The Inauguration of Elizabeth Garrett: Cornell's Thirteenth President 9781501702648

Table of contents :
Contents
Foreword
Inaugurati on Readings and Speeches
Reading Selections
Alice Fulton
Introductory Remarks
The Road to Ithaka: Full of Adventure, Full of Discovery ... The Marvelous Journey
Cornell and Its Presidents in Time
Cornell’s First Inauguration Day, October 7, 1868
The Symbols of the Presidential Office
The Presidents of Cornell University
A Legacy of Firsts: Women at Cornell
Cornell’s Sesquicentennial, 1865–2015
About Cornell University Press

Citation preview

The Inauguration of Elizabeth Garrett

The Inauguration of

ELIZABETH GARRETT Cornell’s Thirteenth President

S e p t e m b e r 18, 2015

cornell university press Ithaca & London

Copyright © 2015 by Cornell University All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850. First published 2015 by Cornell University Press First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 2015 Printed in the United States of America Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu. Facing page and on the cover: Cornell University photo by Robert Barker. ISBN 978-1-5017-0262-4

So enter that daily thou mayest become more learned and thoughtful: So depart that daily thou mayest become more useful to thy country and to mankind. —Inscription on the Eddy Street gate, 1896

Contents

Foreword by President Emeritus Frank H. T. Rhodes  9 

I naugur ation R eadings

and

Speeches

Reading Selections from Ezra Cornell and A. D. White  15 “Slate,” “Shy One,” and “Inaugural This & That Q & A,”   Three Poems by Alice Fulton  17 Introductory Remarks by Robert S. Harrison  23 The Road to Ithaka: Full of Adventure, Full of Discovery ...     The Marvelous Journey, Inauguration Address by   President Elizabeth Garrett  31

C ornell

and Its

P residents

in

Time

Cornell’s First Inauguration Day, October 7, 1868  55 The Symbols of the Presidential Office  57 The Presidents of Cornell University  62 A Legacy of Firsts: Women at Cornell by Gretchen Ritter  80 Cornell’s Sesquicentennial, 1865–2015  91 About Cornell University Press  95

Foreword President Emeritus Frank H. T. Rhodes

T

he university presidency has always been among the most challenging of life’s professions, demanding not only superb management skills but also an extraordinary degree of leadership. It requires individuals of strength and vision who are able to identify larger goals, see opportunities, build a sense of community, and kindle in others the passion of their own commitment. The Cornell University presidency requires all those attributes, and yet it is also unlike that of any other institution, representing, as it does, the hinge between the leading private and the leading public universities in the United States. Both an Ivy League institution and the land-grant university for the State of New York, Cornell provides the opportunity for leadership across the spectrum of higher education. But realizing and exercising that opportunity depends to a great degree on the man or woman holding the position.

I have no doubt that Elizabeth Garrett, Cornell University’s thirteenth president, is superbly equipped— both by temperament and experience—to preside over this complex and dynamic institution. Formerly provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at the University of Southern California, she oversaw a complex portfolio that included a college of arts and sciences, a medical school and sixteen other professional schools, libraries, student affairs, research, enrollment services, and information technology. The breadth of her scholarship is reflected in more than fifty articles and the leading case book on legislation and statutory interpretation and in her faculty appointments, which at Cornell span the Cornell Law School, the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, and the College of Arts and Sciences. In addition, she has applied her broad perspective and leadership in a variety of professional and public service activities, including appointment by President George W. Bush to the Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform, service as budget and tax counsel to Senator David Boren, and a clerkship with the late Justice Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court. Indeed, it is as though all of Elizabeth Garrett’s previous career was a preparation for the Cornell presidency. She brings to Cornell not only the strongest scholarly 10

and professional credentials but also broad experience in managing complex institutions, a creative energy, and a personal style of engagement that will inspire the broader Cornell community and advance the university’s best interests. Among her most salient qualities are the abilities to grasp nuances of complex situations, to listen attentively to multiple points of view, and to build the consensus needed for effective action. For the strength of Cornell lies not solely in its president or its distinguished faculty; not solely in the balance of its budget or the scope of its campus buildings. Rather its true strength derives from the extent to which all members of the community—faculty, staff, students, and alumni—share common hopes and goals and are willing to commit themselves to their achievement. I firmly believe that under Elizabeth Garrett’s leadership, and with her deep understanding of the academy, her vision, and her ability to forge consensus, Cornell University will continue to play a unique role in American higher education and secure an even more influential place as a global university of the first rank. Cornell is immensely fortunate to have Elizabeth Garrett at the helm as it contemplates the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. 11

Inauguration Readings &  Speeches

Reading Selections From Ezra Cornell & A. D. White

I hope we have laid the foundation of an institution which shall combine practical with liberal education, which shall fit the youth of our country for the professions, the farms, the mines, the manufactories, for the investigations of science, and for mastering all the practical questions of life with success and honor. —Ezra Cornell, at Cornell’s inaugural exercises, October 7, 1868 There is needed a truly great University. First, to secure a place where the most highly prized instruction may be afforded to all—regardless of sex or color. . . . to afford an asylum for Science—where truth shall be sought for truth’s sake....to afford a center and a school for a new Literature—not graceful and indifferent to wrong but earnest,—nerved and armed to battle for the right.. . . to give a chance for instruction in Moral Philosophy, History and Political Economy unwarped

to suit present abuses in Politics or Religion. . . .to secure the rudiments, at least, of a Legal training in which Legality shall not crush Humanity. —Letter from Andrew Dickson White to Gerrit Smith, September 1, 1862 Coeducation of the sexes and entire freedom from sectarian or political preferences is the only proper and safe way for providing an education that shall meet the wants of the future and carry out the founders idea of an Institution where “any person can find instruction in any study.” I herewith commit this great trust to your care. —Letter from Ezra Cornell in Sage College cornerstone, May 15, 1873

16

Alice Fulton Ann S. Bowers Professor of English

slate Neither pigeon, taupe, nor coal black. Not a braille pen embossing points on bond, the entrants in a race, record of events, or gray scales meshed in roofs. Not “to foreordain.” But all of the above, the future scrubbed with fleshburn brush, threshold unscented by event as yet, the premise, the blackboard’s dense blank screen, unreckoned rock complexion, the tablet unchalked with take and scene, opposite of has-been, antonym to fixed, the breadth of before, before -lessness links with hope or mind or

flesh, when all is -ful, -able, and -or, as color, as galore, as before words. The above, yes, and beyond measure—unstinting sky, green fire of cornfields, the how many husks clasping how many cells, the brain to say rich, new, if, and swim in possibility, as it is and ever more shall be, to fold, to origami thought, look, no shears or hands, the blizzard, unabridged, within the black dilated iris core and hold it—little pupil can—in mind, in utero, sculpt the is, the am. From Felt (W.W. Norton).

18

shy one Because faith creates its verification and reaching you will be no harder than believing in a planet’s caul of plasma, or interacting with a comet in its perihelion passage, no harder than considering what sparking of the vacuum, cosmological impromptu flung me here, a paraphrase, perhaps, for some denser, more difficult being, a subsidiary instance, easier to grasp than the span I foreshadow, of which I am a variable, my stance is passional toward the universe and you. Because faith in facts can help create those facts, the way electrons exist only when they’re measured, or shy people stand alone at parties, attract no one, then go home to feel more shy, I begin by supposing our attrition’s no quicker than a star’s, that like electrons vanishing on one side of a wall and appearing on the other without leaving any holes or being somewhere in between, the soul’s decoupling is an oscillation so inward nothing outward as the eye can see it.

19

The childhood catechisms all had heaven, an excitation of mist. Grown, I thought a vacancy awaited me. Now I find myself discarding and enlarging both these views, an infidel of amplitude. Because truths we don’t suspect have a hard time making themselves felt, as when thirteen species of whiptail lizards composed entirely of females stay undiscovered due to bias against such things existing, we have to meet the universe halfway. Nothing will unfold for us unless we move toward what looks to us like nothing: faith is a cascade. The sky’s high solid is anything but, the sun going under hasn’t budged, and if death divests the self it’s the sole event in nature that’s exactly what it seems. Because believing a thing’s true can bring about that truth, and you might be the shy one, lizard or electron, known only through advances presuming your existence, let my glance be passional toward the universe and you. First published as “Cascade Experiment” in Powers of Congress (Sarabande Books). 20

inaugural this & that q &  a It might help to think we live in the headwaters, that infinity comes in different sizes & its recombinant astonishment factor can be seen as sky. That even the planet wobbles as it spins & water shakes whatever it reflects? That we do suffering very well. Just keep shell growth ahead of body size? Just be sensitive to perpetuals. Don’t try to train the rainbow to stack its prism differently or think you’ll see the darkness by turning on the light. Does it help to think that things get heavier on burning when the smoke is weighed? Or that using two maps lets the heart of the matter

21

fall through the cracks? The giver can’t control the gift. It might help to think of silence as the sound of held applause.

