Joe Kabel
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Tell us about what you're doing with your life
After raising our 3 kids in Olympia, WA, my wife, Tammy, and I downsized to a waterfront condo in Tacoma, WA. I continue to manage my research/technology company of 25 years, but we also find time to travel widely and cruise the northwest waters on our boat. Along the way, I earned a PhD in Geography from Penn State (mapped/modeled the AIDS epidemic into the early 90s), held social science research positions at the State of Washington, and conducted a wide variety of projects for human services agencies at my firm. Some of my favorites include a disease surveillance project for CDC in the US Pacific Islands, crime mapping research with the Seattle police, a biennial behavioral health survey of 200,000+ middle and high school students in WA, studying local health impacts of cannabis stores, and a jail-based survey of recently booked arrestees on substance use/abuse.
What was your favorite class at Cornell, or the one you found most useful?
Senior year I found a independent study class called Marketing Demographics offered by an Econ professor. I really enjoyed the material, but looking back, it seems a signal for my future interests in geography, human services, and population analysis. If Cornell would have had a geography department, I might have ended up there.
What is your favorite memory of your time at Cornell?
Fraternity life in general is pretty high up there. As a Phi Psi, it was really fun to put on the Phi Psi 500 charity event each year. For those who recall, the 500 was a mile-long daytime “race” through C-town requiring the 1500+ usually-costumed racers to chug a beer at 5 stops along the way. It was followed that same evening by a massive campus-wide party at Barton Hall. I know, cringe. While it ran for 12 years and raised a lot for charity, it was permanently cancelled in 1986 for obvious reasons. 😊
Which Cornell classmates do you keep in touch with?
Living in the top left corner of the country, not too many, but over the years, Marc Weinstein ’84, Scott Dowdell ’83, Mary (Tynan) Reichenbach '84, Peter Shalvoy ’84, Robert Leeshock ’84, Greg Chapkowski '83, Rich Shapiro '85, and Dan Mahoney ’84.
How has your time at Cornell influenced you since you graduated?
Pretty simply, Cornell launched me with confidence to engage the world in just about any context.
What random or surprising encounters with Cornell or Cornellians have you experienced since you left?
Very recently, in the category of something I never imagined doing, a group of 20+ fraternity brothers invested in a thoroughbred racing partnership. One of them, a Cornell animal science graduate, has trained and raced horses for years. The race-day WhatsApp chats are entertaining to say the least.
If you could change anything about your Cornell experience, what would it be?
Avoid 8 am classes at all costs.
What advice would you give to a student starting at Cornell?
Like many others have said, explore, explore, explore beyond your comfort zone and be open to opportunity of all kinds. Also, spend a summer at Cornell, if it fits in. It's so nice and relaxed.
Well said Red!