Star-Gazette, December 28, 2008, Sunday

Copyright 2008 Star-Gazette (Elmira, NY)
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Star-Gazette (Elmira, New York)

December 28, 2008, Sunday
1 Edition

HEADLINE: Scholarship honors memory of Horseheads graduate

BYLINE: Jennifer Kingsley

BODY:

One year ago today, Joseph Rich, a health-conscious, avid runner, died at the age of 49, leaving behind a wife, Beth Florin, and two twin children - a boy, Alex, and a girl, Zoe.

His family was devastated, said his brother, Dave Rich, humanities department chairman at Corning-Painted Post West High School.

Last month, Joseph's siblings started a scholarship fund in his memory that will be awarded to a Horseheads High School senior through the Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes, Dave said.

They kept it a secret from their parents - and Beth - until Christmas Day.

"They were overwhelmed," Dave said. "And very grateful."

The scholarship, officially named for their parents, is the Jerome F. and Elizabeth Foreman Rich Family Scholar-ship, in Memory of Joseph R. Rich and will administer $500 this year to a college-bound senior pursuing a career in human resources or business or who demonstrates an entrepreneurial spirit, since Joseph and Beth started their own consulting firm, Dave said.

The endowed scholarship fund was created to recognize Joseph locally, Dave said. The deadline to apply for the scholarship is March 1, which was Joseph's birthday.

Joseph was a 1976 graduate of Horseheads High School and a 1980 graduate of Cornell University, where he also obtained a master's degree in 1986.

Joseph met Beth at Cornell while they were completing their master's degrees. After they started a business and a family together, Joseph assumed a leadership role as a Cornell alumnus.

"No one would have known the impact a freshman from Big Flats would have on the Industrial and Labor Relations school when he first set foot on campus in 1976," Cornell University Dean Harry C. Katz wrote in a newsletter.

Before his death, Joseph was chairman of Pearl Meyer & Partners, the compensation consulting practice of Clark Consulting, where he specialized in working with boards and executives on strategic planning issues, with a particular emphasis on information technology and life science firms.

Joseph worked alongside Beth at Pearl Meyer, which bought their firm, Executive Alliance, one of the largest con-sulting firms in New England, Dave said.

"In addition to his success in the business world, he was an even greater brother," Dave said. "He was very humble and always put his family first."

He also arranged terrific family reunions, Dave said.

"Joe always offered the faculty and me tremendous support. Any dean would be lucky to have a tireless volunteer like Joe," Harry wrote. "But I was able to also have him as a trusted adviser and friend."

"Sadly, we will never know all that Joe might have accomplished," Harry wrote. "But he left an indelible mark on the ILR school and on all who knew him."

The family would like to continue building the endowed fund, increasing the award, Dave said.

Donations will be accepted online or via a check made out to:
(right triangle) Rich Family Scholarship, c/o Community Foundation of Elmira-Corning and the Finger Lakes Inc., 307B E. Water St., Elmira, NY 14901.
Complete scholarship criteria may be viewed online at www. communityfund.org.
Jennifer Kingsley is a staff writer for the Star-Gazette. Neighbors runs Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sun-days on this page.

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