News
Person with dust on face and arms, smiling while standing in a hole in the ground, an archaeological dig site
Provided Caitie Barrett, an archaeologist who investigates everyday life, doing field work in Pompeii in summer 2025
Archaeology

‘Households in Context’ wins Wiseman Book Award

A&S Communications

Based on a 2018 conference co-organized by Caitie Barrett, professor of classics, and Jennifer Carrington, Ph.D. ’19, the book focuses on houses and households during a period when Egypt was ruled by Greeks and then by Romans.

A city seen from a high vantage point, through a foreground of trees
Edgard Josue/Unsplash Tegucigalpa, Honduras
History

Is Silicon Valley driving Trump’s policy on Honduras?

A&S Communications

Trump’s interest in Honduras is more about U.S. business interests, than democracy, says professor Raymond Craib, a historian of modern Latin America.

Person holding up an orange menstrual cup
Sreang Hok/Cornell University Ligia Coelho, a Postdoctoral Fellow in astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences and fellow at the Carl Sagan Institute, holds a menstrual cup.
Astronomy

Spaceflight-tested menstrual cup offers choice on long missions

Cornell Chronicle

To equip astronauts with health choices for future missions, a Cornell postdoctoral fellow is leading research with AstroCup, a group that recently tested two menstrual cups in spaceflight as payload on an uncrewed rocket flight.

Person in military fatigues standing in front of others, speaking
Provided Kylie Williamson ’26 has been named Navy/Marines Student of the Year by Navy Federal Credit Union, a top honor in the Reserve Officers Training Corps system.
ROTC

Cornell Navy ROTC midshipman earns top honor

Cornell Chronicle

Kylie Williamson ’26 has been named Navy/Marines Student of the Year by Navy Federal Credit Union, a top honor in the Reserve Officers Training Corps system. Williamson is the first Cornell student to win the award.

Forest seen from above
Gabriel Mihalcea/Unsplash
Climate science

Grants to support research at nexus of AI, climate science

Cornell Chronicle

New grant funding will support eight research projects seeking to reduce AI’s energy use and integrate AI in environmental research.

Two people wearing lab safety glasses read a computer screen
Charissa King-O’Brien/Cornell Engineering Postdoctoral researcher Rebecca Gerdes, Ph.D. ’24, (left) and Jillian Goldfarb, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, led an interdisciplinary team that determined that organic residues of plant oils are poorly preserved in calcareous soils from the Mediterranean.
Archaeology

Ancient dirty dishes reveal decades of questionable findings

Cornell Chronicle

An interdisciplinary team of researchers determined that organic residues of plant oils are poorly preserved in calcareous soils from the Mediterranean, leading decades of archaeologists to likely misidentify olive oil in ceramic artifacts.

Dozens of college students sit at attention in an auditorium with tiered seating
Alexandra Bayer/Cornell University Students on the first day of classes in fall 2025.
Alumni

As higher ed looks to the future, it's vital to understand the past

Cornellians

Praveen Sethupathy ’03, an A&S computer sciences alum who co-chairs a faculty task force exploring Cornell’s role in a changing educational, research, and social landscape, serves as co-chair of the Committee on the Future of the American University, a group of 18 faculty appointed by the provost to explore how Cornell can evolve to best serve future generations while pursuing its core mission of education, scholarship, public impact, and community engagement.

People sitting on benches, reading with a lake and forest vista in front of them
Simon Wheeler for Cornell University
Alumni authors

Your November 2025 reads

Cornellians

This month’s titles featured in Cornellians include poetry, a famed restaurateur’s memoir, and a chronicle of the 1929 stock market crash

Gail Heriot
Provided Gail Heriot
Freedom and Free Societies

Talk examines Civil Rights Act’s unintended consequences

A&S Communications

Legal scholar Gail Heriot will describe a chain of unintended consequences of the Civil Rights Act of 1991 in her talk "Why We Walk on Eggshells," Dec. 8.

candle
Creative Writing Program

Professor emerita Stephanie Vaughn, ‘writer’s writer,’ dies at 81

Cornell Chronicle

Vaughn taught creative writing and literature at Cornell for 39 years, retiring in 2022 as professor of literatures in English emerita.

person holding sign saying they are working for Microsoft
Career development resources

