Cornell
University Ithaca: A Farmer’s Contribution to American Education
University education is a byproduct
of university system and a strong foundation for societal development. This is
because the system has three main functions or pillars for the societal
development. The functions are teaching, research and community service.
Knowledge is quickly acquired through learning and teaching is the instrument
for learning. Research is a systematic activity undertaken for many reasons
such as increase the stock of knowledge; discover new information on the
existing happenings, problems and solutions identification, increasing system
efficiency among others. In addition to teaching and research, which are other
ways of serving the society, university is expected to render community service
using pool of intellectual capacities at its disposal to solve societal
problems. It is within this context that establishment of university is seen as
a giant contribution to the educational development of a nation. This is a story of Cornell University Ithaca,
New York and its founder; a farmer – Senator, Ezra Cornell.
Cornell University was established
in 1865 at Ithaca. Its establishment was the result of authorization by the New
York State (NYS) Senate as the state’s land grants institution. A farmer, Ezra
Cornell offered his farm in Ithaca, New York as a site and princely cash
amounting to $500,000 from his personal fortune as an initial endowment. As
part of patriotic and historic effort, a fellow senator and experienced
educationist, Andrew Dickson White became the first president (equivalent of
Vice Chancellor) of the university. During the next three years, White oversaw
the construction of the first two buildings and traveled to attract students
and faculty. Thus, White is considered as a cofounder of Cornell University.
The university was inaugurated on October 7, 1868, and 412 students were admitted
the next day.
Right from conception, Ezra
Cornell’s vision for the University of his Dream was very clear, “I would
(have) found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study
– Ezra Cornell, 1868”. Ezra Cornell (January 11, 1807 – December 9, 1874) was a
man with many trades; an American businessman, politician, philanthropist in
addition to being a successful farmer. He was the founder of Western Union and
He also served as President of the New York Agriculture Society as well as one
of the famous Senators of his time.
Since then, Cornell University
developed to become a giant institution with a lot of technological innovations
and breakthroughs through research works within and outside its campus. For
example, in 1883 it was one of the first university campuses to use electricity
from a water-powered dynamo to light the grounds. Since 1894, Cornell has
included colleges that are state funded and fulfill statutory requirements it
has also administered research and agricultural extension activities that have
been jointly funded by state and federal matching programs.
From 2000, Cornell University expanded
its international programs to other continents, for instance in 2004, the
university opened the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. It established
partnerships with institutions in India, Singapore, and the People's Republic
of China. Former president Jeffrey S. Lehman described the university, with its
high international profile, a "transnational university". On March 9,
2004, Cornell and Stanford University laid the cornerstone for a new 'Bridging
the Rift Center' to be built and jointly operated for education on the
Israel–Jordan border.
Administratively, Cornell University
is decentralized, with its colleges and schools exercising wide autonomy. Each
defines its own academic programs, operates its own admissions and advising
programs, and confers its own degrees. The only university-wide requirements
for a degree program are to pass a swimming test, take two physical education
courses, and satisfy a writing requirement. A handful of inter-school academic
departments offer courses in more than one college. All academic departments
are affiliated with at least one college; the last department without such an
affiliation, the Cornell Africana Studies and Research Center, merged with the
Arts College in July 2011. In 2015, Cornell ranked 8th domestically and 10th
internationally in the CWUR rankings. For 2016-17, Cornell ranked 16th in the
QS World University Rankings and 19th in the Times Higher Education World
University Rankings. The university ranked 10th in the 2013 Business Insider
Best Colleges in America ranking, 15th in the 2016 U.S. News & World Report
National Universities ranking, and 13th globally in an academic ranking of
world universities by Academic Ranking of World Universities in 2015. Cornell
was ranked 27th nationally in The Washington Monthly's 2016 ranking of
universities' contributions to research, community service, and social
mobility. Cornell's Center for Advanced Computing was one of the five original
centers of the NSF's Supercomputer Centers Program. The university’s School of
Hotel Administration ranked No. 1 in world on March 8, 2016.
