Class Notes

One of the University’s most prominent alumni leaders, G. Robert Witmer Jr. ’59, received the University’s George Eastman Medal in recognition of his career achievements and his service to the University and the Rochester-area communities.

Witmer has been an attorney with the Nixon Peabody law firm in Rochester since shortly after his graduation from Harvard Law School in 1962. As senior counsel at the firm, he has represented clients at the state and federal levels in cases that have helped shape real estate and environmental law.

Known as “Mr. Rochester” for his wide-ranging engagement as a civic leader in his hometown, Witmer has served as past president of the New York State Bar Association. He received the 2013 Rochester Rotary Award, the oldest civic award in the city, given to those who personify the organization’s motto of “Service Above Self.”

Witmer’s career at the University began in the 1950s, when he was an active undergraduate student, serving as cocaptain of the basketball team, president of the Theta Chi fraternity, and as a member of multiple other campus organizations. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa and with honors in history.

Currently holding the title of Board Chair Emeritus, Witmer has served in important advisory roles for the College, alumni affairs, the Medical Center, the Eastman School of Music, and the Board of Trustees. Elected as a trustee in 1979, Witmer served as chair from 2003 until 2008, a tenure that included the selection of Joel Seligman as the University’s 10th president and CEO and that put in place the groundwork for the 2011 launch of The Meliora Challenge Campaign. He is a member of a remarkable alumni family, counting more than a dozen relatives as graduates of the University.

He and his wife, Nancy, are charter members of the George Eastman Circle, the University’s leadership annual giving society. In recognition of the couple’s support and to honor his father, G. Robert Witmer Sr. ’26, and his mother, Marian Witmer, the residence of the University president was renamed the Witmer House in 2006. In March, the Witmers announced a $2 million commitment to establish the G. Robert Witmer, Jr. University Professorship to provide financial support for the University presidency.