Cornell University

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For the liberal arts college in Mount Vernon, Iowa, see Cornell College.
"Cornell" redirects here. For other uses, see Cornell (disambiguation).

Cornell University

Latin: Universitas Cornelliana

Type Private/Statutory[1]

Land-grant

Research

Established April 27, 1865; 155 years ago

Academic AAU
affiliations
SUNY

APLU

NAICU

URA

568 Group

Sea-grant

Space-grant

Endowment $7.22 billion (2020)[2]

President Martha E. Pollack

Provost Michael Kotlikoff

Academic staff 1,639 – Ithaca, New York

1,235 – NYC, New York

34 – Doha, Qatar

Students 24,027 (Fall 2019)[3]

Undergraduates 15,043 (Fall 2019)[3]

Postgraduates 8,984 (Fall 2019)[3]

Location Ithaca

, 

New York

, 

United States

42°26′50″N 76°28′59″WCoordinates:  42°26

′50″N 76°28′59″W

Campus Rural[4]

4,800 acres (19 km2)

Colors Carnelian, white[5]

    

Athletics NCAA Division I – Ivy League

Nickname Big Red

Mascot Touchdown the Bear (unofficial)[6]

Website cornell.edu
 Cornell University (/kɔːrˈnɛl/ kor-NEL) is a private, statutory, Ivy League and land-
grant research university in Ithaca, New York. Founded in 1865 by Ezra
Cornell and Andrew Dickson White,[7] the university was intended to teach and make
contributions in all fields of knowledge—from the classics to the sciences, and from the
theoretical to the applied. These ideals, unconventional for the time, are captured in
Cornell's founding principle, a popular 1868 quotation from founder Ezra Cornell: "I
would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study." [8]
The university is broadly organized into seven undergraduate colleges and
seven graduate divisions at its main Ithaca campus, with each college and division
defining its specific admission standards and academic programs in near autonomy.
The university also administers two satellite medical campuses, one in New York
City and one in Education City, Qatar, and Cornell Tech, a graduate program that
incorporates technology, business, and creative thinking. The program moved from
Google's Chelsea Building in New York City to its permanent campus on Roosevelt
Island in September 2017.
Cornell is one of the few private land grant universities in the United States.[note 1] Of its
seven undergraduate colleges, three are state-supported statutory or contract
colleges through the State University of New York (SUNY) system, including its
agricultural and human ecology colleges as well as its industrial labor relations school.
Of Cornell's graduate schools, only the veterinary college is state-supported. As a land
grant college, Cornell operates a cooperative extension outreach program in every
county of New York and receives annual funding from the State of New York for certain
educational missions.[9] The Cornell University Ithaca Campus comprises 745 acres, but
is much larger when the Cornell Botanic Gardens (more than 4,300 acres) and the
numerous university-owned lands in New York City are considered. [10]
Alumni and affiliates of Cornell have reached many notable and influential positions in
politics, media, and science. As of January 2021, 61 Nobel laureates, four Turing Award
winners and one Fields Medalist have been affiliated with Cornell. Cornell counts more
than 250,000 living alumni, and its former and present faculty and alumni include
34 Marshall Scholars,[11] 33 Rhodes Scholars, 29 Truman Scholars, 7 Gates Scholars,
55 Olympic Medalists, 10 current Fortune 500 CEOs, and 35 billionaire alumni.[12][13][14][15]
[16]
 Since its founding, Cornell has been a co-educational, non-sectarian institution where
admission has not been restricted by religion or race. The student body consists of
more than 15,000 undergraduate and 9,000 graduate students from all 50 American
states and 119 countries.[3]

Contents

 1History
 2Campuses
o 2.1Ithaca campus
 o 2.2New York City campuses
 2.2.1Weill Cornell
 2.2.2Cornell Tech
 2.2.3Other New York City programs
o 2.3Qatar campus
o 2.4Other facilities
 3Organization and administration
 4Academics
o 4.1Admissions
o 4.2Financial aid
o 4.3International programs
o 4.4Rankings
o 4.5Library
o 4.6Press and scholarly publications
 5Research
 6Student life
o 6.1Activities
o 6.2Greek life, professional, and honor societies
o 6.3Press and radio
o 6.4Housing
o 6.5Athletics
o 6.6Cornell Outdoor Education
o 6.7Cornelliana
o 6.8Health
o 6.9Suicides
o 6.10Campus police
 7People
o 7.1Faculty
o 7.2Alumni
 8See also
 9Notes
 10References
 11External links

History[edit]
Main article: History of Cornell University

Cornell University was founded on April 27, 1865; the New York State (NYS)
Senate authorized the university as the state's land grant institution. Senator Ezra
Cornell offered his farm in Ithaca, New York, as a site and $500,000 of his personal
fortune as an initial endowment. Fellow senator and educator Andrew Dickson
White agreed to be the first president. During the next three years, White oversaw the
construction of the first two buildings and traveled to attract students and faculty.[17] The
university was inaugurated on October 7, 1868, and 412 men were enrolled the next
day.[18]
Cornell's founders
Ezra Cornell

Andrew Dickson White

Cornell developed as a technologically innovative institution, applying its research to its

own campus and to outreach efforts. For example, in 1883 it was one of the first
university campuses to use electricity from a water-powered dynamo to light the
grounds.[19] Since 1894, Cornell has included colleges that are state funded and fulfill
statutory requirements;[20] it has also administered research and extension activities that
have been jointly funded by state and federal matching programs. [21]
Cornell has had active alumni since its earliest classes. It was one of the first
universities to include alumni-elected representatives on its Board of Trustees. [note
2]
 Cornell was also among the Ivies that had heightened student activism during the
1960s related to cultural issues, civil rights, and opposition to the Vietnam War; with
protests and occupations resulting in the resignation of Cornell's president and the
restructuring of university governance.[25] Today the university has more than
4,000 courses.[26] Cornell is also known for the Residential Club Fire of 1967, a fire in the
Residential Club building that killed eight students and one professor.
Since 2000, Cornell has been expanding its international programs. In 2004, the
university opened the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar.[27] It has partnerships with
institutions in India, Singapore, and the People's Republic of China.[28][29][30] Former
president Jeffrey S. Lehman described the university, with its high international profile, a
"transnational university".[31] On March 9, 2004, Cornell and Stanford University laid the
cornerstone for a new 'Bridging the Rift Center' to be built and jointly operated for
education on the Israel–Jordan border.[32]