Cornell Plantations, located
adjacent to the Ithaca campus, is used for conservation research as well as for
recreation by Cornellians. In the basement of Goldwin Smith Hall, researchers in
the Dendrochronology Lab determine the age of archaeological artifacts found at
digs
Research is a central element of
the university's mission; in 2009 Cornell spent $671 million on science and
engineering research and development, the 16th highest in the United States.
Thus, Cornell as a research university, is ranked fourth in the world in
producing the largest number of graduates who go on to pursue PhDs in
engineering or the natural sciences at American institutions, as well as fifth
in the world in producing graduates who pursue PhDs at American institutions in
any field. Latest Rankings
The achievements of the
university in research became possible because of its dedicated staff and huge
funds being expended on its research programs; example for the 2004–05 fiscal
year, the university spent $561.3 million on research. The fund comes largely
from federal sources, with federal investment amounting to $381.0 million. The
federal agencies; the Department of Health and Human Services and the National
Science Foundation contributed 51.4% and 30.7% of all federal investment to the
university. Another breakthrough of Cornell reputation receiving patents, it
was on the top-ten list of U.S. universities receiving the most patents in
2003, and was one of the nation's top five institutions in forming start-up
companies. During the period of 2004–05, Cornell received 200 invention
disclosures, filed 203 U.S. patent applications, completed 77 commercial
license agreements, and distributed royalties of more than $4.1 million to
Cornell units and inventors.
Another successful story of Cornell
is the record of alumni. Cornell alumni are known for their accomplishments in
public, professional, and corporate life. Many prominent personalities across
the globe are alumni of Cornell. Prominent among the top public servants in
many countries were Lee Teng-hui who was the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-wen
was elected to be the first female president of Taiwan, Mario García Menocal
was president of Cuba, Jamshid Amuzegar was prime minister of Iran. Others were
Hu Shih who was a Chinese reformer and representative to the United Nations,
Janet Reno was the first female United States Attorney General, and Ruth Bader
Ginsburg serves on the Supreme Court. Alumnus David Starr Jordan was the
founding president of Stanford University, and M. Carey Thomas founded Bryn
Mawr College. Additionally, alumnus Matt Urban holds the distinction as the
most decorated serviceman in United States history.
Still on Alumni in the business
World; they include Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill, Goldman Sachs Group Chairman
Stephen Friedman, Kraft Foods CEO Irene Rosenfeld and Autodesk CEO Carl Bass.
Others are Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini, S.C.
Johnson & Son CEO Fisk Johnson, Cargill Chairman Warren Staley, Chevron
Chairman Kenneth T. Derr, Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse, Burger King founder
James McLamore, Hotels.com founder David Litman. This list is endless!
In medicine, some of the Alumni
were inventors; Robert Atkins developed the Atkins Diet, Henry Heimlich developed
the Heimlich maneuver, Wilson Greatbatch invented the pacemaker, James Maas
coined the term "power nap", and C. Everett Koop served as Surgeon General
of the United States. Thomas Midgley, Jr. invented Freon, Jon Rubinstein is
credited with the development of the iPod, and Robert Tappan Morris developed
the first computer worm on the Internet. Eight Cornellians have served as NASA
astronauts; Steve Squyres is the principal investigator on the Mars Exploration
Rover Mission. In aerospace, also, Otto Glasser directed the USAF program that
developed the SM-65 Atlas, the World's first operational Intercontinental ballistic
missile. Bill Nye is well known as "The Science Guy".
This is by no means a giant
contribution to the university education by the founder Cornell and his
Co-founder White. They permanently imprinted their names in the history of
American university education with unlimited influence on the global
technological development. Prominent Nigerians can take cue by investing
in Nigerian university education without a goal of profit making. The history can
start today.
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