Groat and Alpern Awards 2016
Robert D. Manfred ’80 will receive the 2016 Judge William B. Groat Alumni Award and Jonathan L. Dolgen ’66 will receive the Jerome Alpern Award on April 14 at The Pierre Hotel in New York City.
They were selected for the honors because of professional accomplishments and commitments to ILR and Cornell.
Manfred was elected as the tenth commissioner in the history of Major League Baseball in August 2014 by a unanimous vote of the 30 Major League clubs. He officially became the league’s leader on Jan. 25.
Before that, he was Major League Baseball’s chief operating officer, overseeing labor relations, baseball operations, baseball development, finance, administration and other areas. He began working with Major League Baseball in 1987.
He is a member of the Labor Section of the American Bar Association, the Massachusetts and District of Columbia Bar Associations and the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers.
Manfred also served as a member of the board of directors of the Sports Lawyers Association and the Partnership for Clean Competition. He was named Labor Counsel of the Year in 2008 by the Association of Media and Entertainment Counsel and was awarded an honorary degree by LeMoyne College in 2010.
He regularly engages with ILR students and met with them during a trip to Ithaca last spring.
Manfred received his law degree magna cum laude from Harvard Law School. At Harvard, he was an articles editor for the Harvard Law Review.
Following law school, Manfred served as a clerk to U.S. District Court Judge Joseph L. Tauro in the District of Massachusetts, then joined the Labor and Employment Law Section of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, LLP, and became a partner in the firm in 1992.
Dolgen has been a principal and senior consultant at Wood River Ventures, LLC, since September 2004 and has been a private investor since July 2004.
He served as a senior adviser of Viacom Inc. from July 2004 to April 2010. From October 2006 to March 2008, he served as a senior consultant of ArtistDirect, Inc.
From April 1994 to July 2004, Dolgen served as the chairman and chief executive officer of the Viacom Entertainment Group, where his work included motion picture production and distribution, television production and distribution, and publishing.
Dolgen has served the university over the years, and has been a member of the Cornell Major Gifts Committee since 2005. He is also a life member of Cornell University Council, after having served three terms.
He was a founder of the Friends of the Cornell University Theater Arts Center. In 2011, Jonathan and his wife Susan were celebrated as Foremost Benefactors of Cornell in recognition of their lifelong dedication to the university.
He made it a personal priority to support his alma mater through both service and resources. The ILR Extension Building became Dolgen Hall through his support, along with a dean’s fund to be used for the school’s most urgent priorities.
Over the years, he has also hosted many events for university leaders, alumni and prospective students at his home, at Paramount Pictures and elsewhere.
Jonathan holds a law degree from New York University.