22

Introductory Remarks Robert S. Harrison, Chair, Cornell University Board of Trustees

L

ast October, we commemorated the beginning  of    Cornell University’s sesquicentennial celebration with the dedication of the Sesquicentennial Grove at the top of Libe Slope. Inscribed in one of the massive granite blocks overlooking Cayuga Lake and aligned with the statues of Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White are the words of Cornell historian Morris Bishop, class of 1913, who said, “It is your duty to look forward and not back, and without forgetting old wisdom to seek a wisdom ever new, to prepare an even greater Cornell.” Bishop’s exhortation is especially meaningful today, as we celebrate the inauguration of Cornell University’s thirteenth president. His advice is at once practical and lofty, exactly like Cornell. The Cornell University that Elizabeth Garrett inherits today has been shaped by its traditions and achievements, but also by an adamant refusal to sit still and

accept the status quo. I believe that it is this dynamic that has built the Cornell we cherish. Ever since its founding 150 years ago as a revolutionary, democratic, anti-elitist, and quintessentially American institution, the activities that have taken place on this idyllic hill in upstate New York have had lasting consequences for the rest of higher education and for the rest of the world. It is fitting as we turn the page on our yearlong celebration of the sesquicentennial that we begin the next 150 years with a historic first: For the first time in 150 years, Cornell University has chosen as its president. . . a person from the great state of Oklahoma . . . and also a woman. I am incredibly proud of the presidential search committee for the comprehensive, diligent, and tireless work that led the twenty-one-person team to select Elizabeth Garrett for this role. They saw in her the kind of intellect, vision, and character that this complex and consequential university needs to begin writing its next chapter. Although I have a very hard time accepting the fact that I am old enough to say this, next June I will celebrate my fortieth Cornell Reunion. Over four decades as a Cornellian, I have had the privilege of witnessing the evolution of the modern-day Cornell University and 24

observing the contributions of five presidents up close. When I arrived in Ithaca in August of 1972 and could barely manage to find the way to my dorm room on the third floor of University Hall 5 (which, thankfully, no longer exists), I never imagined that one day I might have the extraordinary honor of participating in the inauguration of a university president, much less one whose inauguration is historic. The character of this university may be the same in many ways, but Cornell is a much more complex, wide-ranging, and far-reaching institution than it was when I was an undergraduate. •  Women comprised one-third of the student body then; women represent the majority now. •  The number of students from underrepresented minority groups has nearly tripled since I was a freshman. •  Only a few dozen students studied abroad in the 1970s; today, nearly 30 percent of undergraduates take part in courses or research overseas. •  The number of students earning degrees at our medical college in New York City has more than doubled since the 1970s, and the college now includes a campus in Doha, Qatar. 25

•  Personal computers were barely more than glimmers in the eyes of Steve Jobs and Bill Gates when I typed my term papers on a borrowed IBM Selectric, and today the first four buildings of Cornell Tech are rising on Roosevelt Island to educate the next generation of technologists. These developments were led by Cornell’s last five presidents. I have had the great fortune to know each of Elizabeth Garrett’s predecessors since I was an undergraduate, and each of them has made this university stronger and better than the institution he inherited. Dale Corson, president during my student days and a hugely influential mentor to me personally, successfully led us through a period of unprecedented unrest—a period that included the final years of the Vietnam War, intense student activism for social justice and a larger role in university governance, and even the first-ever armed occupation of a building on an American campus. Our beloved ninth president, Frank H. T. Rhodes, was a Cornell icon and a public intellectual, whose popularity must have been assisted to some degree by his intoxicating British accent. His speeches and written work on the changing landscape of higher education in 26

America made him a national resource, and in Ithaca, he ambitiously re-envisioned Cornell as the land-grant university not just to New York State but to the world. Hunter Rawlings, our tenth president, completely transformed the campus experience for undergraduates. He reimagined North Campus as the welcoming home for all three thousand freshmen who would arrive each August, and West Campus as a living/learning environment for upperclassmen in the great tradition of the Oxford and Cambridge residential colleges. Fortunately, this vision required the demolition of the University Halls. Jeffrey Lehman, my friend from our undergraduate years and the first alumnus to serve as president, focused our attention on Cornell’s international footprint, particularly the importance of Asia. This is a chapter of Cornell history that urgently needs to be completed. David Skorton, the first president I had the privilege of helping to select and work with as chairman of the Board of Trustees, will be remembered as a Renaissance man—a scientist, a humanist, and a musician. He steered Cornell through the Great Recession, while also investing significantly in financial aid to keep Cornell a place where “any person” could come to find instruction in “any study.” He highlighted the importance of ensuring that Cornell remains a “caring community” 27

for the sake of our students’ mental and physical health. Perhaps most visible to those outside Cornell, he led the team that won the competition to create Cornell Tech in New York City. It is against this backdrop that Elizabeth Garrett assumes her role as Cornell’s thirteenth president. The challenges facing higher education and Cornell today are great, but the opportunities are greater, and Cornell has never been better positioned to lead on the global stage. At the beginning of our next 150 years, we have profoundly important opportunities and obligations to address: •  We must continue to fulfill our mission as the landgrant university to the world. •  We must do everything we can to make Cornell affordable for anyone who has the talent and ambition to study here. •  We must bring out the very best of our Ithaca, New York City, and Qatar campuses to ensure that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. •  We must take advantage of technology—not only to educate our own students better but also to democratize access to knowledge for the broader 28

public we serve. •  We must take advantage of our incomparable physical environment to provide our students with a residential educational experience second to none. •  We must attract and support the strongest possible faculty—teachers, scholars, and researchers—to achieve all of these aspirations. President Garrett, we have complete confidence in your ability to lead our university into the future. As you begin your new role, please consider a few pieces of advice from someone who has loved Cornell deeply for more than forty years. First, understand and cherish Cornell’s revolutionary uniqueness in American higher education. Second, build upon the rock-solid foundation of your predecessors. Finally, enjoy every minute of your time at this ambitious, opinionated, engaged, and otherwise-thinking place called Cornell. You have one of the very best jobs in the entire world. I know that all 250,000 living Cornellians want you to succeed beyond your and our wildest dreams. In all likelihood, every one of them will be calling or e-mailing 29

you directly to share their thoughts about how to make Cornell even better. Cornellians are maniacally eager to help. President Garrett, on behalf of the entire university community, I am honored and thrilled to welcome you as Cornell University’s thirteenth president.

30

THE ROAD TO ITHAKA Full of Adventure, Full of Discovery . . . The Marvelous Journey

InauguraTIon addreSS

President Elizabeth Garrett As you set out for Ithaka hope your road is a long one, full of adventure, full of discovery. Laistrygonians, Cyclops, angry Poseidon—don’t be afraid of them: you’ll never find things like that on your way as long as you keep your thoughts raised high, as long as a rare excitement stirs your spirit and your body. So begins the poem Ithaka1 by C. P. Cavafy about the journey home undertaken by Ulysses—and about all our

journeys to the Ithakas in our lives. As Cornellians know, Ithaca is not only a place that profoundly affects those who spend time on this campus, but Ithaca—Cornell— is also a state of mind, both a beginning and destination for a journey characterized by a “rare excitement” that stirs the spirit, body, and intellect. The spirit of Cornell that frames our journey has been best described by our own historian, the late Carl Becker. Becker explained that Cornell’s character is formed by a different sort of freedom than that which characterizes other universities. “Something less formal, something less self-regarding, something more worldly, something, I will venture to say, a bit more impudent.”2 The Cornell spirit emanates from Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, whose vision led them to invent many of the unique attributes of American higher education. The collaboration of Cornell and White—two “rebels against convention”—created a university dedicated to the liberal arts, while simultaneously affirming the imperative to discover useful applications for our research and creative work; an institution committed to egalitarianism— though not always well implemented—that affirmed the importance of higher education for women, people of color, and students of all economic backgrounds; a curriculum empowering students with greater choice; and 32

an openness to new degrees and areas of study in disciplines ranging from veterinary medicine to electrical engineering, American studies to architecture, modern Far Eastern languages to industrial and labor relations. This spirit of freedom, Becker told us, brings with it responsibility. We set the pace in higher education by re-evaluating and re-creating the work that we do every day to ensure that it meets today’s challenges while remaining true to our deeply held academic values. As scientist and author Edwin Slosson challenged us more than a century ago in his analysis of Great American Universities: “We expect more of Cornell. Cornell, in order to be conservative in the sense of being true to its traditions, must be radical and progressive, for that is the way it started.”3 So how do we remain true to our Ithaka—our state of mind, journey, and destination—as we embark on our next 150 years? First, the faculty of any great university define its spirit; they hold fast to principles of excellence and academic freedom while leading in discovery, creation, and innovation. How will we support and enhance this vibrant community of scholars, researchers, and artists as we move forward? Second, our journey is shared by talented and ambitious students. How can we continue to ensure that the value of their time in Ithaca 33

is broadly appreciated and continually improved? And, third, our Ithaka now spans the globe, spreading our impudent and revolutionary idea far beyond Cayuga’s waters. How will we take advantage of this to augment all that we do?

