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings added his own congratulations: "It has been a great pleasure for me to work with Pete during these past seven years, and I look forward to his chairmanship of our board of trustees. He is a capable and experienced board member with a great love for Cornell and an ability to get things done."

HM International is a privately held management/holding company of various manufacturing and service businesses. Meinig also serves as chairman of PGI International Ltd., of Houston; chairman of Windsor Food Co; chairman of Ninth House Inc., of San Francisco; chairman of eCornell Inc.; and director of Williams Communications Group Inc., of Tulsa.As trustee-at-large, Meinig currently chairs the board's Executive Committee and serves on the Board Membership and Alumni Affairs and Development committees. He also chaired the Trustee Special Advisory Committee on Distance Learning and co-chaired the Scholarship Campaign, which concluded in December 1999. He is a former member of the Academic Affairs and Campus Life, Audit, and Buildings and Properties committees and is a past chair of the Subcommittee on Alumni Affairs.

Meinig has served as the regional vice president of the Cornell Society of Engineers for the Southwest/Mountain Region and served as vice chair of the Engineering College Campaign that concluded in 1995. He sat on the administrative board of the Cornell University Council from 1990-92 and continues to be a member of the council. Meinig and his wife, Nancy Schlegel, a 1962 graduate of the College of Human Ecology, helped revitalize the Parent's Fund and served as co-chairs in 1987-88. They were the National Tower Club co-chairs for fiscal years 1993 and 1994. The Meinigs remain active on the Cornell campus through their support of the Meinig Family National Scholar Program.

Meinig also serves on the board of the Tulsa Area United Way, on the board of directors of the Indian Nations Council of the Boy Scouts of America and on the board of trustees of the University of Tulsa. He is a former chairman of the Tulsa City County Library Commission.

In addition to his wife, other Cornellians in Meinig's family include his father, Carl, now deceased, who received his bachelor of arts degree in 1931 and a degree in electrical engineering in 1933. Daughter Anne Smalling received a bachelor of science degree in 1987 from the College of Human Ecology and a master's degree in business administration from Harvard University in 1992. Daughter Kathryn Geib graduated with a bachelor of science degree in economics from the University of Pennsylvania in 1988 and received a master's in business administration from Cornell in 1993. Another daughter, Sally, graduated with a bachelor of science degree in communications from the University of Southern California in 1991 and received her Ph.D. in psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology in 2001.

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