Beckie Robertson ’82 earns Duffield Engineering’s highest alumni honor

Beckie Robertson '82, a venture capital leader in biotechnology, received the Cornell Duffield Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award on April 23 in recognition of a career defined by innovation in health care and service to Cornell.

The award is the highest alumni honor bestowed by the college and was presented during a ceremony in Upson Hall, where university leaders, faculty, students and alumni gathered to celebrate Robertson's professional achievements and decades of engagement with the university.

"Beckie represents the very, very best of Cornell," President Michael I. Kotlikoff said. "Visionary in her leadership, generous in her service and unwavering in her belief that Cornell students learn best when they are challenged, not only to excel in the classroom, but to engage the world beyond it."

Robertson is co-founder and general partner at Versant Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on biotechnology and drug discovery. Over the course of her career, she has held leadership roles in corporate operations, venture investing and entrepreneurship. Her work has helped bring new medical technologies from early-stage concepts to real-world solutions.

Robertson has also played a significant role in Cornell's governance and strategic direction. She currently serves as vice chair of the Cornell Board of Trustees and chairs its executive committee, while also contributing to numerous advisory councils and initiatives.

"Beckie embodies all that is great about Cornell engineers," said Lynden Archer, the Joseph Silbert Dean of Engineering. "She is humble, wise, a problem solver, a team builder, a leader - in short, the sort of engineer who can make a difference on any team and perhaps even in any field."

Michael Shuler, the Samuel B. Eckert Professor of Engineering Emeritus who mentored Robertson when she was a chemical engineering undergraduate researcher, recalled her early curiosity and willingness to challenge assumptions. That lab experience has carried through Robertson's career and her philanthropic approach. Alongside her husband, Neil Robertson '82, she has supported initiatives that expand hands-on, experiential learning for students.

During the ceremony, Kotlikoff announced that the couple has endowed Duffield Engineering's Shuler Scholars Clinical Immersion Program. Run in partnership with Weill Cornell Medicine, the program places biomedical engineering students in operating rooms and other clinical settings where they observe procedures and identify opportunities for innovation. The Roberstons previously supported the pilot of the program and have now ensured its continuation.

Emma Weiss '26 said that observing tonsillectomies, robotic assisted surgeries and a heart transplant while in the program left a lasting impression and helped shape her career goals. "Because of this experience, I feel more confident in my ability to pursue a career in the medical device industry and develop solutions that truly address unmet clinical needs."

During the fireside chat portion of the ceremony, Robertson reflected on her personal journey to Cornell and engineering. She grew up in a small upstate New York farming community, the daughter of a social worker and an infrastructure lineman, where hard work and service to others were central family values. A formative experience working at a local pharmacy, she said, sparked her interest in health care by showing her how one person's efforts could directly improve the lives of others.

"I decided then that I wanted a career serving patients," said Robertson, who chose to pursue that goal at Cornell after a teacher encouraged her to consider chemical engineering. "The most valuable things I learned at Cornell were not strictly related to chemical engineering. I learned that in the end, your success is all about the people you choose to surround yourself with."

Robertson also spoke about what motivates her and her husband's continued engagement with Cornell. "It's really nothing more than paying it forward," she said. "If in some small way what Neil and I do… can help create a transformative experience for somebody else, that's what drives us."

Syl Kacapyr is associate director of marketing and communications for Duffield Engineering.