c I C Listen to Cavafy: Hope your road is a long one, May there be many summer mornings when, with what pleasure, what joy, you enter harbors you’re seeing for the first time; ... and may you visit many Egyptian cities to learn and go on learning from their scholars. When A. D. White began to implement his plan for Cornell University, his highest priority was hiring faculty. “Better a splendid and complete faculty in a barn,” he stated, “than an insufficient faculty in a palace.”4 The recruitment, development, and retention of the best faculty remain our paramount priorities: an exceptional faculty is the bedrock of our teaching, research, and 34

creative work, and our public mission. It is the faculty who attract the finest students and inspire them to embark on their own adventures of learning. It is the faculty who seek to discover new knowledge, move us forward in our search for truth, and apply what they have discovered in ways that improve well-being around the globe. It is the faculty whom our alumni remember when they speak of their years at Cornell. It is the faculty, as well as our students, whose work inspires our dedicated staff to ensure that all aspects of our environment are conducive to our educational mission. Our objective with regard to faculty is to strive always for excellence, excellence that is multifaceted and manifested in a myriad of ways. It includes an obligation to foster diversity of viewpoint, of experience, of identity, race, and gender, and of methodology. We celebrate excellence in fundamental research and scholarship pursued for the sheer joy of discovery. And, given our unique status as New York’s land-grant university and essential partner in its cooperative extension system, we also define excellence to include applying that knowledge to the world’s most pressing problems. Related to the freedom we enjoy, faculty have many responsibilities—to each other, to junior colleagues, to the institution, to the staff who work alongside them— 35

but none more important than our responsibility to our students. To send them off on their own journeys “to learn and go on learning” as they set sail to distant and unknown harbors. Cornell provides the opportunity for learning in and out of the classroom—in our residence halls, in the multiplicity of events on campus, in a conversation during a faculty member’s office hours, in the field doing research around the globe, and in a lab or studio playing a role in a collaborative endeavor. Our teaching strategies are subject to constant review and revision as we seek to incorporate what is best about new technology, while retaining an appreciation for the beauty of a great lecture, a well-structured essay, or a closely reasoned argument. We bring our research into the classroom, refining our students’ innate curiosity so that they learn how to discover and create knowledge, not just how to absorb it. We move our teaching into the world through initiatives such as Engaged Cornell, allowing students to analyze problems with rigor, devise solutions, and apply those approaches in our local and global communities. We seek to develop in our students a resilience to face an exciting and uncertain future, an appreciation for the life of the mind, and a commitment to rationality and reason as the tools with which to approach the world’s chal36

lenges, while preserving an appreciation for the arts and humanities that help us understand what it means to be human. How do we expect more of Cornell with regard to our faculty? Certainly, we need more outstanding faculty colleagues at all levels, and we must ensure that all our processes support them in their research, scholarship, and teaching, enabling experimentation, collaboration, diversity of perspective, global interactions, and risk taking. We are in a competitive global environment when it comes to attracting the best faculty talent, but we believe that Cornell provides a uniquely appealing environment for faculty committed to excellence in their work. We offer the support of the entire institution to facilitate their success as scholars and teachers and the opportunity to work in a university that is deeply collegial. We will continue to strive to bring the best faculty to Cornell and to create an atmosphere in which they can embark on their own journeys to the Ithakas to which they aspire. But we must also heed the call to continue to be radical and progressive. In that regard, we must understand the motto given to us by Ezra Cornell—“I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study”—in a way that is compatible with the 37

unwavering pursuit of excellence in a world infinitely more complex than he could have imagined. Certainly, we now offer access to “any person” seeking the best education more successfully than our founder was able to, following through on that promise to women, people of color, and students from around the world. We must do even better in that commitment, and we will. We remain dedicated to the diversity of disciplines and subjects that we find on all our campuses, but realistically no institution can be excellent in “any study.” The faculty must focus our energy and resources strategically; we must critically assess all that we are doing and choose which studies to emphasize in our quest for excellence. We must organize ourselves in ways that ensure our work has the greatest impact, that propel us forward to innovations and new applications, and that allow for fruitful collaborations among faculty and students. In this analysis, we must be guided by the spirit of “any study” by defining our scholarly targets with breadth, taking account of our history and public commitment; by defining excellence to include not only the best research and creative work but also our impact on policy and the quality of life throughout the world; and by an openness to new understandings of disciplines, collaborations, and methods of scholarship. 38

c II C Ithaka—journey, destination, but also a way of perceiving the world. Turn, again, to Cavafy: Keep Ithaka always in your mind. Arriving there is what you’re destined for. But don’t hurry the journey at all. Better if it lasts for years, so you’re old by the time you reach the island, wealthy with all you’ve gained on the way. The foundation of a university is its faculty, but its future and a large part of its influence in the world lie in its students, who become alumni. President Jacob Gould Schurman described our founding vision with regard to the students we hoped to attract: “The people of New York saw a new type of university arise in their midst,—the first in the history of education,—an institution embracing the entire range of human knowledge and attainment and opening its doors to young men (and women too) who craved the light and power of intelligence for any purpose whatever, whether to live or make a living.”5 39

And with that Cornell began its radical and progressive approach to education, empowering students to make decisions about what they would study and brilliantly combining the liberal arts with study that was explicitly structured to equip students for practical endeavors. An education that sought not just to impart knowledge to students eager to learn but to make them partners in learning and discovery. It is their educational adventure—shaped both by the experience of this Ithaca and the objective of reaching their own Ithakas—that we celebrate today at Homecoming. Just as Cavafy observes, it is the process of learning and acquiring wisdom that is paramount, because our quest continues to the end of our days and then is pursued by the next generation. I realize that higher education in the United States is the subject of great public criticism; politicians and pundits contend that the cost is too great, the experience not sufficiently valuable, and the opportunity not fully accessible to those who deserve it. Certainly, there is room for improvement in any institution of great durability, but it is beyond dispute that an intense residential undergraduate experience at one of America’s research universities is one of the best investments any family can make. Because of the experience at Cornell, our graduates will have more fulfilling opportunities 40

on their journeys; they will have brighter economic futures; and, most important, they will experience life’s adventures more deeply and with greater satisfaction. Their education is worthy of their own investment, our country’s investment, and the investment of Cornellians who have come before them, because our graduates will determine the future. Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey, who helped shape the character of our College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, declared that “education is an inspiration, a taking hold of a broader life.”6 That kind of education can be found across our campus every day—and around the world as our students explore the globe. It is evident in our residence halls where students of all backgrounds and diverse views come together to debate, reason, and learn. It is expressed through the discussion of a great book or a play as students meet in a welcoming nook of a Cornell library and wrestle with age-old questions of what it means to lead a valuable and engaged life. It occurs in the labs as students work with faculty to design experiments, not all of which succeed, but even then there is much to be learned together in an environment of discovery. It can be witnessed in our Johnson Museum of Art as students and faculty are inspired by creative work to think together about culture, identity, and beauty. It is 41

on display in the incubators and offices where students move their ideas into society, experiencing the joy of invention and entrepreneurship. In the face of criticism of higher education generally, we must defend what we know to be true: the educational journey that begins here in Ithaca in a unique undergraduate environment is worthwhile and valuable. There is nothing comparable anywhere else in the world; it is why the ambitious in every country aspire to study in an American research university. It is an opportunity that we will continue to make available to students from every walk of life, every background, every state and country, if they are equipped and eager to benefit from it. In the next months, we will focus even more intensely on the residential undergraduate experience, defining as a community what shared intellectual experience all Cornell students should encounter, and ensuring they can more easily navigate the complexities of our diverse university to construct meaningful plans of study. We also value our graduate and professional students for their many contributions to the academic and cultural life of our university, and we are confident that their Cornell experience profoundly enhances their potential for further contribution within and beyond the academy. 42