Career Development targets resources for students in tech fields

A&S Communications

Tech students need to target specific organizations that match their interests, skills and values.

book cover: The Story in Fiction and Film of French Collaboration in the Occupation
Provided book cover: The Story in Fiction and Film of French Collaboration in the Occupation
Literatures in English

How fiction and film are shaping the Occupation narrative in France

A&S Communications

In two new books, Daniel R. Schwarz considers France and the Holocaust – and how literature and film can correct erroneous depictions of history.

person smiling
Nexus Scholars

Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Ricco Venterea ’24

A&S Communications

"Nexus Scholars was the first time where the only thing I had to worry about was research."

person smiling
Nexus Scholars

Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Jacqueline Allen ’23

A&S Communications

"I got a taste of what neuroscience research is really like."

person smiling
Nexus Scholars

Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Nicole Hao ’24, MEng ’25

A&S Communications

“Nexus, to me, was also a professional development experience."

person smiling
Nexus Scholars

Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Nnenna Ochuru ’25

A&S Communications

"I want to further study the politicalization of education."

person smiling
Nexus Scholars

Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Rachel Craig ’24

A&S Communications

"I had the opportunity to present what was exciting to me, and what I learned.”

Raul Armenta
Provided Raul Armenta
Graduate student research

Student spotlight: Raul Armenta

Cornell University Graduate School

Raul Armenta, a doctoral student in sociology from Los Angeles, studies the intersection of education and the criminal legal system under the guidance of Bryan Sykes.

Several soldiers cluster near a tank; a blue and yellow Ukraine flag flies nearby
Ministry of Defense of Ukraine/Creative Commons license 2.0 Anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine
International politics

U.S.-Russia peace plan should be ‘non-starter’ for Ukraine

A&S Communications

The leaked peace initiative, which would allegedly require Kyiv to surrender territory and significantly reduce the size of its army and some types of weaponry, is largely an attempt to put pressure on Zelensky, says David Silbey.

A classroom empty of students; the chairs are on desks
Sigmund/Unsplash
Sociology

Whose God goes on the classroom wall? Cornell expert on religious freedom

A&S Communications

Coordinated efforts across Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments "test whether American public schools belong equally to all families—or whether some families' faith gets privileged by law while others' gets diminished by the state.”

a few dozen people stand on an outdoor staircase
Roger William Photography Dean’s Scholars at the 2025 Pinning Ceremony
Graduate student honors

Nearly 60 students recognized at pinning ceremony

Cornell University Graduate School

A&S-affiliated graduate students were among nearly 60 welcomed by the Graduate School as new Dean’s Scholars at an event to honor students selected for this distinction for academic excellence, leadership, and service.

Artistic portrait of a person in argyle pattern sweater vest holds a small model of a molecule and looks pensive
Christopher Michel Photography Roald Hoffmann, the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor, Emeritus, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology
Faculty honors

Portraits honor 8 Cornell faculty as ‘new heroes’

Cornell Chronicle

The portraits are part of a series by Christopher Michel, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine’s inaugural artist-in-residence.

Person smiling down at a cup of ice cream
Cornell University file photo Howard Howland
Neurobiology and Behavior

Professor emeritus Howard Howland, expert on eyes, dies at 92

Cornell Chronicle

Howard Howland, Ph.D. ’68, a neurophysiologist who studied the eyes of humans and animals, died Oct. 26 in Ithaca. He was 92.

person in lab coat
Nexus Scholars

Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Neel Mehta '23

A&S Communications

"The skills that you pick up in the lab are always going to stay with you."

Flags of east Asia on poles near a body of water. Blue sky behind them
FutureAtlas.com/Creative Commons license 2.0 Flags of east Asia
International politics

Relationship between China and Japan ‘on a knife’s edge,’ says Cornell expert

A&S Communications

Japan’s refusal to retract remarks about military intervention if China moved to seize Taiwan has left relations between the two countries the worst they've been in a decade, says Allen Carlson, associate professor of government.

Two people sit at a table loaded with equipment, assembling a robot
Paul Treadwell/Cornell University Surabhi Bacchav '27 (l) and Thomas Jacobsen, University of Idaho, set up a up an AgXRP robot in summer 2025.
Engaged learning

Cornell showcases a decade of impact through new community-engaged learning video series

Cornell Chronicle

The David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement has released a new video series highlighting a decade of progress and impact in community-engaged learning across the university.

