Dec. 24, 2020—Longtime Kendal at Ithaca Board member Harold D. “Hal” Craft Jr. has been recognized by LeadingAge New York as its Trustee of the Year for 2020. LeadingAge New York CEO Jim Clyne presented the award to Craft during a Dec. 16 Zoom meeting of Kendal at Ithaca’s Board of Trustees. A member of Kendal at Ithaca’s Board from 2009 through 2019, Craft served as Board Chair from 2013 to 2019. Craft currently is a member of The Kendal Corporation Board.
In nominating Craft for the honor, Laurie Mante, Kendal at Ithaca’s Executive Director, said: “Beyond Hal’s outstanding efforts and accomplishments, the one thing that qualifies him as a ‘Trustee of the Year/Decade’ is his humanness. He is the most caring, thoughtful and considerate person I have ever worked with.”
The nomination noted that during his tenure as a Kendal at Ithaca trustee Craft:
- Improved the orientation and education of Board members.
- Formed the Board’s marketing committee.
- Formed an audit committee separate from the finance committee to enhance accountability.
- Led the strategic efforts to reposition Kendal at Ithaca through a $30 million expansion and renovation project that was completed under budget and on time.
- Supported efforts to win accreditation and reaccreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF).
Craft is Vice President Emeritus of Cornell University, having retired as Vice President for Administration and Chief Financial Officer. Over a roughly 40-year career at Cornell, he held numerous positions in the senior administration or on the research staff, among them being Vice President for Facilities and Campus Services, Director of the Arecibo Radio Observatory in Puerto Rico, and Director of the National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center. Prior to Cornell, he was at Bell Telephone Laboratories and the Laboratories of the Communications Satellite Corporation.