Of course, we must seek always to increase the value of the time spent in this particular port along life’s journey. Not just through assessing how and what we teach but also by ensuring that all undergraduate students will be on the trajectory for their future journeys when they graduate, and that graduate students learn professional skills as well as refine their intellectual talents. We recognize that our students’ aspirations may change during their time at Cornell, influenced by encounters with new ways of thinking and new experiences—and we celebrate that process of brave exploration. We also know that our graduates are likely to embark on different careers throughout the course of their lives. Accordingly, we will continue to focus on enhancing the already outstanding career services we offer our students, helping them think about each decision from their first semester at Cornell in terms of how it moves them forward to graduate study, particular professions, entrepreneurial projects, or other directions. This practical objective comes directly from Ezra Cornell’s vision. Moreover, it supports a robust liberal arts curriculum for all our students, because it is the liberal arts that can best equip us to think critically, read closely, act ethically, react empathetically, and celebrate beauty. 43

c III C Cavafy continues to lead us on this journey: May you stop at Phoenician trading stations to buy fine things, mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony, sensual perfume of every kind. As we interpret our founding vision for the twenty-first century, we do so in an institution that has brought the Cornell spirit far beyond this serene campus. Those who are on this journey of discovery can stop at our “trading stations” around the globe: in Tanzania and Rome; in Geneva, New York, and Qatar; in Washington, D.C., and Maine; in every county of New York through our cooperative extension presence. Most significant, Cornell is not only established in a great college town but also has a substantial footprint in an international urban center—a duality that no other leading American university can claim. Our involvement in New York City has grown over more than one hundred years, beginning with the exceptional Weill Cornell Medical College and its many partnerships with clinical and research institutions; expanding to sites where several of 44

our schools pursue teaching, research, and service missions; and now including Cornell Tech, which is already redefining graduate education. In about two years, Cornell will open a campus on Roosevelt Island, providing a new way station for those en route to their own Ithakas of invention and exploration. Our decision to embark on the opportunity presented by Cornell Tech provides an example of our modern interpretation of “any person . . . any study.” Mayor Michael Bloomberg described our new educational endeavor in words Ezra Cornell would have appreciated: “This new land grant can help dreamers and entrepreneurs from around the world come to New York and help us become the world’s leading city for technological innovation.”7 But this opportunity becomes a defining moment for Cornell only if we work to bring Ithaca to Roosevelt Island and New York City and bring the lessons we learn there back to faculty, students, and staff here. We cannot allow physical distance to keep us from integrating all that we do in New York City with the long-established excellence in Ithaca, the campus that will always represent the wellspring of the Cornell spirit. What does our expanded role in New York City mean for Cornell’s continuing journey to shape higher education for the world? At least three things. First, all our 45

colleges must consider ways to connect with Cornell Tech, just as Johnson is doing with a new degree and plans for executive education on Roosevelt Island, and the Law School will launch in a few months with its new degree. I challenge every school to consider how deep collaborations—in teaching or research or creative work, or all three—can be developed to achieve excellence we could not have imagined had we not established this new port of learning. These connections are imperative for our ambitions— we cannot lead the world in thinking about how advances in technology relate to human well-being, methods of communication, or the built environment without bringing all the disciplines to bear. The humanities must lead us to ask challenging questions about the values undergirding change and to develop new ways of explaining and understanding what we have learned. The social sciences must provide insight into the policies and practices that new technology will engender or require to reach its full potential. Diverse perspectives will force us to confront inequality of opportunity that limits and perhaps perverts technological advances. The connections of Cornell Tech to the life and physical sciences in Ithaca and Weill Cornell are more evident but no less important, 46

and the work our researchers pursue in fundamental, discovery-driven science will provide the basis for future applications by colleagues on Roosevelt Island. Second, faculty at Cornell Tech and at the schools located in New York City are creating new graduate degrees that emphasize collaboration, practice-based pedagogy, and new delivery platforms. Our faculty have identified skills and original ways of thinking that people around the world need to succeed, and they are creating educational programs to meet those needs. All of us—not just those associated with our newest campus—must consider how Cornell can build on areas of excellence and, with flexibility and creativity, offer innovative graduate degrees, some through technologies that reach around the globe to ensure that more people are ready to meet the challenges of the future. Done at the highest levels of excellence, new ventures in graduate and professional education extend our influence and are fully consistent with our mission, expressed by President Edmund Ezra Day, “to perpetuate and to create.”8 Finally, we must work together to understand difficult problems of our age—among them, sustainability and climate change; new approaches to health and well-being; the challenge of growing global and domes47

tic inequality; the influence of technology; and the design of effective democratic institutions—and devise solutions through interdisciplinary and intercampus collaboration. I will work with the provosts, deans, and faculty to put structures in place that generate and nurture those collaborations, not just internally but through increasing our ability to obtain external support from government, foundations, corporations, and philanthropy. The connections we are forming with outside entities eager to support our entrepreneurial aspirations, made salient by the Cornell Tech campus, must benefit not only our faculty and students in New York City but also reach to this campus, bringing new possibilities to faculty and students here and creating economic opportunities not just for New York City but for Ithaca and upstate as well. Certainly, we already have collaborations spanning Ithaca and New York City, but the potential for cutting-edge, influential research and teaching is much greater than we have realized so far. Our academic community must be bold in our ambition. Our journey of exploration, which emanates from Ithaca and will always return to Ithaca, will wind through many ports of call, allowing us to learn and teach and discover more than if we merely stayed safe at home. 48

c IV C And so I embark on a new journey, as the thirteenth president of this remarkable institution. I am confident that we will lead the world in creating new paths to knowledge, discovery, and the many ways we can move closer to the truth, and in launching our students on their own voyages. We are charting our course for the next 150 years, a period that will be “full of adventure, full of discovery, . . . a rare excitement.” We will remain true to Carl Becker’s exhortation, “hold[ing] fast to [Cornell’s] ancient tradition of freedom and responsibility— freedom for the scholar to perform his proper function, restrained and guided by the only thing that makes such freedom worthwhile, the scholar’s intellectual integrity, the scholar’s devotion to the truth of things as they are and to good will and humane dealing.”9 And we enlist our students as colleagues on our travels, enabling them to strike out on their own at the right time and with success, fortified by intellectual curiosity, by grace in dealing with others, by a faith in science and reason, and by a joy in the arts and humanities. We began on this particular voyage with the opening words of Cavafy’s great poem; let us conclude with his 49

final words, which will comfort us on the journey ahead: Ithaka gave you the marvelous journey. Without her you wouldn’t have set out. ... Wise as you will have become, so full of experience, you’ll have understood by then what these   Ithakas mean. I look forward to working with all Cornellians— faculty, students, staff, alumni, parents, and supporters—to navigate the next stage of our remarkable journey, traveling to the many diverse Ithakas that await our discovery.

50

Notes

1. C. P. Cavafy, “Ithaka,” from C. P. Cavafy: Collected Poems, trans. Edmund Keeley and Philip Sherrard (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1975). 2. Carl Becker, Cornell University: Founders and the Founding (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1967), 194. 3. Edwin Slosson, Great American Universities (New York: Macmillan, 1910), in Carol Kammen, Cornell: Glorious to View (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Library, 2003), 80. 4. Walter P. Rogers, Andrew D. White and the Modern University (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1942), 147, cited in Becker, Cornell University, 124. 5. Jacob Gould Schurman, Inaugural Address, 1892, 41. 6. Liberty Hyde Bailey, inscription on bench, Cornell Sesquicentennial Commemorative Grove, dedicated October 17, 2014. 7. Michael Bloomberg, announcement that Cornell University, in partnership with Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, had won the bid for the applied sciences campus on Roosevelt Island, December 19, 2011. 8. Glenn Altschuler and Isaac Kramnick, Cornell: A History, 1940-2015 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2014), 77. 9. Becker, Cornell University, 204.

51

Cornell and Its Presidents in Time

Cornell’s First Inauguration Day, October 7, 1868

C

ornell celebrated its first presidential inauguration on a bright autumn day in 1868. A few hundred people attended the ceremonies for Andrew Dickson White at Library Hall, which stood on the corner of Tioga and Seneca Streets in Ithaca. Governor Reuben E. Fenton was expected to attend the ceremonies but apparently he became convinced that a nonsectarian Cornell University was too politically dangerous, and Lieutenant Governor Stewart L. Woodford, a strong supporter of the new institution, willingly took his place. Ezra Cornell delivered a brief address, in which he said: I hope we have laid the foundation of an institution which shall combine practical with liberal education, which shall fit the youth of our country for the professions, the farms, the mines, the manufactories, for the investigations of science and for mastering all the practical questions of life with

success and honor. I believe that we have made the beginning of an institution which will prove highly beneficial to the poor young men and the poor young women of our country.

