Since she was a child, Margo Hittleman ’81, Ph.D. ’07, was encouraged to speak up and try to change things that she thought were unfair. Looking back, she says many of the things that bothered her most related to systemic social injustice and exclusion, and she wanted to do something about it.Today, Hittleman is a resource educator for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County and co…
Jennifer Kahn’s ’08 creativity blooms through her pens and pencils – and also through her cameras and her computer, where she creates videos, graphics and other visual elements for television shows.If you’re watching a show on USA Network — Suits, Shooter, The Sinner, Mr. Robot, Colony, Unsolved: The Murders of Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G. or Psych: The Movie — chances are you’ve seen Kahn’s…
Tapan Parikh, associate professor in the Department of Information Science at Cornell Tech, has been named faculty director for the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity at the Cornell Tech campus. Amy Villarejo, professor of performing and media arts, is the faculty director on the Ithaca campus.The Milstein program is a collaboration between the College of Arts & Sciences and Cornell…
As Gretchen Ritter ’83 leaves her post this year as the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts & Sciences, faculty, staff and alumni are offering accolades for her tireless fundraising efforts, her strong support of innovations in both teaching and research and her devotion to enhancing the college’s programs for first-generation and low-income students.As a tribute, more than 55 members of the Arts &…
Five students from the College of Arts & Sciences will receive help with internship expenses this summer, thanks to alumni and family who have contributed to a fund honoring Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger ’67.Students will be working for members of Congress and helping non-profit organizations like UNICEF and US Ignite with help from the fund, which covers living expenses and other costs related to…
As Ololade Olawale ’18 and Amir Patel ’18 graduate from Cornell this Sunday, they say they’re heading out into the world with a deeper understanding of who they are and what they want to do with their lives.Olawale and Patel are two of six members of Cornell’s second Posse class, who will be graduating this weekend.The Posse Foundation founded the Posse program in 1989 to identify students from…
This story is the last in a series, checking in with some of our seniors as they plan for life after Cornell. From medical school to exciting jobs to a time of discovery, the five seniors we profiled earlier this year are moving on to new adventures after they graduate this weekend.English major Sarah Zumba will be working with the Hachette Book Group, an internship she won through the T. Howard…
The first students have been chosen for the new Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity and will begin as first-year students at Cornell this fall. Milstein program faculty are also refining details about the curriculum.“One passion that I have in particular is how we might use technology to improve the quality of education on a global scale,” said Catie Rencricca ’22, a new Milstein fellow…
Sixty-two students from the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) are leaving campus in the next two weeks. They say they’ve had memorable academic experiences and made friendships they hope will continue after they leave Ithaca.Cornell students, faculty and staff hosted a farewell reception for them May 7 at the Africana Studies and Research Center with food, music and a cake decorated with a photo of…
Graduate students affiliated with the College of Arts & Sciences were feted earlier this month at a reception honoring their skills as teaching assistants and mentors to undergraduate students.“All of us can remember an extraordinary teacher in our lives, someone who helped us when we thought we might fail, somebody who opened a world to us,” said Gretchen Ritter, Harold Tanner Dean of Arts …
Six of 10 Mellon Mays undergraduate fellows graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences are headed directly to graduate school, in higher numbers than ever. They will attend schools from the University of Wisconsin-Madison to the University of Heidelberg, and all 10 look forward to becoming professors who can change students’ lives.The Mellon Mays program began in 1988 at eight universities…
Expanding their efforts to support first-generation, low-income students, the College of Arts & Sciences will offer three new programs, starting this summer — a Summer Scholars Institute and small group advising seminars for first-year students, and a guaranteed summer internship program for sophomores.The college is also increasing the number of spots available to Arts & Sciences first…
