Mary George Opperman, vice president for human resources and safety services, and Lynette Chappell-Williams, associate vice president for workforce diversity and inclusion, will receive the Chris C. Kjeldsen Work Life Legacy Award June 13 for their "extraordinary contributions as work-life practitioners, leaders and innovators."

This is the first time the award has been given to individuals from an institution of higher education.

Presented by the Families and Work Institute and Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the award recognizes that under the leadership of Opperman and Chappell-Williams Cornell has become an "employer of choice," offering an array of such work-life support as flex-time and part-time schedules; parental leave for staff and academics; tenure clock stoppage for those in tenure-track professorial ranks; an on-site child care center; and a number of forums on employer-sponsored work-life programs.

The award is one of many that Cornell has received in recent years for its support of the work and life interface, including four years of recognition by Working Mothers (2006-09), five years by AARP (2005-09) and four years by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (2007-10).