Lieutenant Governor Woodford administered the oath of office to White and presented him with the charter, seal, and keys of the university. White then delivered a lengthy address in which he asserted the formative ideals of the new university and declared its educational independence. Later that day, the crowd climbed up East Hill to the site of the university, which was then little more than a cow pasture, consisting only of an unfinished Morrill Hall and the shell of White Hall. The visitors gathered around a rough wooden structure from which hung a chime of nine bells presented by Miss Jennie McGraw of Ithaca. The bells rendered “Old Hundred” and “Hail, Columbia,” after which six distinguished speakers orated, among them Louis Agassiz of Harvard, who said, “I hope I shall live to see the time when all the old colleges will draw fresh life from this young university.”

56

The Symbols of the Presidential Office

F

or all of Cornell’s early inaugurations, the charter and seal represented the symbols of office. The inauguration of James A. Perkins as president in 1963 was the occasion for the first presentation of the university mace and university baton as symbols of authority. The University Charter As the land-grant university of New York State, Cornell was chartered through an act of the New York State Legislature, signed into law by Governor Reuben E. Fenton on April 27, 1865. The university’s founder, Ezra Cornell—who was chairman of the Senate Committee on Agriculture at the time—had pledged to provide an initial endowment of $500,000, along with land, buildings, and equipment in return for the state’s pledge to provide to the new university the entire income from the sale of public lands granted to New York pursuant to the

Morrill Act. The legislation was introduced in the New York State Senate by Andrew Dickson White, who subsequently became the university’s first president. Radical for an institution of higher learning at that time, the charter legislation set Cornell on its course of providing educational opportunity by requiring that “the several departments of study in the said university shall be open to applicants for admission thereto at the lowest rates of expense consistent with its welfare and efficiency, and without distinction as to rank, class, previous occupation, or locality.” Moreover, “persons of every or no religious denomination shall be equally eligible to all offices and appointments.” The mission of Cornell was stated as follows: “The leading object . . . shall be to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, including military tactics, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions of life. But such other branches of science and knowledge may be embraced in the plan of instruction and investigation pertaining to the university as the trustees may deem useful and proper.” Though the charter has been amended by the New York State Legislature from time to time over the course of the university’s history—to establish, for ex58

ample, Cornell’s four statutory colleges—its essence has remained unchanged. The original charter has been presented to every president of Cornell during the inauguration ceremony. The Great Seal of Cornell University On October 6, 1868—the day before the university’s inauguration and that of its first president—the Cornell University Board of Trustees adopted the great seal of the university (also known as the presidential seal), creation of which it had originally authorized in November 1866. The great seal, first published in the Cornell University Register (1868–1869) is circular in form and two inches in diameter. The outer circle of the great seal bears the words “Cornell University” and “Founded a.d. 1865”; the inner circle bears the name of university founder Ezra Cornell and his statement, “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” A profile likeness of Ezra Cornell appears in the center of the great seal. The great seal is the only symbol affixed to Cornell academic diplomas and its use is otherwise strictly limited. The custodian of the great seal is the university president. The Board of Trustees also adopted a corporate seal to be used for executing legal instruments or official 59

university documents other than diplomas. Measuring one and one-half inches in diameter, the corporate seal is smaller than the great seal. Like the great seal, the outer circle of the corporate seal bears the words “Cornell University” and “Founded a.d. 1865.” The center of the corporate seal contains the name of Ezra Cornell and, below his name, his profile likeness. The secretary of the corporation is the custodian of the corporate seal. The University Mace and Baton The Cornell mace and baton are present at events such as commencements and inaugural processions and ceremonies. The university marshal carries the baton while forming and directing the inaugural procession. The mace symbolizes the authority of the university as exercised by its principal officers, especially the president. The baton is a rosewood shaft with a wrought-silver triangular knob bearing a rendering of the university arms and surrounded by a frieze of engraved ivy leaves. The mace consists of a tapered silver shaft surmounted by a golden terrestrial globe. The silver ribs surrounding the globe symbolize the universality of Cornell’s interests and the worldwide affiliations of its faculty, students, staff, and alumni. Both the baton and the mace were designed by Sir Eric Clements of the Goldsmiths’ Guild of 60

London in 1962 at the request of President Deane Waldo Malott, under the direction of George Healey, professor of English and curator of rare books, with the assistance of George J. Hucker, professor of bacteriology and chief of research at the university’s New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York.

61

The Presidents of Cornell University A ndrew Dickson White, 1865–1885 Andrew Dickson White was a worldly intellectual whose dream was to create a “truly great University” that would “afford an asylum for Science—where truth shall be taught for truth’s sake.” White and Ezra Cornell successfully politicked to obtain the benefits of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862 for their new university. On February 7, 1865, White introduced into the state senate a bill that established Cornell University as an institution for “the cultivation of the arts and sciences and of literature, and the instruction in agriculture, the mechanic arts and military tactics, and in all knowledge.” Governor Reuben E. Fenton signed the bill that constitutes Cornell’s charter two months later on April 27. White was largely responsible for recruiting faculty to come to the new institution, and as president he was

instrumental in the development of the university’s library and its other collections by his own purchases and through encouraging the gifts of others. He traveled in Europe to purchase collections and to learn about the newest innovations in technical education. He initiated other educational developments. He suggested the establishment of mechanical laboratories and workshops for the Department of Mechanical Engineering and bought the first piece of equipment, a power lathe. He promoted the first Department of Electrical Engineering in the United States, taught and encouraged historical studies, and founded the Department of Political Science “for practical training.” After White resigned the presidency in 1885, he continued to live in Ithaca until his death in 1918. His influence on the development of Cornell continued throughout his life and the university’s history. He died in Ithaca on November 4, 1918.

Charles K endall A dams, 1885–1892 Charles Kendall Adams, a former student of Andrew Dickson White’s, continued to build upon White’s legacy. His achievements included major changes in the organization of the university. Requirements for admission and for degrees were strengthened, courses of study 63

were improved, and faculty research and publications were encouraged. In 1886, a College of Law was created. Adams lobbied actively in Washington for the Hatch Act, which provided for the establishment of agricultural experiment stations in connection with land-grant colleges. The Summer School became official in 1892. As a result of major conflicts over honorary degrees and control of faculty appointments, Adams was forced to resign as president of Cornell in 1892. He subsequently became president of the University of Wisconsin, a position he held until his death in 1902.

Jacob Gould Schurman, 1892–1920 Jacob Gould Schurman came to Cornell in 1886 as professor of Christian ethics and moral philosophy, and in 1890 was named head of the Susan Linn Sage School of Philosophy. Two years later, he became Cornell’s third president. Schurman’s administration was characterized by the extensive growth of the university’s facilities and its shift from a privately endowed institution to a combination of state and private funding. During Schurman’s presidency, a College of Veterinary Medicine was established with full state support but under Cornell’s control. Extension work began in New York State in 1894. In 1904 64

a state appropriation established the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell. The Cornell Medical College was established in 1898, and a new building was constructed in New York City. Schurman strongly supported diversity in the student body, including the provision of scholarships for Chinese students. Regarding an African American woman living in Sage College, he wrote in 1911: “All university doors must remain open to all students irrespective of color or creed or social standing or pecuniary condition.” Throughout the twenty-eight years of his presidency, Schurman was a proponent of academic freedom and an advocate of a liberal intellectual atmosphere on campus.

Livingston Farrand, 1921–1937 A physician and public health advocate, Livingston Farrand became Cornell’s fourth president in 1921. He was, according to Cornell historian Morris Bishop, “one of the most likable, nay lovable, men this campus has known.” Despite severe economic problems associated with the Depression, his achievements were substantial. New departments and curricula were formed in music, fine arts, drama, regional planning, chemical engineering, automotive and aeronautic engineering, and administrative 65

engineering. In 1921 a unified College of Engineering was created, and a dean of the Arts College was appointed. In 1922 the first college-level hotel course in the country was begun, and the College of Home Economics was created in 1925, the first state-chartered college of home economics in the country. Cornell’s international connections were strengthened. Cornell-in-China, originally begun in 1921, became a “Plant Improvement Project” sponsored by the University of Nanking, Cornell, and the International Education Board. In 1931, ten students came from the Soviet Union, most to study engineering.