Cornell president Martha Pollack and Gretchen Ritter, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts & Sciences, traveled to Asia last month for a series of meetings with alumni and the 10th anniversary of the Cornell Asia-Pacific Leadership Conference.Hosted by Cornell’s Office of International Alumni Relations, the annual conference draws alumni leaders from throughout Asia. Along with two April 7 panel…
When Jordan Fabian ’09 walks the halls of the White House, he always has three questions in his mind, just in case President Donald Trump happens to pass him in the hallway.Fabian, White House correspondent for The Hill, says you never know when the president might open a door or peek into a room, and you always have to be prepared.“With the Obama administration, the way we did our jobs was…
Rosa Ficek ’03 and her students were heavily into their research on the impact of invasive species on their home island of Puerto Rico when Hurricane Maria struck last fall.So Ficek, an associate researcher at the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey, put that work aside to lead her students on a more urgent project – studying the politics of infrastructure and the rebuilding of the island.Ficek,…
Students in the Cornell In Washington program had the chance to learn about how science is incorporated – or not – into the policymaking process during a March 23 visit to the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C.Christine Leuenberger, a senior lecturer in the Department of Science & Technology studies and a former science fellow at the U.S. State Department, received a grant from…
Sarah Kreps, associate professor of government and Jeremy Braddock, associate professor of English, have been chosen as the first Milstein Fellows in the Milstein Program in Technology & Humanity.The program, launched last fall with a $20 million gift from the Milstein Family Foundation, led by Howard P. Milstein ’73, Abby S. Milstein, and Michael M. Milstein ‘11, is a collaboration between…
The Department of Science & Technology Studies will host Dr. Mary Bassett, the New York City public health commissioner, for its annual Nordlander Lecture on April 23.Bassett’s talk, “Structural Racism and Health: From Evidence to Action,” will take place at 3:30 p.m. in the Carrier Ballroom of the Statler Hotel on campus and will be followed by a reception. The talk is free and open to the…
Ithaca’s weather is completely unpredictable – no news there.And so is the weather in many parts of the world. Two Cornell undergrads have created an app to help solve the early-morning dilemma: What should I wear so that I’m warm, dry, and comfortable all day long?Enter Brella, the creation of Matt Barker ‘19 and Austin Astorga ’19, computer science majors in the College of Engineering and the…
In Lucia Rodriguez’s ’20 Chicago neighborhood, when there is an injustice felt, a sign is created or a ribbon tied to a tree. Those signs and ribbons are distributed through local coffee shops and grocery stores, or people pick them up from a bucket in her parents’ backyard.Now, the newest sign that started in her home neighborhood has made its way around the country and Rodriguez hopes it soon…
Leigh Gallagher ’94 has come a long way from her early job as the footwear reporter at a sporting goods trade publication to assistant managing editor at Fortune magazine, but she said many of her career moves happened because of serendipity, not by having a well-defined career plan.One thing remained at the forefront, Gallagher said, whenever she made a career decision: to focus on her “north…
Staff and faculty from departments and programs in the College of Arts & Sciences will offer a festive majors and experiential learning fair from 3:30-5:30 p.m. April 12 in the Groos Family Atrium in Klarman Hall.“The fair will give first and second year students the chance to talk to representatives from almost every major and program at one time,” said Ana Adinolfi, senior career associate…
Two Cornell students were chosen to participate in the West Point National Conference on Ethics in America last month based on essays they submitted and a recommendation from Cornell’s Program on Ethics & Public Life.Simone Smith ’20, a government major, and Jacqueline Hutchinson ‘18, a development sociology major, traveled to West Point for the conference, “Moral Courage: Finding the…
When someone commits a crime in outer space, whose laws would govern their punishment? Who owns the moon? Who decides how many satellites can be deployed in outer space or what happens when they fall?A group of students interested in foreign relations, law, economics, the environment and other issues and the way they would play out in space has launched Cornell Cosmic, a journal dedicated to…
