Six alumni to be honored during Homecoming Weekend

Six alumni to be honored during Homecoming WeekendNovember 06, 2001Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Four outstanding alumni, an outstanding young alumna and a distinguished teacher will be honored for their contributions to Syracuse University during Homecoming Weekend Nov. 9 to 11. They will be honored at the Outstanding Alumni Reception at the Goldstein Alumni and Faculty Center on Nov. 9 and in pregame ceremonies prior to the SU vs. West Virginia game on Nov. 10.

James A. Ridlon, professor of studio arts in the School of Art and Design in the College of Visual and Performing Arts, is the Outstanding Teacher of the Year. Attorney Leonard S. Elman ’52, retired U.S. Army Brigadier Gen. Alfred J. Cade G’65, and journalists Sidney ’61 and Carol Hurlburt ’61 have been named as the Outstanding Alumni. Susan Schwenderman ’87 is the Outstanding Young Alumna.

Alfred J. Cade G’65Cade, of Linwood, N.J., received an M.B.A. from SU in 1965, at the midpoint of his 26-year career in the U.S. Army. Cade held several significant assignments-from command assignments to positions in financial management- during his military career. He retired from the Army as a brigadier general in 1978. Cade joined Caesars Atlantic City in 1979, and was senior vice president of government relations until his retirement in 1996. He currently is a special adviser in the Office of the Chairman of Fleet Bank New Jersey.

He is the immediate past chair of the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education and has been a member since its inception in 1994. He is a former member of the board of trustees of Rowan University and Atlantic Cape Community College; past president of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Foundation and chairman emeritus of the Atlantic County Conference for Community and Justice. He also served as chairman of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce. He received an honorary degree from St. Peter’s College.

At SU, Cade is a member of the School of Management’s Corporate Advisory Board.

He and his wife, Florence, are the parents of five children.

Leonard S. Elman ’52Elman, a resident of New York City, graduated from The College of Arts and Sciences in 1952 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and history. He received a juris doctorate from Harvard Law School in 1955 and a master’s degree in history from New York University in 1970. The founder of the New York City-based Stark, Elman, Amron and Rosen law firm, Elman has been a practicing attorney for more than 40 years. Now a solo practitioner in New York City, he is a specialist in real estate law and banking.

Elman is a long-time supporter of SU. He is the current chair of the executive committee of The College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors and is chair of the Metropolitan New York Advisory Board. He has served on the National Alumni Board, and received The College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award of 1996.

In 1998, Elman and his wife, Elise Barnett Elman ’52, established the Richard Elman Memorial Endowment in Creative Writing in memory of Leonard’s brother, Richard ’55. Elman’s father, Edward Elman ’25, was the first recipient of a Chancellor’s Medal.

He is a member of the New York State and American bar associations and the American College of Mortgage Attorneys and served on active duty in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps for three years. He is also a trustee and officer of the Jewish Child Care Association of New York.

Sidney ’61 and Carol Johnson Hurlburt ’61The Hurlburts, of Reston, Va., met while working on The Daily Orange as undergraduates at SU. Both graduated in 1961 with dual degrees in political science and newspaper journalism.

Sid received a Fulbright Award to pursue graduate studies in public administration at Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand. His career in journalism has included stints as a writer and editor with the Associated Press in Atlanta, Providence, R.I., Concord, N.H., Boston and Washington, D.C.; administrative assistant to U.S. Sen. Charles Mathias (R-Md.) and nearly 30 years with The Gannett Company as an editor of newspapers in New York, Vermont and Delaware. He is now an editorial writer with USA Today.

Carol received a master’s degree in international relations from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. She has served at posts with the Associated Press and the Voice of America, and as a senior citizens program coordinator. She has also taught journalism and economics on the college level and worked as a freelance writer. She is currently the director of communications and marketing with NPES, The Association for Suppliers of Printing, Publishing and Converting Technologies, a trade association.

The parents of two daughters, the Hurlburts are both are active in community affairs. They serve as coordinators for Washington National Cathedral’s service project at Martha’s Table Soup Kitchen. Sid is a member of the Society for Professional Journalists; Carol is a member of the Reston chapter of the American Association for University Women.

At SU, they are active with the Greenberg House in Washington, D.C. and as Reunion volunteers. Both are members of the Alumni Club of Washington, D.C.

James A. Ridlon ’57, G’67Ridlon, a member of the SU faculty since 1965, has served the University in a variety of ways. He served as chair of the Department of Foundation from 1984 to 1988 and has been a member of numerous Senate, tenure, promotion, search and curriculum committees. He created the awards that were given to Chancellor’s Citation recipients in 1986 and 1996, and to the Big Apple Award recipients in 1997 and 1998. He created the Ben Schwartzwalder trophy for the SU athletic department, a “100 Years of Syracuse Football” assemblage that is installed in the Carrier Dome and a Roy Simmons Coaches Roster Plaque.

Ridlon’s work is displayed in over 200 permanent collections, including the Munson-Williams-Proctor Institute in Utica, the State Legislature Building in Albany, and at Binghamton University. He has received over 20 prizes and awards. His major commissions include the Outland Trophy, the Baseball Writers Association of America Scholar-Athletes Awards and the 35th Anniversary Disneyland Assemblage.

Ridlon was honored as the College Educator of the Year by CBS and ESPN in 1987. He was named a Letter Winner of Distinction at SU in 1983, and received the Outstanding Faculty Award from SU’s School of Art and Design in 1997. He also received an honorary degree from Cazenovia College in 1997.

A former professional football player with the San Francisco 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, Ridlon has been a broadcaster for SU football games since 1976.

Susan M. Schwenderman ’87Schwenderman received a bachelor’s degree in advertising with honors in 1987 from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. As director of marketing communications for the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau (PCVB), she manages a seven-person department responsible for national and international marketing communications and public relations efforts. One of her largest and most important projects has been to direct the implementation of a marketing communications plan that maximized opportunities for Philadelphia and the surrounding region from hosting 15,000 national and international media during the 2000 Republican National Convention.

She is the recipient of the 1999 Sarah Award in Public Relations, presented by the Philadelphia chapter of Women in Communications.

Schwenderman served as a sponsorship director at PCVB from 1988 to 1994. From 1994 to 1996, she was assistant vice president of community relations for Meridian Bancorp, and served as a senior account executive at the Tierney Group in 1996. She rejoined the PCVB in 1996.

At SU, she served as a member of the Alumni Association Board of Directors from 1993 to 1996. She has also been active in the Philadelphia Alumni Club and worked with the University’s admissions office as an alumni representative.

She serves on the boards of the National Hemophilia Foundation/Delaware Valley Chapter and the Center for Literacy, on the President’s Council of Magee Rehabilitation Hospital and on the marketing committee of the American Stroke Association/SEPA Region.