Edmund Ezra Day, 1937–1949 Edmund Ezra Day, Cornell’s fifth president, is best remembered for leading the university through the turbulent years of World War II. During his presidency, academic programs were revised and expanded. A Department of Sociology and Anthropology and a Department of Slavic Language and Literature were created. Area studies were initiated in 1943 with a course in Contemporary Russian Civilization. The central event of Day’s presidency was World War II. The Army A-12 and Navy V-12 programs began in 1943. The College of Engineering created the Engineering, Science, and Man66

agement War Training Program for the war industry, training some thirty thousand persons, and a one-year program for the industrial training of women. The Medical College sponsored the army’s Hospital No. 9 on Biak Island off the coast of New Guinea. After the war, the campus developed rapidly, with enrollment surpassing ten thousand for the first time. Cornell’s Laboratory of Nuclear Studies quickly developed into one of the world’s leading centers of research in experimental particle physics. A new School of Business and Public Administration began operation in 1946. The Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory, a research lab in Buffalo, was acquired by the university. In 1948 the State University of New York was formally established. Cornell’s state colleges were defined as state supported but not state operated. On May 15, 1944, a bill establishing the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations was passed and signed; the school opened on November 1, 1945. Day resigned the presidency in 1949 because of ill health. He was appointed to the post of chancellor, giving his energies to university development, fund raising, and the cultivation of the university’s relations with the state. He also continued to serve as chief executive officer of the Medical College. 67

Deane Waldo M alott, 1951–1963 Deane Waldo Malott’s term as president represents the largest period of building in Cornell’s history. The university constructed new campuses for the Engineering, Industrial and Labor Relations, and Veterinary schools. Other new facilities included Olin Library, Anabel Taylor Hall, the Materials Science Center, Statler Hall, Mann Library, Morrison Hall, Riley-Robb Hall, Teagle Hall, Lynah Rink, Helen Newman Hall, north campus dormitories, Mary Donlon Hall, the Industrial Research Park near the airport, Gannett Medical Clinic, the Laboratory of Ornithology, and the Ionospheric Research Facility in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. During Malott’s administration, the athletic program was expanded into one of the largest intercollegiate programs in the world. In 1953 the Medical College was reorganized as the New York Hospital–Cornell Medical Center, with a graduate school. With the acceleration of McCarthyism, Malott was faced with one of the major threats to academic freedom in the twentieth century. While his personal feelings were conservative, in public statements he defended academic freedom and criticized McCarthyism. Malott contributed to and was successful in maintaining an atmosphere where current issues could be freely discussed. 68

James A. Perkins, 1963–1969 Academic innovations were a hallmark of James A. Perkins’s administration. By the late 1960s, he was regarded as one of the leading theoreticians of higher education. Based on recommendations of a group of distinguished biologists from around the country, a Division of Biological Sciences was created. It was an administrative innovation, combining courses in the College of Arts and Sciences and in the College of Agriculture. Similarly, the new Department of Computer Science combined courses in the Arts College and the College of Engineering. Perkins was instrumental in obtaining major foundation grants for biology, computer science, and international studies. During his tenure there was rapid improvement in salaries for faculty and staff, and twenty-three endowed chairs were created. Perkins was committed to excellence in undergraduate education. He returned to the precedents of White and Cornell in the development of the Freshman Seminar program, the Society for the Humanities, and the Andrew D. White professorships-at-large. He was especially committed to encouraging diversity in the student body. The Committee on Special Educational Projects (COSEP) was established in 1964 with a Rockefeller Foundation grant to provide 69

educational opportunities for a significant number of minority students. The last year of Perkins’s administration was largely involved in confronting the rising level of student political protest and activism. He resigned the presidency in 1969.

Dale R. Corson, 1969–1977 Dale R. Corson came to Cornell University in 1946 as an assistant professor of physics and helped design the Cornell synchrotron. He was appointed provost of the university in 1963 and assumed the presidency in 1969. Corson led the university through the final years of the Vietnam War and student activism, and through the economic recession of the 1970s. His role was to return the university to stability: to concentration on research, teaching, and scholarship. Corson brought together the state and endowed components of Cornell, forming one university enjoying public and private support, as envisioned by White and Cornell and articulated by Jacob Gould Schurman. Significant support was provided for the research programs at Arecibo, the Wilson Synchrotron Laboratory, and the Nanofabrication Facility. He revitalized the Department of Geology, expanded the Division of Biological Sciences, and added new programs, 70

such as Medieval Studies. The I. M. Pei–designed Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art was completed. He encouraged such multidisciplinary programs as Science, Technology, and Society, the Materials Science Center, environmental programs, radio physics, and space research. The status of women on campus was greatly improved during Corson’s presidency. A Women’s Studies Program was formally established in 1972. A Provost’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women was created and presented specific recommendations. The university’s policy statement on equal opportunity was changed to include gender among the proscribed criteria with regard to admission to the university. New employment procedures were implemented, and increasing numbers of women were appointed to the faculty and to high administrative positions. Corson provided support for the Africana Studies and Research Center, which had developed from the black studies movement. He recommended the formation of an Affirmative Action Advisory Board to monitor the status of women and minorities and to propose more effective procedures. Upon his retirement as president in 1977, Corson served for three years as chancellor. In 1979, he was elected by the Board of Trustees as president emeritus. 71

Frank H. T. R hodes, 1977–1995 When Frank H. T. Rhodes retired as president of Cornell University on June 30, 1995, he was the longest-serving Ivy League president and a national leader as an advocate for education and research. He played a significant role in the development of national science policy under several U.S. presidents. During his eighteen-year presidency, Rhodes increased diversity at Cornell among students and faculty. Minorities as a percentage of the student body grew from 8 percent in 1977 to 28 percent in 1994. The number of women and minorities on the faculty more than doubled in the same time. Evaluations of teaching and advising of students were added to tenure standards. During Rhodes’s tenure, research funding more than tripled. Asian studies, supercomputing, biotechnology, and nanofabrication were four major initiatives. Rhodes’s tireless efforts to strengthen support for financial aid, educational programs, and libraries were critical to a successful $1.5 billion capital campaign. He ended deficit spending and left the university with a balanced budget. Rhodes is president emeritus and professor emeritus of geological sciences at Cornell. At commencement ceremonies in 1995, the Cornell Board of Trustees 72

announced that the Cornell Theory Center building was renamed Frank H. T. Rhodes Hall.

Hunter R. R awlings III, 1995–2003 After serving as president of the University of Iowa from 1988 to 1995, Hunter R. Rawlings III came to Ithaca as Cornell’s tenth president with a vision for, in his words, “composing Cornell”: organizing the remarkably diverse parts of Cornell in such a way that they would work more effectively together. During his presidency, the university took great strides toward making that vision a reality. Rawlings quickly gained the respect of faculty members for his support of intellectual life and academic standards. As part of his commitment to academic excellence, he promoted increasing the number of undergraduate applications for admission, lowering the university’s rate of offers of admission, and raising the yield rate on those offers. He provided strong support for continuing to increase student diversity and for Cornell’s need-blind admission policy, which was made permanent during his tenure. Rawlings renewed Cornell’s emphasis on the importance of undergraduate teaching, setting an example by teaching an undergraduate course in the Department of Classics during the last two years of his presidency. 73

Rawlings set strategic scientific priorities for Cornell, identifying areas of emphasis that included advanced materials science, computing and information science, and the new fields that embody the revolution in biological research and technologies, including genomics, computational biology, bioinformatics, and nanobiotechnology. At the same time, Rawlings provided additional support for the programs in the humanities and social sciences, recognizing their critical significance for the future of human societies in a rapidly changing scientific and technological environment. In 1998 Cornell’s medical complex in New York City was redesignated the New York Weill Cornell Medical Center to reflect the operations merger of New York and Presbyterian Hospitals and the renamed Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College and Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University. In 2001 Rawlings signed an agreement to establish a new branch of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, thereby creating an unprecedented expansion of many aspects of Cornell’s international activities and influence. At the conclusion of his presidency in 2003, Rawlings was elected president emeritus and began serving as a full-time professor in Cornell’s Departments of Classics and History. 74

Jeffrey S. Lehman, 2003–2005 Jeffrey S. Lehman became Cornell’s eleventh president in 2003, having served previously as dean of the University of Michigan Law School and as professor of law and public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at Michigan. He received an undergraduate degree in mathematics from Cornell in 1977, making him the first alumnus to become president of Cornell. In his inaugural address, Lehman characterized Cornell as a blend of beloved and revolutionary elements. During his tenure, Lehman worked on renewing those elements through his Call to Engagement initiative. He urged the campus to marshal its resources in response to three global challenges: life in the age of the genome, wisdom in the age of digital information, and sustainability in the age of global development. With his commitment to Cornell’s development as a transnational university, Lehman expanded Cornell’s academic and research affiliations in China, the Middle East, and South Asia. He also strengthened links between the Ithaca campus and the Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City. He resigned as Cornell’s president in June 2005. Since 2012 he has served as vice chancellor of NYU Shanghai. 75

