Staff Stories: June Losurdo

Seen Through Their Stories

How one senior major gifts officer is bringing alumni experiences to life at Cornell. 

By Grace DePaull

The stories come to her in pieces. And they arrive through people.

A 90-year-old alumnus touring the half-renovated halls of the Plant Science Building on the Ag Quad, a project he’s helping bring to life. A donor inspired to advance Alzheimer’s research after the disease touched his own family. A first meeting with the grandson of a Cornellian she’s known for more than twenty years. 

For June Losurdo, these moments are the heart of her work — and, over time, they’ve also become her way of understanding Cornell.

As a senior major gifts officer for Alumni Affairs and Development, Losurdo has spent more than two decades listening to Cornell alumni describe the university in their own words and through their own experiences. Those stories have formed a map in her mind — one drawn not from buildings or departments, but from people and their memories, leaving traces of their lives everywhere: from names etched on buildings to labs made possible by families she’s worked alongside.

“Those stories about the university aren’t printed anywhere,” Losurdo said. “You only find them when you ask alumni about their individual experiences at Cornell. If anything, it makes me want to explore more and see the institution through their eyes. I get to bring alumni closer to the university, and by doing that, I also get to experience so many of the things they did when they were students here.” 

Losurdo didn’t begin her career in higher education development. With a background in hospitality, she first worked in Boston hotels, where many of her sales and catering clients were universities. The people she met — thoughtful, mission-driven, and generous — sparked her curiosity about alumni work and the connections that sustain it.

That curiosity led Losurdo to roles at Radcliffe and the University of Chicago, where she rediscovered the energy and purpose that define campus life. So, when she eventually returned home to upstate New York, Cornell’s pull felt almost inevitable.

“At the time, I was working at the American Cancer Society, and most of my volunteers were from Cornell,” she recalled. “They were professional, kind, and incredibly committed. I thought, that’s the kind of place I want to be.”

Soon after, she joined Cornell’s Alumni Affairs and Development team, beginning in the College of Engineering before moving into her current university-wide role. Her days rarely fit neatly into a schedule. One week, she might be on campus connecting a donor with a dean to discuss an academic initiative; the next, she’s visiting alumni along the Northeast corridor, listening to their stories over coffee.

Travel is a constant for Losurdo, who not only connects with alumni daily, but also travels every month of the year — meeting families and donors where they live and work and learning what Cornell means to them. 

“Every alumnus’s journey weaves through the university in its own way. They all lead to Cornell, but they may take many different routes to get there,” she said.

Her job is to understand those routes and connect alumni interests and experiences to the ways they can give back. She currently works with about 80 families, some she’s known for decades and others for only a short time, but every relationship begins with trust and a shared commitment to Cornell’s future.

“I represent the institution when I’m sitting in their living room,” she said. “And when I’m back on campus, I represent them — making sure their voices and their hopes are heard.” 

That partnership takes many forms. Sometimes it leads to something tangible like a new lab, named scholarship, or revitalized building. Other times it’s quieter: an introduction, a connection, a shared understanding. Whatever the outcome, Losurdo’s work always comes back to relationships.

 “True philanthropy depends on trust,” Losurdo said. “It’s about being present and really listening to what matters most to someone. Be it the dean, donor, or relative of an alumnus who’s visiting campus, there’s something to be said for being present.”

Every connection starts with a single conversation, but the relationships Losurdo builds often span lifetimes. And, in some cases, continue even after someone is gone.

 “When a donor passes away, it’s heartbreaking,” she said. “But their legacy doesn’t end. Their name lives on — on a building, through a scholarship, through the lives they’ve touched. That’s what makes this work so meaningful. There’s so much joy that comes from helping alumni leave their legacy at the university.” 

Each story she helps carry forward adds another layer to her own relationship with Cornell, offering a deeper understanding not just of what alumni give to the institution, but what Cornell gives back to them. 

“They push me to experience at least a version of the university they knew,” Losurdo said. Over the years, she’s attended hockey games, musical performances, student engineering competitions, and more — showing alumni that Cornell still feels alive in many of the same ways it once did for them. “It’s been so rewarding investing in these relationships and finding ways to bring them closer to the university. And in doing so, I get to experience everything right alongside them.” 

For Losurdo, Cornell will always be a living mosaic — a story still being pieced together, one alumnus, one memory, and one conversation at a time.