Man with checkered shirt standing in front of a screen with a multi-colored quilt of neurons
Diane Tessaglia-Hymes H. Sebastian Seung, professor of computer science and neuroscience at Princeton, showing a portion of the fruit fly connectome in the optic lobe as a featured speaker at the 2025 Cornell Neurotech Mong Family Foundation Symposium.
Neurobiology & Behavior

Neurotech symposium explores how brain circuits drive behavior

Cornell Chronicle

The event was an example of Cornell’s interdisciplinary commitment to advancing the frontiers of neurotechnology.

Person in a red dress, singing into a microphone
Nada Žgank Cécile McLorin Salvant at the 2025 Ljubljana Jazz Festival
Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series

Vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant featured on Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series

A&S Communications

Salvant, a 2020 MacArthur Fellow and three-time Grammy Award winner, is an artist celebrated for bringing historical depth, dramatic flair, and exceptional musical insight to jazz standards and original works.

people having a conversation
Photo by Antenna on Unsplash
Government

New course encourages students to embrace disagreement

A&S Communications

A new course being offered will give students the chance to consider some of the most polarizing issues in our world today.

Light source sends white rays across a dark space
Markus Kammermann/Unsplash
Physics

Light causes atomic layers to do the twist

Cornell Chronicle

Using a Cornell-built instrument and Cornell-built high-speed detector, a team of researchers captured atomically thin materials responding to light with a dynamic twisting motion.

CULA letters on white background with photos of Hollywood
Performing and media arts

A&S launches Cornell in Los Angeles semester study away

A&S Communications

The program will place students in Hollywood for a semester of coursework, networking, and cultural immersion.

Person sitting on a bench, reading, surrounded by fall leaves on a college campus
Jason Koski/Cornell University Cornell's Arts Quad
Economics

Universities’ role in society goes beyond education, research

Cornell Chronicle

Americans broadly agree that universities should engage in a range of societal issues beyond their core education and research missions.

Black and white photo from 1970 of two dignitaries in an outdoor event
Eric Koch/Anefo, Creative Commons license 3.0 President Suharto of Indonesia arrives in the Netherlands for a state visit with Queen Juliana
Government

‘National hero’ honor for Suharto speaks to enduring authoritarian influence in Indonesia

A&S Communications

President Prabowo’s decision to confer the title underscores how Suharto’s legacy continues to shape Indonesian politics today, says a Cornell government professor who studies political and economic systems in Southeast Asia.

Book cover: Island of Hermaphrodites
Provided Book cover: Island of Hermaphrodites
Romance studies

Translation offers English readers passage to satirical ‘Island of Hermaphrodites’

A&S Communications

The novel, published anonymously in 1605, is "a very funny critique of court life that resonates for anyone dealing with very hierarchical institutions in which the exercise of power is often inscrutable and seemingly random,” says professor Kathleen Perry Long.

Person wearing a cap, sweater, wool hiking pants and sturdy boots, poses on rocky ground of a very steep hill
Mary Reppy John Reppy above Barrowdale in the English Lake District
Physics

Physicist John Reppy wins Buckley Prize

A&S Communications

Reppy was recognized along with David Bishop, Ph.D. ’78, for "groundbreaking experiments" they did on helium 50 years ago.

Illustration of a planet covered in orange-tinted clouds
Adam B. Langeveld/Carl Sagan Institute. Adapted from NASA/Ames/JPL-Caltech Artist concept of a cloudy Earth-like exoplanet with colorful biota in the clouds.
Astronomy

How to spot life in the clouds on other worlds

Cornell Chronicle

Cornell researchers have created the first reflectance spectra – a color-coded key – of microorganisms that live in the clouds floating above Earth’s surface.

Headshot of chemist Geoffrey Coates
Geoffrey Coates
Awards and Honors

Chemist Geoffrey Coates wins Benjamin Franklin Medal

A&S Communications

Coates is being recognized “for transformative work at the interface of chemical catalyst design and polymer science.”