David J. Skorton, 2006–2015 A distinguished cardiologist and biomedical researcher, David J. Skorton was president of the University of Iowa when Cornell selected him for the presidency in 2006. During his tenure Cornell faced one of the most difficult crises in its history—the international financial crisis of 2008–2009 and the severe recession that followed. With Skorton’s leadership—widely praised for collaboration and transparency—Cornell crafted a multifaceted and ultimately successful response. Despite these challenges, Skorton significantly enhanced need-based financial aid for undergraduates. Skorton supported an increase in wellness programs and mental health services and a focus on Cornell as a “caring community.” He also challenged the university to prioritize international studies and engagement, embarking on initiatives to expand student opportunities for international experiences, strengthen area studies programs, support globally engaged faculty, and cultivate international partnerships. Skorton’s most visible legacy is the creation of an entirely new campus, Cornell Tech in New York City. In the city’s 2011 competition, the partnership of Cornell and the Technion–Israel Institute of Technology triumphed 76

with an ambitious proposal for a new graduate school of applied sciences and technology with an entrepreneurial focus. Cornell Tech launched its first academic programs in a temporary location in Manhattan while the new site on Roosevelt Island was being developed. At the time of Skorton’s departure, Cornell Tech had about one hundred students and offered four master’s degrees, and the first academic building was under construction. In his final year, Skorton led Cornell’s sesquicentennial celebrations and concluded the largest capital campaign in Cornell history. He had laid the groundwork for a university anchored in its founding traditions, centered on its Ithaca campus, but increasingly connected to its growing New York City footprint and more and more global in its outlook, faculty, curriculum, students, research partnerships, and impact. He departed in 2015 to become the thirteenth secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

Elizabeth Garrett, 2015– Elizabeth Garrett became Cornell’s thirteenth president on July 1, 2015. She holds faculty appointments in the Law School, the Department of Government in the College of Arts and Sciences, and the Samuel Curtis Johnson 77

Graduate School of Management. A distinguished legal scholar with a record of public service, she comes to Cornell from the University of Southern California, where she was provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. She is the first woman to serve as president of Cornell. Garrett earned her bachelor’s degree in history at the University of Oklahoma and her JD at the University of Virginia School of Law. She clerked for Justice Thurgood Marshall on the U.S. Supreme Court. In addition to her leadership at USC, she has been a faculty member at the University of Chicago Law School and a visiting professor at Harvard Law School, the University of Virginia Law School, Central European University in Budapest, and Interdisciplinary Center Law School in Israel. A life fellow of the American Bar Foundation, she was also elected a Harold Lasswell Fellow of the American Academy of Political and Social Science and a member of the Council of the American Law Institute. Garrett is inspired by the founding vision of the university: to create and sustain a university dedicated to excellence in teaching and research, to public service as part of a land-grant mission, and to egalitarianism and inclusion fostering broad educational opportunity. She will work to continue Cornell’s pursuit of excellence in a 78

broad array of fields, bringing together faculty and students at the thirteen colleges on the Ithaca campus with researchers and graduate students at Cornell Tech and Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City, and with others in Cornell Cooperative Extension offices around the state and in locations from Qatar to Rome, from Geneva, New York, to Mwanza, Tanzania.

79

A Legacy of Firsts: Women at Cornell Gretchen Ritter, The Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences

C

ornell has launched the careers of some amazing women, including many pioneers in their fields. Think of Janet Reno ’60, the first woman to be named attorney general of the United States. Or Mae Jemison, MD ’81, the first African American female astronaut to go into space. The renowned photographer Margaret Bourke-White ’27 achieved many firsts—she was the first westerner allowed into the Soviet Union to photograph industry and the first woman war correspondent to go into combat zones during World War II. What makes Cornell such a productive place for women leaders? I believe part of Cornell’s strength lies in its openness. As the youngest, most publicly oriented Ivy, it has long been a place that prizes talent over pedigree. From its founding, Cornell was open to all, regardless

of race, religion, or sex. As Ezra Cornell wrote in 1867, “I want to have girls educated in the University as well as boys, so that they may have the same opportunity to become wise and useful to society that the boys have.” It was that combination of openness and excellence that drew Ruth Bader ’54, a young Jewish girl from a working class neighborhood in Brooklyn, to Cornell where she developed a commitment to social justice and a respect for the Constitution that would eventually lead her to the Supreme Court. Three decades earlier, Barbara McClintock ’23, MA ’25, PhD ’27, followed a similar journey: Over the objections of her mother, she came to Cornell to pursue her passion for science and eventually went on to win the Nobel Prize in Medicine for her discovery of mobile genetic elements. Cornell continues to be a magnet for talented strivers from all social backgrounds. Another aspect of Cornell’s impact on women pioneers is our physical setting. The geography and climate of the campus are challenging, grand, austere, and beautiful. The campus is ever changing, bigger than the people who inhabit it, and isolated from the distractions of urban life. To look out from the gorges and across Cayuga Lake to the hills beyond inspires appreciation for the beauty and force of nature. It also nurtures an attitude 81

of hearty independence for the young women and men who climb our hills and brave our winters. The impact of this setting on our academic community is profound. Contending with the elements creates a sense of connection and commonality that contributes to Cornell’s egalitarian culture. People here depend on and learn from one another in diverse and unexpected ways. Smart students have an opportunity to learn from masters and to share in the enterprise of inquiry and research in ways that are uncommon on most university campuses. It was the frontier states of the West that first granted women the right to vote and serve on juries. In places such as Colorado and Idaho, the women who raised families, ran cattle, and staffed trading posts were seen as capable and independent contributors to their local democracies. As I reflect on our geography in upstate New York, I am reminded of that place on the northern end of our lake, less than an hour from Ithaca, where Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott held the first women’s rights convention seventeen years prior to the founding of Cornell University. (Notably, Stanton’s granddaughter, Nora Stanton Blatch, Cornell class of 1905, became the first woman in the United States to receive a degree in civil engineering.) That same sense of self-determina82

tion and competence found in our country’s most pioneering women can be found in the women of Cornell. I could paraphrase Homer to say of Ithaca, “It is rough, but it raises good [wo]men.” As an alumna, I am immensely proud of Cornell’s record of nurturing great women leaders and pioneers. In my mind’s eye, I imagine all of these women looking on proudly today as we celebrate the arrival of Cornell’s first woman president, Elizabeth Garrett—another accomplished, independent striver and pioneer. Emily Dunning Barringer, BS in biology ’97, MD ’01 Emily Dunning Barringer was the world’s first female ambulance surgeon and the first woman to secure a surgical residency. Barringer was an advocate of women’s suffrage and worked throughout her career to improve medical education for women, public health, and champion reforms to improve the treatment of imprisoned women. During World War II, she lobbied Congress to pass the Sparkman Act, which granted women physicians the right to receive commissions in the Army, Navy, and Public Health Service. Her autobiography, Bowery to Bellevue: The Story of New York’s First Woman Ambulance Surgeon, was made into a 1950 film, The Girl in White, starring June Allyson as Barringer. 83

Margaret Bourke-White, BS in biology ’27 The photographer Margaret Bourke-White captured several of the most enduring images of the mid-twentieth century through the lens of her camera. She is best known as the first foreign photographer permitted to take pictures of industry in the Soviet Union, the first American female photojournalist to go into combat zones during World War II, and the first female photographer for Life magazine, where one of her photographs appeared on the first cover. Pearl S. Buck, MA in English ’26 The daughter of missionaries, Pearl S. Buck spent most of her life before 1934 living in China. Her novel, The Good Earth, which dramatized life in rural China before World War I, was the best-selling fiction book in the United States in 1931 and 1932 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. In 1938, she became the first American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature “for her rich and truly epic descriptions of peasant life in China and for her biographical masterpieces.” Jessie Redmon Fauset, BA in classical languages ’05 The first African American woman to attend Cornell, 84

