The Alumni Association of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University will honor six alumni at the association's annual alumni awards banquet on Friday, Sept. 20.

The event will be held in the Triphammer Lodge & Conference Center (formerly the Sheraton) on Triphammer Road at 6 p.m. Individuals may register for the banquet by contacting the Agriculture and Life Sciences Alumni Association at 265 Roberts Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y. 14853, by Sept. 13. For information, call (607) 255-7651.

The Alumni Association is celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Outstanding Alumni Awards and the ninth anniversary of the Young Alumni Achievement Awards. Eighty of the college's 42,000 alumni have been honored, including this year's recipients:

Philip Coombe Jr. '58, Grahamsville, N.Y.

Coombe retired in April after 37 years with the New York State Department of Corrections. He was acting commissioner at the time of his retirement and is the only person to have risen from an entry-level position to the department's top office. Shortly before retiring, he achieved 100 percent accreditation for the state's 69 correctional facilities from the American Correctional Association. New York is the first and, thus far, the only state to achieve this goal.

Known for his 70- and 80-hour weeks with the corrections system, Coombe still has found time to help run a 1,200-acre beef farm with his brother, former State Assemblyman Richard Coombe '64, near Grahamsville, N.Y. He has been active in community activities and is a member of the Tri-Valley Lions Club, the Ellenville Noonday Club and the Neversink Agricultural Society.

Coombe also has been an active ALS alumnus, attending meetings and serving as chair of a fundraising program to furnish and equip the Sullivan County Cornell Cooperative Extension Center. He has served as enrollment committeeman for extension for more than 30 years. His wife, Carolyn '59, and four children are all Cornell graduates.

Richard E. Keene '57, Gilbertsville, N.Y.

Keene has made countless contributions to the dairy industry and his community during the last 39 years. The owner of Keeneland Farm in Gilbertsville, N.Y., he is a leading authority on dairy cattle. He has judged breed shows throughout the nation and overseas and is a member and current vice president of the Holstein Association U.S.A.

Keene is a longtime member of Cornell Cooperative Extension of Otsego County and has been involved with the Gilbertsville 4--H Club for 35 years. He has served on local school boards, the Town of Butternuts Planning Board, and the Delhi and Cobleskill Agricultural Advisory Boards. He also serves as a director of the Wilber National Bank, Oneonta, N.Y. The Keene family was an initial recipient of the Governor's Farm Family Award in 1989.

As an ALS Alumni Association member, Keene has served as a district director and chair of the ALS District LeadershipTeam, chair of the ALS Finance and Investments Committee and, recently, chair of the Audit Committee. He also has worked with animal science Professor David Galton and the Cornell Dairy Judging Team and served on Cornell's Secondary Schools Committee.

Keene's wife, Shirley '59, and four of his five daughters are also Cornell graduates.

Richard T. Meister '39, Willoughby, Ohio

Meister is chairman and editor in chief of Meister Publishing Co., a publisher of agricultural magazines, in Willoughby, Ohio. Since he joined the family business in 1940, it has grown from a single title, American Fruit Grower, to more than 17 publications covering a wide variety of topics relating to commercial horticulture, crop protection and consulting. His company is credited with keeping growers informed on the latest in technology, marketing, research funding, legislation and other factors that influence America's agriculture industry; with use also of electronic publishing, e-mail and the World Wide Web.

Meister has a small test orchard and has been active as a village council member, bank director and senior warden of St. Hubert's Chapel. He is a member of many professional associations and has received numerous awards from apple grower associations, the Professional Plant Growers Association and the Bedding Plants Foundation, and has an honorary membership in the American Crop Protection Association.

Meister has encouraged many promising students to attend Cornell. He returns to campus often as a lecturer in horticulture classes and is a member of the board of directors of the annual Seeley Floricultural Conference, a world recognized "think-tank" event held at Cornell.

J. Patrick Mulcahy '66, MBA '67, Clayton, Mo.

Mulcahy joined the Ralston Purina Co. in 1967 and moved steadily through positions in marketing, product management and development, human resources, strategic planning and administration. He is corporate vice president of Ralston Purina and chairman and CEO of the Energizer Battery Co.

Mulcahy has been an avid supporter of youth programs for many years. He is a member of the board of the America Youth Foundation and the advisory board of Challenges Inc., an organization founded by his eldest daughter that provides services to people with disabilities. He also is involved with Boys Hope/Girls Hope, a national residential program that maintains 24 homes for abused children of all ages.

Mulcahy has returned to Cornell annually for the last 10 years to lecture and meet with students. He was a member of the University Council from 1991 to 1995 and is co-chair of the endowment effort for the Aplin Teaching Excellence Fund.

Charles E. Wille '50, Montgomery, N.Y.

The owner of Landsmere Farm in Orange County, N.Y., Wille has been one of the agriculture industry's most committed and effective advocates. During his tenure as president of the New York Farm Bureau, he focused on many state and national issues that had direct impact on New York's farmers. In the 1970s he was one of the architects of New York's Agricultural Districts Law, landmark legislation that established programs to reduce property tax burdens and protect farmers' rights to farm. He guided the evolution of the law through the adoption of the Farmland Protection Act of 1992. He also served on the board of directors of the American Farm Bureau Federation and of Farm Families Insurance Companies. He is chair of the New York State Advisory Council on Agriculture for the Department of Agriculture and Markets.

Wille has been active in community affairs and has served on numerous committees and boards. He has been a member of the town of Montgomery Chamber of Commerce and has been active as an officer of the Montgomery Reformed Church.

Wille is a lifetime member of the ALS Alumni Association and is currently a member of the advisory councils of the Empire State Food and Agriculture Leadership Institute (LEAD NY). He served previously on the ALS College Advisory Council.

Young Alumni Achievement Award

Robin L. Baker '85, New York, N.Y.

Baker graduated from the college with a reputation as one of the most accomplished speech and debate competitors in the history of the Cornell Forensics Society. She has put her talents to use as an attorney with the New York office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, where she has worked since receiving her degree from Columbia Law School in 1989. She is a highly regarded litigator and is praised throughout the firm for her knowledge of procedural issues. In July, Baker began a new career as a criminal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the southern district of New York.

Baker has maintained her ties with the Forensics Society. She returns to Ithaca every year to help run the national intercollegiate Russell D. Martin Forensics Tournament, serving both as a judge and overseeing score tabulation. In 1994 she was the keynote speaker at the society's annual Awards Brunch.

In New York, Baker is chair of the board of directors for IMPACT Coalition, an organization that provides college students, particularly minorities and women, with peer mentors, opportunities to network with business people, and education in public speaking and debate activities. The organization works with students from colleges in the New York metropolitan area. She also serves as legal adviser to the mock trial team at John Bowne High School in Flushing, N.Y., and has raised funds for the Legal Aid Society.