John Tomasi
Provided John Tomasi
Future of the American University

Building university cultures of open inquiry: Nov. 18 talk

A&S Communications

John Tomasi, the inaugural president of Heterodox Academy, will speak on “The University at a Crossroads – and How We Can Build Cultures of Open Inquiry” as part of a series of events organized by the Provost’s Committee on the Future of the American University.

phone with dark mode screen and social media icons
Berke Citak/Unsplash
Psychology

Right or left, low-quality news links popular on social media

Cornell Chronicle

The spread of dubious headlines on social media isn’t just a right-wing thing – it's a social media thing, according to new research from psychology professor David Rand ’04.

books in a library with computers on table
Photo by Gunnar Ridderström on Unsplash
Digital humanities

Combining humanities and tech for research gains

A&S Communications

An interdisciplinary project is sparking collaborations among those interested in digital approaches to the study of history, languages and culture.

Event poster in bright purple, pink and orange hues: Louise Farrence at 150
Provided
Music

Commemorating composer, pianist, pedagogue Louise Farrenc Nov. 14-15

A&S Communications

The two-day event features performances of Farrenc’s chamber music on historical instruments, a reimagining of the salon culture in collaboration with the Johnson Museum of Art, and scholarly presentations.

historical black and white photo of about 10 lumber workers posing on a mechanized crane in the woods. They are standing on felled trees.
Watt Family Photographs/McNeese State University “Woods workers” posing with a large crane near Carson, Louisiana, 1920.
Africana studies

Redbones and racial nuance in Louisiana Lumber War

A&S Communications

Klarman Fellow Kendall Artz wants to push beyond the assumption – one replicated by scholars – that company rosters and state records hold all there is to know about racial expression.

White hall
Jewish Studies Program

Alumni gift endows director position for Jewish Studies Program

A&S Communications

The $5 million gift from Joseph Lubeck ’78 offers the Jewish Studies Program foundational support for the future.

Sky scrapers rise from New York City in an aeriel shot
Triston Dunn/Unsplash New York City
Government

Is Mamdani’s win indicative of a new wave in national politics? Not likely says Cornell expert

A&S Communications

New York City is too unique for Mamdani's victory to mean much for national politics, says professor of government Richard Bensel.

person smilng
Society for the Humanities

Medical anthropologist to deliver annual Society for Humanities lecture

A&S Communications

Stacey Langwick, associate professor of anthropology in the College of Arts & Sciences, will speak on "Healing in a Toxic World: Reimagining the Times and Spaces of the Therapeutic."

person smiling
Physics

Nathan Seiberg explores frontiers of physics in 2025 Bethe Lecture

A&S Communications

Seiberg, professor in the School of Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, will explore string theory and other aspects of scientific progress.

person smiling
American studies and history

Historian to explore state of American sports in 2025 Seymour Lecture

A&S Communications

Author and historian Kevin Baker will examine the paradox at the heart of modern American sports: while there are more games and sports than ever before, access has become increasingly limited and costly.

Three people sit in chairs in front of audience during a debate
Simon Wheeler for Cornell University Muna Ndulo, right, speaks as Chris Barrett, left, and moderator Paul Kaiser listen at the Einaudi Center’s Lund Critical Debate.
Government

Lund debate kicks off yearlong conversation on foreign aid

Cornell Chronicle

Faculty members discussed the value of international aid in the wake of the Trump administration’s policy that froze foreign assistance.

Black and white image of a college student's face next to an image of a hand-written letter
Photo illustration by Ashley Osburn/Cornell University A student chronicled her life in the ’50s and ’60s—then shared those memories with her daughter and granddaughter

How hundreds of letters home connect a Cornellian family

Cornellians

A student chronicled her life in the ’50s and ’60s—then shared those memories with her daughter and granddaughter – who's now an A&S alumna.

Book cover: Within the Shop of the Divine
Provided Book cover: Within the Shop of the Divine
Poetry

Summoning religion, mythology and memory ‘Within the Shop of the Divine’

A&S Communications

A Saint Anthony statue that glows in the dark lights the way into poems that connect people beyond death, visit holy sites, consider Satanic bargains and consult astrology.

About 20 people pose as a group on a staircase.
Provided TIP executive board members
Language Resource Center

Symposium celebrates 25 years of bridging language barriers

A&S Communications

“The Future of Language Advocacy” on Nov. 15 will feature Cornell Translator Interpreter Program founders Fatema Sumar ‘01 and alumna Joyce Muchan ‘97.