Jessie Redmon Fauset spent much of her time at the university alone. Nevertheless, she excelled in a classical curriculum and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1905, the only black student at Cornell to achieve that honor before 1921. After teaching high school French for fourteen years, in 1919 Fauset became the literary editor of the magazine Crisis, published by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She helped nurture the careers of Harlem Renaissance writers such as Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, and George Schuyler. In addition to writing her own essays, poetry, and short stories, Fauset published four novels, including her most acclaimed work, There Is Confusion, created as a response to what she believed to be an inaccurate portrayal of black life in fiction. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, BA in government ’54 Ruth Bader Ginsburg was named an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court by President Bill Clinton and was sworn in on August 10, 1993. Before becoming a judge, Ginsburg had a long tenure as an advocate for women’s rights. She volunteered for the American Civil Liberties Union and taught at Rutgers School of Law–Newark and Columbia Law School. In 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the U.S. Court of 85

Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. She is the second female justice (after Sandra Day O’Connor) and the first Jewish female justice to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. Mae Jemison, MD ’81 Mae Jemison is the first African American female astronaut. In 1992, she flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour, becoming the first African American woman in space. After earning her medical degree, Jemison served two and a half years as the area Peace Corps medical officer for Sierra Leone and Liberia, where she also taught and did medical research. She served with NASA from 1987 to 1993 and later founded the Jemison Group Inc., a company that seeks to research, develop, and market advanced technologies. Florence Kelley, BA in social science and history ’82 One of Cornell’s first women students, Florence Kelley was one of the preeminent social and political reformers of the early twentieth century. Her advocacy against sweatshops and for the minimum wage, eight-hour workdays, and children’s rights is widely regarded today. In 1899, Kelley served as the first general secretary of the National Consumers League, and she was one of the 86

founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Barbara McClintock, BS in botany ’23, PhD in botany ’27 Barbara McClintock was a scientist and cytogeneticist who received the 1983 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her “discovery of mobile genetic elements.” From the late 1920s, she studied chromosomes and how they change during reproduction in maize. She produced the first genetic map for maize, linking regions of the chromosome to physical traits. McClintock is recognized among the best scientists in the field of genetics, having been awarded several prestigious fellowships and elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 1944. Toni Morrison, MA in English ’55 Toni Morrison is a novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters. Among her best-known works are The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, and Beloved. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the American Book Award in 1988 for Beloved. When Morrison was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993 the Nobel committee described her as a writer “who in 87

novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import, gives life to an essential aspect of American reality.” Alice Dunbar Nelson, attended Cornell 1907-8 Alice Dunbar Nelson was a poet, journalist, and political activist. Among the first generation of African Americans born free in the South after the Civil War, she was one of the prominent figures involved in the artistic flourishing of the Harlem Renaissance. Nelson was also a high school English teacher in Wilmington, Delaware, for a decade, where one of her pupils was J. Saunders Redding, who became the first African American to hold an endowed chair in Cornell’s history. Janet Reno, BS in chemistry ’60 Janet Reno is the first woman to serve as United States Attorney General and also the longest-serving attorney general since the Civil War, serving for nearly eight years during the Clinton administration. She was one of sixteen women in a class of five hundred accepted to Harvard Law School in 1960. Reno received her law degree in 1963 and later served for fifteen years as the state attorney for Dade County, Florida. In 2009, she was awarded the Justice Award, the highest honor bestowed by the American Judicature Society. 88

Irene Rosenfeld, BA in psychology ’75, MS in business ’77, PhD in marketing and statistics ’80 Irene Rosenfeld is the chairwoman and chief executive officer of Mondelēz International, a multinational confectionery, food, and beverage conglomerate that comprises the global snack and food brands of the former Kraft Foods Inc. In 2008, Rosenfeld placed sixth on the Wall Street Journal “50 Women to Watch” list. In 2014, Forbes ranked her as the fifteenth most powerful woman in the world, just behind Oprah Winfrey. She is an emeritus member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees. Thelma Schoonmaker, BA in Russian and government ’61 Thelma Schoonmaker is an award-winning film editor who has worked with the director Martin Scorsese for more than forty years. She has edited all of Scorsese’s films since Raging Bull (1980). Schoonmaker has received seven Academy Award nominations for Best Film Editing and has won three times—for Raging Bull, The Aviator (2004), and The Departed (2006). With seven nominations, she is the second-most-nominated editor in Oscar history.

89

Randi Weingarten, BS in industrial and labor relations ’80 Randi Weingarten is a labor leader, attorney, and educator. She is currently president of the 1.6 million– member American Federation of Teachers (AFT), AFLCIO. Prior to her election as AFT president in 2008, Weingarten served for twelve years as president of the United Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2. In 2013, the New York Observer named Weingarten one of the most influential New Yorkers of the past twenty-five years. Washington Life magazine included Weingarten on its 2013 “Power 100” list of influential leaders.

90

Cornell’s Sesquicentennial 1865–2015

E

lizabeth Garrett joins Cornell at a unique moment in its history—the university’s yearlong celebration of its sesquicentennial. The sesquicentennial year is a time to commemorate the institution, honor our heritage, applaud the difference-makers who have marked our first fifteen decades by taking on the world’s issues as their direct challenges, and reflect on the university’s future in helping to make our world a better place. In the fall of 2014, to mark the beginning of the celebration, Cornell dedicated the Sesquicentennial Commemorative Grove, designed by the New York City firm of Weiss/Manfredi, on the top of Libe Slope between Morrill and McGraw halls. A grove of trees, shrubs, stone walkways, and benches, it looks west from Cornell’s original “Stone Row” buildings and is on an axis with A. D. White’s seated statue, placed on the Arts Quad on

the university’s fiftieth birthday in 1915, and Ezra Cornell’s standing statue (1919). On the walkways appears an engraved timeline marking significant events in the university’s history, with plenty of available space for future notations. On its benches the Commemorative Grove features engraved quotations from people who over Cornell’s first 150 years have sought to capture its distinctive values and character. Here is a selection of those quotations: “Far above Cayuga’s waters ... far above the busy humming of the bustling town.” —Alma Mater “I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study.” —Ezra Cornell “A place where the most highly prized instruction may be afforded to all—regardless of sex or color.” —President Andrew Dickson White “We have not invited you to see a university finished, but to see one begun.” —Ezra Cornell

92

“To afford an asylum for science—where truth shall be sought for truth’s sake.” —President Andrew Dickson White “Useful things are taught here.” —President Charles Kendall Adams “A people’s university, if it is true to the spirit of our age, must hold all subjects equally reputable ...the analysis of soils is as important as the analysis of literature.” —President Jacob Gould Schurman “It was not until I went to Cornell, where no one questioned my beliefs, that I became tolerant ...Cornell taught me ...to respect the spiritual experience and religious beliefs of others.” —Professor Anna Botsford Comstock “Education is an inspiration, a taking hold of a broader life.” —Professor Liberty Hyde Bailey “The Cornell tradition ...allows a maximum of freedom and relies so confidently upon the sense of personal responsibility for making a good use of it.” —Professor Carl Becker “These professors of ours must have the right to profess; they must not be scourged from the public forum.” —President Deane W. Malott 93

“It is your duty to look forward and not back, and without forgetting old wisdom to seek a wisdom ever new, to prepare an even greater Cornell.” —Professor Morris Bishop “Cornell has not been content for the world to come to campus; it has also reached out to the world. Its land-grant mission has been writ large.” —President Frank H. T. Rhodes “We aim to be . . . the best research university for undergraduate education in the country.” —President Hunter R. Rawlings III

94

About Cornell University Press

C

ornell University Press shares the university’s mission to promote a culture of broad inquiry worldwide through its publication of groundbreaking scholarship that is carefully curated, skillfully edited, thoughtfully designed, and strategically marketed. Established in 1869 as the first American university press, shortly after the founding of Cornell, the Press’s program is aligned with the university’s strengths in key academic disciplines, while commanding its own distinct editorial profile. The Press, as part of a land-grant institution, is also dedicated to developing books that advance knowledge of New York State’s history, culture, and environment. The Press was originally founded to publish the scholarly achievements of the university and, by hiring student workers, to help those in need to learn a trade and support themselves during their studies. The Press was

inactive between 1884 and 1930, but publishing activities continued through the efforts of Comstock Publishing Associates, established by two Cornell professors. From that beginning, the Press has grown to be a major scholarly publisher, with nearly three thousand books in print and over one hundred new titles a year. Since 1993, the Press has been located in historic Sage House, built as a family home in the 1880s by Henry Williams Sage, then chairman of the university’s Board of Trustees, and designed by William Henry Miller, the architect responsible for many notable buildings on Cornell’s campus. After Sage’s death, the building was given to Cornell and served as the university infirmary for many years. It is known for its attractive stained-glass windows, elaborately tiled fireplaces, and ornate carvings of bats and owls.

96