The final report from the Arts & Sciences Curriculum Review Committee, released March 20, recommends changes that would allow for greater exploration, simplify the requirements for graduation, help students more easily navigate through the college’s 2,000 courses, and encourage faculty to adopt innovative approaches to teaching, among other suggestions. Arts & Sciences faculty will meet…
A Medieval and Renaissance literature scholar from Bard College will visit campus March 19 to talk about her research related to truth and fiction in texts from the Middle Ages.Karen Sullivan, the Irma Brandeis Professor of Romance Culture and Literature at Bard College, will speak about "The Fictionality of History, the Historicity of Fiction: Tales of Eleanor of Aquitaine's Adventures on the…
Leigh Gallagher ’94, senior editor at large at Fortune magazine, will talk about her work and her career path March 16 as the 2018 Arts & Sciences Career Development Center’s Munschauer Speaker.Gallagher, an English major, writes and edits feature stories, helps steer the brand's editorial direction and serves as a co-chair of the Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit and Fortune Brainstorm Tech…
Over February break, many students trek home to catch up on sleep or laundry.Andrew Rosenblatt ’20 did laundry too, but he also spent the long weekend working on something a little more exciting: an experiment that shows promise for making cholera less resistant to treatment by a broad range of antibiotics.His work, in the lab of Professor Tobias Doerr, assistant professor of microbiology, could…
Up to 10 undergraduate students from the Ithaca campus will spend their summer doing research on the new Cornell Tech campus as part of a new partnership between Cornell Tech and the Colleges of Arts and Sciences and Engineering.Students will work with Cornell Tech faculty and postdocs, or partner organizations/companies associated with the campus, over a 10-week summer program. Leaders in arts …
When he arrived as a graduate student in 1984, Vincent Boudreau, Ph.D. ’91, thought he would study African politics and perhaps join the diplomatic corps. Then he walked into a class taught by Professor Benedict Anderson, an expert on the politics, history and languages of Southeast Asia.“It was magical,” he says. “They weren’t just ordinary graduate students in that class: There were two Thai…
Two Arts & Sciences students have started a new community to help students tackle what they’re calling “side projects” — ideas for books, blogs, campaigns, businesses or social justice ventures.Patterned after Google’s “sprints” and other progressive tech company practices, Tina He ‘19 and Maya Frai ’20 named their organization Backyard and hope it will help students turn an idea into a…
A group of Wall Street executives, who also happen to be Arts & Sciences alumni, will visit campus later this month to give students the inside track on preparing for Wall Street interviews.“We know that Arts & Sciences students who secure jobs on Wall Street or in consulting perform really well,” said Carl Contiguglia ‘89, Managing Director and Global Head of natural resources within the…
When Reed Van Dyk ’07 happened to listen to a 9-1-1 call as he was conducting research for a graduate school film, he realized the story he was hearing was one he wanted to share with others.That 9-1-1- call would lead him to explore what happened that morning in 2013 at the Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Center in Atlanta, Ga. between a gunman and a school receptionist, which would lead him…
Eleven Cornell students joined a professor and two residence life staff members for a trip to Cuba over winter break that they say forever changed their views of the island nation.Now many of them are setting out to change the views of others, whether they be students or members of their own families.“I was able to right all of the misconceptions that Americans have about Cuba,” said Andrea…
Three Cornellians were among those celebrating Jan. 23 when nominations were announced for this year’s Academy Awards.Reed Van Dyk and Trevor White, both ’07, received nominations, Van Dyk for his writing/directing on the documentary “DeKalb Elementary,” and White for production of “The Post.” David Greenbaum ’98 is co-head of production for Fox Searchlight Pictures, which had two nominated films…
Kristaly Rodríguez literally dropped off her belongings in her room at Risley Hall Sunday before making her way to Clark Atrium in the Physical Sciences Building for a Bienvenidos dessert reception and orientation for new students from Universidad de Puerto Rico (UPR).