Hand holding a small American flag, a mail-in ballot
Janine Robinson/Unsplash
Politics

What this year’s off-cycle elections mean for the national mood

A&S Communications

If Trump allies exceed expectations during Nov. 4 elections, despite his disapproval ratings, it will be a sign that Republicans can still benefit from Democrats’ continued unpopularity.

Grey square topped by a silver arrow-shaped object
Sunwoo Lee/Provided A neural implant developed at Cornell rests on a grain of salt. About 300 microns long and 70 microns wide, it’s the smallest neural implant capable of wirelessly transmitting brain activity data.
Neurobiology and Behavior

Neural implant smaller than salt grain wirelessly tracks brain

Cornell Chronicle

Cornell researchers and collaborators have developed a neural implant so small that it can rest on a grain of salt, yet it can wirelessly transmit brain activity data in a living animal for more than a year.

Open hands holding change
Katt Yukawa/Unsplash
Psychology and philosophy

To disclose or not to disclose good deeds, that is the do-gooder dilemma

Cornell Chronicle

A new study explores how people feel about sharing their good deeds.

Two people work in a lab, looking up a a tube
Provided Bryce Brownfield, Ph.D. ’23 (left) and Cameron Kitzinger ’22 work in their lab for Forage Evolution, which was recently admitted into Cornell’s Center for Life Science Ventures incubator.
Physics

Startup bets their superfast microbe can rewrite biotech

Cornell Chronicle

Researchers develop a new bacterium that can absorb DNA directly from its surroundings and incorporate it into its own genetic code.

Chain link fence with yellow warning signs: CAUTION, UNDERGROUND RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL AREA
Dan Meyers/Unsplash Fence with warning signs, rural Idaho
International politics

Plan to conduct nuclear tests comes with enormous risks, says Cornell expert

A&S Communications

Where and how the tests will happen are important questions, says military historian David Silbey, as last confirmed nuclear test by the United States was in 1992.

Hand holding a glass sphere up toward the sky so it reflects trees and clouds, making the ball look like a tiny planet Earth
Margot RICHARD/Unsplash
Molecular biology and genetics

Faculty win Bezos grants to use AI for environmental challenges

A&S Communications

Cornell has won three of 15 major grants from the Bezos Earth Fund, awarded to leverage artificial intelligence in the fight against climate change and environmental challenges.

promotional image showing three faculty head shots and a picture of students taking an exam in a very large hall
Provided
Academic innovation

Academic integrity and generative AI focus of PWGIA event

Cornell Chronicle

A keynote and faculty panel on Nov. 12 will focus on how faculty can communicate their generative AI-related expectations to students, how students can take accountability for their work, and what this looks like in practice.

Two people conversing on a stage during an event
Ryan Young/Cornell University Nobel Prize-winning economist and former Cornell professor Richard Thaler, left, speaks on stage with Thomas Gilovich, the Irene Becker Rosenfeld Professor of Psychology, in the Statler Auditorium.
Psychology

Nobel laureate Richard Thaler delights in the human side of economics

Cornell Chronicle

Richard Thaler, a Nobel laureate who was a professor at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management from 1978 to 1995, spoke Oct. 17 at the Alice Statler Auditorium.

Book cover: Domestic Nationalsim
Provided
Asian studies

Indonesian women created a political voice through gendered care work

A&S Communications

In "Domestic Nationalism," Chiara Formichi argues that during the 1920s to 1950s, Indonesian women’s domestic activities contributed to nation-building as a political project.

two brown paper bags full of groceries
Maria Lin Kim/Unsplash
Government

SNAP benefit lapse: U.S. ‘officially losing’ war on poverty

A&S Communications

The loss of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits November 1 if the government shutdown holds benefits will have profound repercussions for democracy, says government scholar Jamila Michener.

Black and white photo of a tale covered with books for sale from "Ithaca House" press
Cornell University Library A digitized image from Cornell University Library’s Ithaca House Press Publishing Files collection.
Cornell University Library

New digital collections preserve, examine Cornell history

Cornell Chronicle

Newly published digital collections at Cornell University Library explore areas of Cornell history. Freely accessible online, the three new collections were digitized from materials held in Cornell University Library’s Rare and Manuscript Collections.

