Leadership and Service Award
2011 Recipients:
David Korslund '76 | Dan Brennan '81 | Tamra Thompson Toussaint '86
David Korslund '76 and Cornell President Jonathan Brand. View the award presentation and acceptance speech
David Korslund ’76
Award presentation and acceptance speech
David Korslund, Class of 1976, your work with sustainable banking, and your willingness to share your experience with Cornell students, have made lives richer on campus and around the world.
Since 2009 you’ve been a senior advisor at the Global Alliance for Banking on Values in The Netherlands, a group of independent banks from around the world that use finance to build a more sustainable future for the environment and unserved people and communities. In 2010, you returned to the Hilltop to speak to students in a workshop about your role at the Alliance and about the importance of sustainable banking. You spoke about using money as a tool for enhancing the quality of life through human, social, cultural and environmental development. You also emphasized the importance of transparency, trust, clarity, and inclusiveness in delivering financial products and services. By sharing your experience, you inspired students to discover ways they, too, can put the values they learn at Cornell into practice.
You are a member of Cornell’s Presidents Society, and have made a planned gift to the college, as well. When living in Chicago, you were an active member of the Cornell College Chicago Club, and hosted dinners at the restaurants you owned.
David, your career is a testament to the value of a liberal arts education. Starting with South Shore Bank after graduation and receiving an MBA in Finance and Accounting from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, you’ve been involved in finance for 35 years. You’ve worked at banks around the world, most recently at ABN AMRO Bank in the Netherlands, where you served as executive vice president from 2002 to 2009.
Throughout your career you’ve remained committed to making the world a more humane place and ensuring future generations have a better world in which to live. For all that you have done, David, we award you the Leadership and Service award.
Dan Brennan '81 and Cornell President Jonathan Brand. View the award presentation and acceptance speech
Dan Brennan ’81
Award presentation and acceptance speech
Dan Brennan, you graduated from Cornell in 1981 with a degree in chemistry, married Susan Kozal ’82, and three decades later you are the father of four and recognized as a world leader in nephrology. Your focus is on the medical challenges that occur after patients receive kidney transplants, as well as the related issues faced by patients with kidney problems who receive other types of solid organ transplants.
Your major research interests are viral infections and induction immunosuppressive therapy in kidney transplantation. Your work in these areas has produced a paradigm shift in the management of renal transplantation that has been adopted by many transplant programs throughout the world and led to marked improvement in outcomes. In recognition of these achievements, you have received many awards, including induction into the American Society of Clinical Investigation in 2004.
You are Professor of Medicine in the Renal Division at Washington University College of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, and Director of Transplant Nephrology at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. In these roles, you have closely mentored over 30 students, residents, fellows, and faculty, many of whom now hold prominent positions at academic medical centers throughout the country. And every day doctors around the world benefit from the material you coordinate for UpToDate, the world’s most widely referenced medical resource, where you serve as Editor in Chief for Nephrology.
Dan, for your lifelong commitment and tireless dedication toward improving the lives of people facing life-threatening medical conditions, we honor you with the Leadership and Service Award.
Tamra Thompson Toussaint '86 and Cornell President Jonathan Brand. View the award presentation and acceptance speech
Tamra Thompson Toussaint ’86
Award presentation and acceptance speech
Tamra Thompson Toussaint, from your pro-bono legal work to your support of charitable endeavors, your life has been dedicated to service.
Since your graduation in 1986 with degrees in politics, philosophy, and classical studies, you have lived up to your long-time aspiration of becoming a lawyer. In your work with Howrey LLP, you did pro bono work with child custody and homeless rights. Since 1999, in addition to your day-to-day responsibilities as chief counsel at Kimberly-Clark KCP Global, you’ve worked to encourage diversity of all kinds at the company, mentored others, and led efforts to improve sustainability.
Outside the company, you’ve been just as active, supporting the Children’s Restoration Network, the Atlanta Women’s Foundation, the Georgia Bar, and the Foster Care Support Foundation, among others. You’ve worked tirelessly on behalf of those in need—whether that need is financial, emotional, or professional. As co-chair of the Washington, D.C., Legal Community AIDSWALK Taskforce, you helped raise $250,000 for those with HIV and AIDS.
You’ve remained connected with your alma mater, as well, as a member of the Presidents Society, by hosting an alumni event at your home in Atlanta, and by serving as a mentor to two Cornell students interested in law careers.
All of this is in addition to your work at Kimberly-Clark, where you are in direct or indirect oversight of all lawyers in the global client division of the company. Tamra, for your success in the legal field and your dedication to bettering the world through charitable giving and direct service, we award you the Leadership and Service award.