Richard Small ’50, 2000 Honorary Degree

Honorary Degree: Doctor of Humanities

Richard Small ’50 received the honorary degree Dr. of Humanities from Cornell College on Sept. 30, 2000. Upon graduation in 1950, Richard Small built a successful oil-marketing business, Cheker Oil Company, which grew from a lease on an abandoned gas station to a network of several hundred service stations and diversified holdings in 18 states. In 1984 he began a new career as chairman and majority stockholder of Tri-Star Aerospace Incorporated. He also gave leadership to the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers and the Midwest Petroleum Marketers Association and served as a director of several banks.

His commitment to community betterment is evident in years of service to the Red Cross, Boy Scouts of America, the American Cancer Society, St. James Hospital, the Chicago Conference for Brotherhood, and the Chicago Petroleum Council’s City of Hope project. He served as a village trustee of Olympia Fields, Ill., from 1973 to 1981. His selection as a Governor of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame reflects his enduring interest in sports stimulated by his achievement as a conference wrestling champion.

A lifelong member of the United Methodist Church, he has led various local church agencies concerned with the role and status of women, religion and race, and interreligious understanding and cooperation. He and his wife, Norma, were honored as Outstanding Leaders for Higher Education by the Oklahoma Conference of the United Methodist Church. He serves on the Oklahoma United Methodist Foundation Board of Trustees. Next month Small will receive the prestigious Kresge Award, given annually by the United Methodist Foundation for Christian Higher Education for outstanding leadership and support to Methodist-related education. His conviction that the mission of the college and the mission of the church are closely allied led Small to initiate and endow an annual lectureship, “Dreams of Peace, Visions of the Future” which links the Cornell with St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in Cedar Rapids.

Small’s leadership and philanthropy have made a profound difference on the Hilltop. He served on the Cornell Board of Trustees from 1971 to 1981 and from 1986 to 1999, chairing the board from 1993 to 1996. While he prefers to build the endowment, he and Norma have stepped forward with lead gifts for numerous capital needs. Their challenge gift for the $60 million Program for Cornell enabled the campaign to succeed. They provided Cornell’s first endowed faculty chair. Over the years their generosity has played a large role in the renovations of College, South, Law, Bowman-Carter, and Merner halls, as well as Cole Library and the Richard and Norma Small Life Sports Center.