Golden sphere (a planet) against a black backdrop (space)
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Provided WASP-18b, a gas giant known as an “ultra-hot Jupiter"
Astronomy

Now in 3D, maps begin to bring exoplanets into focus

Cornell Chronicle

Astronomers have generated the first three-dimensional map of a planet orbiting another star, revealing an atmosphere with distinct temperature zones – one so scorching that it breaks down water vapor, a team co-led by a Cornell expert reports in new research.

Person speaking at a lecturn with a black and white photograph displayed behind
Patrick Shanahan Cornell historian Corey Earle shared stories of remarkable women throughout Cornell’s history during an Oct. 25 brunch as part of the Trustee Council Alumni Meeting.
Cornell history

TCAM brunch highlight’s women’s history at Cornell

Cornell Chronicle

Cornell historian Corey Earle shared stories of remarkable women throughout Cornell’s history during an Oct. 25 brunch as part of the Trustee Council Alumni Meeting.

Person standing on a rocky hill, looking out over a huge, green plain
Jordan Picket, Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/Provided Benjamin Anderson, associate professor of history of art and visual studies, surveys the walls on the acropolis in Sardis, Turkey.
Archaeology

The long, deep dig: Collaboration excavates the ancient city of Sardis

Cornell Chronicle

A collaboration between Cornell and Harvard has continuously excavated the ancient city.

Book cover: Haunted by the Civil War
Provided
Literatures in English

Civil War still haunts American attitudes toward democracy

Cornell Chronicle

A new book by Shirley Samuels examines the story behind today’s divided America in literature and art created during and soon after the Civil War.

underside of a tadpole, in great detail
Jackson Phillips/Provided The Pacific tailed frog tadpole is lungless and sucker mouthed and is found in the Pacific Northwest in clear, cold mountain streams where they cling to rocks.
Ecology and evolutionary biology

Once tadpoles lose lungs, they never get them back

Cornell Chronicle

Tadpole species that lost their lungs through evolution never re-evolve them, even when environmental change would make it advantageous.

White spheres and lines float in a grey space
D koi/Unsplash
Chemistry and Chemical Biology

New view of electrocatalytic intermediates could boost hydrogen production

Cornell Chronicle

Researchers used single-molecule super-resolution reaction imaging in the study.

Judd Kessler
Provided Judd Kessler
Economics

Hidden markets unveiled in talk by Wharton economist Nov. 4

A&S Communications

Wharton economist Judd Kessler will pull back the curtain on the hidden markets that determine who gets what in everyday life.

poster with devils riding on horseback
Philosophical debate

Which discipline should survive the end of the world?

A&S Communications

Five professors from across campus will advocate that their discipline is the most important to save for the future in the annual Apocalypse Debate Nov. 6.

People reading on benches that overlook a grand view of a lake and autumnal trees
Simon Wheeler for Cornell University Reading on Libe Slope
Alumni

Your October 2025 reads

Cornellians

This month’s featured titles include short stories, a fantasy book for tweens, and a scholarly look at Carmen adaptations – all by Arts & Sciences alumni and faculty.

Lumpy, tawny, textured surface with one smooth bead embedded in it
Kelly Presutti/Provided Ferrous agglomeration with porcelain shards and a French trading bead, 1788–2003. Musée Maritime de Nouvelle-Calédonie, Nouméa, LAP.030.52
History of Art and Visual Studies

Objects from famous shipwreck tell deeper stories

A&S Communications

La Pérouse’s expedition, wrecked in 1788, was intended to rival those of British explorer Captain James Cook and to bring the French renown in scientific knowledge. Through the visual materials related to the voyage and its wreck, Kelly Presutti tells a larger story about the enterprise of empire.

three people; two in lab coats, looking at the third, who is pointing instructively
Devin Flores/Cornell University Quantera founder Terry Bates, Ph.D. ’23, explains the operation of the startup's spectrometer to undergraduate interns Nick DeMayo ’26 and Alexis Sherman ’26, both from Cornell Engineering.
Chemistry and Chemical Biology

New Cornell startup targets faster, cheaper greener testing

Cornell Chronicle

Newly admitted into the Praxis Center business incubator, Quantera aims to improve scientific sample collection.