Once there, she and friend Elizabeth Rivera collected a colorful hat and scarf, a water bottle and bag and, by the end of the…
Two distinguished alumni will visit campus this spring for lectures, class presentations and talks with students, thanks to an alumni gift from the family of James H. Becker, a 1917 graduate of the College of Arts & Sciences.The Becker Grant, established in 1976, helps departments within the College of Arts & Sciences bring alumni to campus to share their experiences with students.This…
Four new alumni gifts to the Winokur Future Faculty Initiative have helped the College of Arts & Sciences to create three new professorships and fund a new graduate student position.The $40 million initiative, launched in May with a $10 million challenge gift from Barton and Susan Winokur, both Class of ’61, will support the creation of 15-25 new endowed positions within the college.Gifts…
Cornell has a history of hiring faculty with strengths and interests in German, not only within the Department of German Studies, but throughout the university.So, 25 years ago, Professor Peter Uwe Hohendahl set about creating an institute that could bring faculty from across campus with interests in German together for conferences and colloquia to share ideas, opinions and research.The Institute…
Professor Amy Villarejo, who led the Department of Performing and Media Arts as chair for seven years, has been named the first faculty director for the Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity.The program, launched last month with a $20 million gift from the Milstein Family Foundation, led by Howard P. Milstein ’73, Abby S. Milstein, and Michael M. Milstein ‘11, is a collaboration between the…
Ethan Felder ‘09 isn’t shy about standing up for what he believes in. Even if that means literally standing up in front of a crowd of a thousand people at a Queens neighborhood rally.Felder, a union-side labor lawyer in New York City, visited campus in November to talk about his work and his pro bono cases, including a recent voting rights case that he won in Queens.That case, in which Felder and…
Adadot Hayes ’64 said she will never forget Jeffrey, a baby born with Trisomy 13, a chromosomal condition that left him without eyes, with a cleft palate and a host of other problems.Most babies with this genetic disorder don’t live past 1 month, so his parents were advised to tell relatives and friends that he had died at birth. But Jeffrey lived to be 9 1/2 years old and Hayes, then a young…
Second-year MFA students in Cornell’s creative writing program were given the chance to read their works in front of editors, agents and publicists at a Nov. 12 event in New York City, thanks to the generosity of David Picket ’84.The David L. Picket & Cornell Creative Writing Program Literary Reading in NYC was held at the Cornell Club and included readings by nine MFA students, as well as a…
Annie Kline ’20 is a perfect example of a student who comes to Cornell with a ton of interests and uses her first two years in the College of Arts & Sciences to explore the possibilities before deciding on a major. We sat down with Annie to find out how she came to major in history and minor in information science.How did you choose Cornell?Cornell was the first school I visited and I loved…
More than 500 people, including many Cornell alumni, faculty, staff and students, gathered in New York City for Entrepreneurship at Cornell’s sixth Summit event Nov. 3.Speakers shared stories of their entrepreneurial journeys and the lessons they’ve learned from starting companies, while participants explored 17 booths featuring products and services from Cornell start-ups and programs.“Across…
Combining the passion and tenacity of a concert pianist with the inspiration he finds in nature, Joshua Sadinsky ’19 is using the College Scholar program in the College of Arts & Sciences to pursue classes and research that meld all of his interests.“I identify first as a pianist; my commitment at first is to the instrument,” said Sadinsky, who grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. “But the…
Hiking the Cascadilla Gorge trail, the 25 students in this semester’s Underground Railroad seminar stopped at a bridge halfway down to talk about why water routes were important to escaping slaves.“Water would help them to know what direction they were heading, it would hide their scent if they were being followed by dogs, and the water noise would hide the noise they might be making as they…
Marvin Carlson’s reason for coming to Cornell for his doctoral degree reads a little like the storyline from “The Wizard of Oz.”“I wanted to get out of Kansas,” said Carlson, who earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Kansas. He traveled east to earn his Ph.D. in theater from Cornell in 1961 and stayed on to teach in Cornell’s theater arts department for 18 years…
Judy Hart ’63 will never forget the day she walked into Clara Dickson Hall, late to her first meeting with 200 other freshmen girls, whose “makeup matched their knee socks.”“I thought, ‘What did I do to myself. I am not in the same league as these girls,’” she said during a recent visit to campus. That first day of her freshman year, clad in bobby socks, she had flown, taken a bus and called a…
This story is one in a series, checking in with some of our seniors to explore how they’re doing as they plan for life after Cornell.
James Bessoir’s ’18 resume was mostly filled with summers spent volunteering for a non-profit until this past spring, when he landed a sweet internship with NASA. Paola Ocampo ’18 is applying to grad school, but she worries about a few specific classes she…
