Four Cornell faculty members have received Kendall S. Carpenter Memorial Advising Awards, which recognize sustained and distinguished contributions of tenure-track faculty and senior lecturers to advising undergraduates.

This year’s recipients are Frances Kozen ’72, M.S. ’77, senior lecturer in the Department of Human Centered Design in the College of Human Ecology (CHE); Corinna Loeckenhoff, Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor of Developmental Psychology (CHE) and professor of gerontology in medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine; Gali Racabi, assistant professor of labor and employment law in the ILR School; and Éva Tardos, Jacob Gould Schurman Professor of Computer Science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. Their achievements were honored in a ceremony April 21 in the Carrier Ballroom in the Statler Hotel.

Stephen Ashley ’62, MBA ’64 and trustee emeritus, established the award to honor his extraordinary advisor, Kendall S. Carpenter, a professor of business management at Cornell from 1954 until his untimely death at the age of 50 in 1967. Four $5,000 awards are made each year, with both professorial faculty and senior lecturers eligible. Nominations were accepted from all members of the academic community including undergraduates, faculty and academic staff, with the criteria considering contributions in academic advising as well as programmatic contributions and advising in extracurricular contexts.

The Office of the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education oversees the award nomination and selection process. At the awards banquet, Lisa Nishii, senior vice provost for enrollment management and undergraduate education, enumerated the ways in which this year’s honorees have nurtured students’ intellectual curiosity, developed their professional identities and cared for them as people.

"The best advisers are those who demonstrate through their actions both in and outside the classroom that they care deeply, not just about improving curricula and guiding students academically, but also attending thoughtfully to students' personal growth," Nishii said. "They nurture students' curiosity, agency, and sense of purpose in ways that prepare them to engage with the world as excellent stewards of our university core values."

Kozen, who joined Cornell more than three decades ago, has demonstrated a profound commitment to the holistic development and success of her students. Her contributions to the Fiber Science and Apparel Design (FSAD) program have been transformative, creating a supportive and inclusive environment where students thrive academically, professionally and personally. Her dedication has profoundly shaped the FSAD program and the lives of countless students, with one of her faculty colleagues describing her as, “a driving force in shaping the department’s undergraduate curriculum, ensuring it remains rigorous, relevant and aligned with the evolving demands of the fashion and textile industries.”

Since joining Cornell University in 2009, Loeckenhoff has made a lasting impact through her dedication to mentorship, teaching and advising. As a professor in the Department of Psychology, she has consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of the challenges facing students, providing them with not only academic guidance but also personal support and invaluable life advice. A former advisee, now working in the Geriatric and Palliative Care Division at Weill Cornell Medicine, shared that, “through her imaginative curriculum, she quite literally puts us in the shoes of an older adult and helped us empathize with them.”

Joining the faculty in 2022 after earning his S.J.D. from Harvard Law School, Racabi has already made a significant impact on the academic and personal development of students in his relatively short time at Cornell. Colleagues commend his innovative approach to teaching the required undergraduate course Labor and Employment Law, where he prioritizes a discussion-based format over traditional lectures. The course explores complex topics related to identity, culture and social dynamics, which can be challenging to navigate. By fostering respectful debate, he encourages students to thoughtfully represent both employer and employee perspectives.

As a distinguished professor and department chair, Tardos has helped to shape the computer science curriculum and fostered a supportive community for students from all backgrounds. She has been instrumental in developing curriculum innovations to ensure that students graduate and are well-prepared for future careers. Notably, she founded the Rising Sophomore Summer Program in Computer Science (CSMore) program, a monthlong summer initiative for rising sophomores that prepares students for critical gateway courses by building foundational skills and confidence. In describing the enormous amount of effort Tardos puts in the CSMore program and its impact, a former student stated, “I witnessed firsthand how much work she puts into creating a space where students can build both confidence and skill to pursue the major … I would not have graduated with my degree in computer science in the College of Engineering cum laude without this program.”