Sanae Takaichi
Cabinet Public Relations Office, Cabinet Secretariat/Creative Commons license 4.0 Sanae Takaichi, 2025
History

Election of Japan’s first female PM isn’t a win for women, says Cornell historian

A&S Communications

Sanae Takaichi’s election may seem surprising in a country that ranked lowest among OECD nations in women’s political representation as recently as 2023, but it is not a victory for gender equality, says professor Kristin Roebuck.

cells, appearing as brightly colored dots against a black background
National Cancer Institute/Unsplash
Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Cornell team finds new way to cut cancer’s lipid lifeline

Cornell Chronicle

Researchers have uncovered molecules that can preserve crucial cellular processes while blocking malignant proteins, indicating a new approach to fighting cancer.

capitol dome with virusy colors
Government

Event considers political lessons learned from COVID

A&S Communications

A Nov. 13 event sponsored by the College of Arts & Sciences will feature reflections on the political and social context and consequences of the Covid epidemic.

Aleesha George
Graduate student research

Student spotlight: Aleesha George

Cornell University Graduate School

Aleesha George, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and chemical biology, studies the optical and electronic properties of organic and hybrid materials under the guidance of Andrew Musser at Cornell.

Three people sitting in arm chairs during an on-stage event
Jason Koski/Cornell University At a 2018 panel discussion, “Celebrating 150 Years of Ezra Cornell’s Promise.”
Alumni

Alum and former Law School dean named president of Georgetown

Cornellians

An A&S College Scholar who clerked for the U.S. Supreme Court, Eduardo Peñalver ’94 currently leads Seattle University.

small boat traveling over open water
Jorge Salvador/Unsplash A small boat off the coast of Venezuela
Government

U.S. returning to ‘familiar pattern’ of interventionism in Latin America

A&S Communications

Trump's move to cut aid to Columbia and enact tariffs is the latest in a string of escalating tensions between the U.S. and countries in Latin America, says Cornell government professor Ken Roberts.

Person standing at a small podium, smiling
Cornell University file photo Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo, M.F.A. ’10, speaks at Cornell in 2012.
Creative Writing Program

Bulawayo wins 25th anniversary Best of Caine prize

Cornell Chronicle

NoViolet Bulawayo, M.F.A. ’10, assistant professor in A&S, has won the Best of Caine Award as judges have chosen her short story, “Hitting Budapest,” as the best to have won the Caine Prize for African Writing in the award’s 25 years.

Figure eight-like shape
Jonah Botvinick-Greenhouse An example of an invariant measure for a simplified mathematical model of atmospheric convection known as the Lorenz-63 system, using the researchers’ method of time-delayed snapshots.
Mathematics

Cracking the code of chaos

A&S Communications

Using time-delay snapshots, researchers led by mathematician Yunan Yang have introduced a new way to identify the underlying dynamics of unpredictable systems, such as the atmosphere and turbulent fluids.

Person wearing PPE holding two small, colorful birds
Chris Kitchen Zhilei Zhao and parrots
Neurobiology and Behavior

Zhao wins Simons Foundation Fellows-to-Faculty award

A&S Communications

Zhao researches the neural mechanisms of parrot vocalizations in the Goldberg lab.

person smiling
Jason S. Lee Wadsworth
Alumni excellence

Cornell composer’s work featured in upcoming Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series event

A&S Communications

A new work by Cornell alum Zachary Wadsworth DMA ’12, will premiere this weekend in three concerts, including one at Cornell’s Bailey Hall.

Azahara Oliva
Provided Azahara Oliva
Neurobiology and Behavior

Neuroscientist Azahara Oliva receives Packard Fellowship

A&S Communications

The unrestricted fellowship funds enable Oliva and the 19 other fellows named this year to “test novel ideas and lead research that drives real-world impact.”

Dove perched on a wall
Government

Gaza ceasefire shouldn’t be considered a “peace deal”

A&S Communications

Uriel Abulof, a visiting professor in Cornell University’s government department, calls it “a survival pact for leaders who thrive on conflict and enmity."

