Cornell is among the most selective universities in the country, and counts affiliations with twenty-seven Nobel laureates and other distinguished members of its faculty. Cornell was the first major eastern institution to admit women along with men; the first women enrolled in 1872. It awarded the university degree in veterinary medicine, taught the first course in American history, formed the first university publishing company, and is a pioneer in many other areas.
The university has seven undergraduate and seven graduate level academic units, as well as three intercollege divisions, the School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions, and the Cornell University Library. Cornell's main campus is situated on 745 rolling acres overlooking Cayuga Lake, largest of the Finger Lakes, and the central portion is bounded to its north and south by spectacular limestone gorges and waterfalls.
Two units, the Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences are located at the New York City campus. In addition, the university operates a medical school campus in Qatar, the New York Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the Shoals Marine Laboratory off the coast of Maine, the New York State Cooperative Extension system, and several other teaching or research facilities around the world.
The university's 13,700 undergraduates and 6,500 graduate and professional students come from more than a hundred countries and all fifty states. Cornell offers graduate degrees in approximately 100 academic and professional fields. Cornell's professional offerings include schools of law, management (business), medicine, and veterinary medicine.
The school colors are carnelian red and white, a play on "Cornellian" and Andrew Dickson White. Cornell's mascot is the bear, but its sports teams are all nicknamed "Big Red". They participate in the Ivy League and the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
Academic Units
Undergraduate Colleges and Schools
Cornell has four private, or "endowed" undergraduate schools, as well as three "statutory" units which are part of the State University of New York system.
Other units
See also : CORC, Cornell Theory Center
Former professors include Carl Sagan, Norman Malcolm, Vladimir Nabokov, Hans Bethe, Clinton Rossiter, Richard Feynman, and Allan Bloom.
Central campus is bounded to its north and south by spectacular limestone gorges and waterfalls. Dormitories, fraternity and sorority houses, and student centers are located on North Campus, north of Fall Creek Gorge, and on West Campus, at the bottom of the Library Slope ("Libe Slope") down which students like to sled after snowfalls. East of the main campus lie the Cornell Plantations, approximately 3,600 acres encompassing an arboretum and botanical gardens as well as natural woodlands, trails, streams, and gorges. South of Cascadilla Gorge lies the student-oriented Collegetown business district.
The first building, Morrill Hall, was erected in 1868. Cornell's signature landmark is the Jennie McGraw Clock Tower which rises 173 feet and 161 steps from the ground. Constructed in 1891 atop Uris Library, it features 21 bells on which the Cornell Chimes play daily concerts.
Contrasting with the Gothic, Victorian, and Neo-Classical buildings on the Arts Quad is the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, designed by I. M. Pei. Other notable buildings Willard Straight Hall, one of the earliest student unions, Martha Van Rensselaer Hall, the largest academic building in the eastern United States, and the Statler Hotel, a full-service hotel operated entirely by students of the Hotel School.
The Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, located in Doha, is housed in a large two-story structure designed by Arata Isozaki.
The Shoals Marine Laboratory, a seasonal marine field station dedicated to undergraduate education and research operated in conjunction with the University of New Hampshire, is located on the 95-acre Appledore Island off the Maine–New Hampshire coast.
The Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, site of the world's largest radio telescope, is operated by Cornell.
Cornell University maintains facilities in Washington, DC and New York City for its Cornell in Washington, Urban Semester, and Urban Scholars Programs.
Other facilities include
Faculty
Cornell University has 1,550 full-time and part-time academic faculty members, and an additional 1500 affiliated with its medical divisions. The 2002-03 Cornell faculty included 4 Nobel laureates, a Crafoord Prize winner, a Legion of Honor recipient, a World Food Prize winner, 4 National Medal of Science winners, a Wolf Prize winner, 4 MacArthur award winners, 3 Pulitzer Prize winners, 6 winners of Alexander von Humboldt Awards, 5 Presidential Early Career Award holders, 25 National Science Foundation CAREER grant holders, a recipient of the National Academy of Sciences Award for Initiatives in Research, a recipient of the American Mathematical Society's Steele Prize for Lifetime Achievement, a recipient of the Heineman Prize for Mathematical Physics, an Office of Naval Research Young Investigator award holder, 3 Packard Foundation grant holders, a Searle Scholar, a Keck Distinguished Young Scholar, and a NYSTAR (New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research) early career award winner.The Campus
Main Campus
Cornell's main campus is located in Ithaca, New York; Day Hall, the administration building, is located on East Avenue. The campus itself is situated on 745 rolling acres on East Hill, overlooking Cayuga Lake and downtown Ithaca two miles to the west. The 260 or so major buildings are mostly divided into quads for the Arts, Engineering, and Agriculture, a science lab complex, and the athletic complex.New York City Campus
The New York Weill Cornell Medical Center is located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It is home to the Weill Cornell Medical College and Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, which are also affiliated with New York-Presbyterian Hospital, Sloan-Kettering Institute, and the Columbia University Medical Center.Other campuses
The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, operated by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, is located in Geneva, New York, 50 miles northwest of the main campus. The facility now comprises 20 major buildings on 130 acres of land, as well as over 700 acres of test plots and other lands devoted to horticultural research. It also operates three substations, Vineyard Research Laboratory in Fredonia, Hudson Valley Laboratory in Highland and the Long Island Horticultural Research Laboratory in Riverhead.Famous Alumni
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