Turf technician helps laud Law School Dean

When planning a gathering to celebrate the 10-year tenure of retiring Cornell University Law School Dean Stewart Schwab, Sheila Grant found herself in a quandary.

The new academic wing at the Law School – one of Schwab’s most significant accomplishments as dean – includes an adjacent lawn named for him and his wife, Norma, thanks to the generosity of gifts from the Law School’s Advisory Council and others. How do you recognize the official naming of the Schwab Lawn when the celebration will be held at The Metropolitan Club in New York City?

Grant, who works in Alumni Affairs and Development at the Law School, turned to Cornell Turf Program technician Jeff Barlow for help.

“She supplied the display box and I supplied the sod to represent the Schwab Lawn,” say Barlow.

The only problem was, with spring coming late this year, the Kentucky bluegrass sod Barlow dug was still brown. “I lined the box, filled it with soil, fit the sod in it and put it in the greenhouse. It only took it a week or so to green up,” he notes.

With daily watering, the sod grew so fast that Barlow had to give the sod a “mowing” with a pair of scissors. “I wanted to make sure it had that fresh, manicured look for the ceremony.”

“Jeff’s efforts were instrumental in making this come to fruition,” says Grant.

And the fate of the sod after the ceremony? Schwab plans to use it to repair a dead patch of lawn where the plastic base of a basketball hoop killed the grass.

“I sent him directions to make sure the sod would survive and fill in the spot,” says Barlow.

Stewart and Norma Schwab
Stewart and Norma Schwab

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