Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, USA, is a member of the Ivy League. Cornell is one of two private land grant universities,[1] and has four state-supported statutory or contract colleges. Its two medical campuses are located in New York City and Education City, Qatar.
Scope and organization edit
Cornell is often considered as one of the top universities in the world, with consistent top 15 rankings. Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 40 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students.[2][3][4] The student body consists of over 13,000 undergraduate and 6,000 graduate students from all fifty states and one hundred and twenty-two countries.[5] Cornell produces more graduates that go on to become medical doctors than any other university in the USA. It also produces the largest number of graduates in the life sciences who continue for Ph.D. degrees,[6] and is ranked fourth in the world in producing the largest number of graduates who go on to pursue Ph.D.s at American institutions.[7] Research is a central element of the university's mission; in 2006 Cornell spent $649 million on research and development.[8] In 2007, Cornell ranked fifth among universities in the U.S. in fund-raising, collecting $406.2 million in private support.[9]
The university is organized into seven undergraduate and seven graduate colleges, each defining its own academic programs in near autonomy. Since the mid-20th century, the university has been expanding both its campus resources and influence worldwide.Cornell claims "to serve society by educating the leaders of tomorrow and extending the frontiers of knowledge."[10]
Cornell was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White as a coeducational, non-sectarian institution where admission was offered irrespective of religion or race. It was inaugurated shortly after the American Civil War; its founders intended that the new university would 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 motto, an 1865 Ezra Cornell quotation: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."[11]
- ^ The other is the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- ^ "2006–07 Factbook" (PDF). Cornell University. Retrieved 2006-07-07.
- ^ "Cornell Nobel laureates". Cornell News Service. Retrieved 2006-06-06.
- ^ "Uncle Ezra". Cornell University. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
- ^ "Undergraduate Admissions" (URL). Cornell University. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ^ "Research Expenditures" (URL). Chestorton House. Retrieved 2008-04-04.
- ^ "Chinese Schools Are Top Feeders for U.S. Doctorates" (URL). U.S. News and World Report. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
- ^ "R&D Expenditures" (PDF). National Science Foundation. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
- ^ "Stanford Tops Harvard, Yale With $910 Million in Private Gifts". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2008-12-01.
- ^ "The Cornell University Mission". Cornell University. Retrieved 2006-01-01.
- ^ "Cornell University Facts: Motto". Cornell University. Retrieved 2006-05-22.