Three spheres near each other, light between
Trophim Laptev/Unsplash
Physics

Using AI to learn quantum complexity

A&S Communications

Cornell physicists and computer scientists have developed a machine learning architecture inspired by the large language models (LLMs) behind ChatGPT to help them study the vastly complicated interactions that happen when nature's smallest particles interact.

person with screen behind
Nobel Laureate Jack Szostak, Ph.D. ’77, delivers the 2025 Ef Racker Lecture. Ryan Young/Cornell University
Alumni accomplishments

Nobel laureate shares research exploring the origins of life

A&S Communications

Jack Szostak, Ph.D. ’77, shared decades of research into one of biology’s most puzzling mysteries – the origins of life – during the 2025 Ef Racker Lecture.

Event poster featuring the face of a scary person, in blue
Provided
Cornell Cinema

The Phantom of the Opera: Live score by Invincible Czars

A&S Communications

This October, Cornell Cinema will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the silent movie “The Phantom of the Opera,” with live musical accompaniment by The Invincible Czars.

Two people sitting in arm chairs, conversing in front of an audience
Kate Blackwood/College of Arts and Sciences Tanenhaus conversing with Dean Peter John Loewen during “The Man Who Built a Movement: How William F. Buckley Invented Modern Conservativism" on Oct. 9
Distinguished Visiting Journalist

Master storyteller shares secrets

A&S Communications

During a week on campus, author and editor Sam Tanenhaus, told stories every step of the way and reminded his listeners that politically complex and even morally ambiguous material makes for great storytelling.

Thomas Hartman
Physics

Fuchs, Hartman elected to American Physical Society

Cornell Chronicle

Thomas Hartman is a professor in the Department of Physics in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Person in black jump suit poses in front of a crowd of excited children
Provided Heather Alexander during a school visit
Alumni

Prolific children’s author offers some halloween-season chills

Cornellians

The latest book from Heather Alexander ’89 is Haunted USA, which compiles spooky tales from all 50 states.

Microphone up close
Kane Reinholdtsen/Unsplash
International politics

Hot-mic moment with President window into ‘transactional foreign policy’

A&S Communications

Trump has turned U.S. foreign policy into a tool for petty corruption and insider deal-making instead of supporting U.S. national interests, says a Cornell government faculty member.

City under a sky with clouds
Brent Ninaber/Unsplash Antananarivo, Madagascar
International politics

African Union must condemn Madagascar coup, says Cornell expert

A&S Communications

Olúfémi Táíwò, professor of Africana studies at Cornell University, said the move is another coup d’etat that Madagascar, and the African continent, does not need.

Claudia Goldin '67
Ryan Young/Cornell University Claudia Goldin '67
Economics

Nobelist explores women’s role in the workplace—and lives it

Cornellians

Economist and Harvard professor Claudia Goldin ’67 studied under eminent Big Red faculty members Alfred Kahn and Walter LaFeber

violinist James Ehnes
Ben Ealovega Violinist James Ehnes
Music

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra to perform with violinist James Ehnes Oct. 26

A&S Communications

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra with violin soloist James Ehnes will perform a program entitled “Postcards from Paris” in the next Dallas Morse Coors Concert Series (DMCCS) production of the 2025-26 season.

Debra Castillo
In Memoriam

Remembering Prof. Debra Castillo, champion of Latinx students, community

A&S Communications

Professor Debra Castillo, Stephen H. Weiss presidential fellow and Emerson Hinchliff professor of Hispanic Studies in the College of Arts & Sciences, died Oct. 5 at the age of 72.

Ancient stone building near modern buildings in Athens, Greece
David Fucsku/Unsplash The ancient Agora of Athens, Greece
Government

Public speeches challenged assumptions in ancient Greece

Cornell Chronicle

In a new paper, Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow Davide Napoli argues that public speeches in ancient Greece aimed not to express personal views, but to undermine entrenched ideas and challenge common-sense conclusions.

An artist's rendition of an atom in the sky next to McGraw Tower on Cornell's campus.
Physics

Brad Ramshaw named Experimental Physics Investigator

Cornell Chronicle

The recognition goes to researchers pushing the boundaries of experimental physics.

Gold bars
Jingming Pan/Unsplash
Economics

Gold surge does not pose a threat to the US dollar

A&S Communications

“It would be virtually impossible for Gold to take on the multifaceted role of the USD in international trade and finance."

mosque spire rises in fog over a war-damaged street
Tomer Texler/Unsplash
History

Gaza ceasefire is a resounding policy victory for Trump

A&S Communications

The president's leadership was a key factor in getting the deal done, says professor emeritus Barry Strauss.