CURRENT ISSUE | SUBSCRIBE | ADVERTISE | WRITE TO US | CORNELL AUTHORS | PAST ISSUES

Spanning the Globe  NEW PARTNERSHIPS WITH CHINA, SINGAPORE

IN NOVEMBER PRESIDENT JEFFREY Lehman '77 led a Cornell delegation to China, where he signed agreements to establish programs in collaboration with Tsinghua University and Peking University. Tsing-hua, one of the leading technical universities in China, will exchange faculty and students with the College of Engineering. There will also be joint faculty working groups that will meet twice a year for workshops, focusing on such subjects as nanotechnology, materials research, information science, and environmental engineering. The agreement with Peking University establishes a new undergraduate major in China and Asia-Pacific Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Cornell students who choose this major will receive rigorous Chinese language training and spend a semester at Peking University. It will first be offered in the Fall 2005 semester.

Before leaving for China, Lehman met in Ithaca with Dr. Su Guaning, president of Nanyang Technological University, and they signed an agreement to establish a joint master's program in hospitality management. Students in the twelvemonth program will split their time between the School of Hotel Administration in Ithaca and the Nanyang campus in Singapore. "This program fits well with our strategy to increase our presence on a global scale," said Hotel dean David Butler. "Working together, we will build a curriculum that gives students a unique education and prepares them for leadership positions in the rapidly growing Asian hospitality industry."

Renewing Cornell  LEHMAN LOOKS AHEAD

"OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT DECADE, LET US RENEW our beloved Cornell," said President Lehman as he concluded his State of the University address on Trustee-Council Weekend. "Let us ensure that its faculty, its staff, its programs, and its students together constitute a university worthy of our students' love. And let us renew our revolutionary Cornell. Let us ensure that the intellectual breadth and depth of our university is brought to bear on the fundamental challenges of our time: Life.Wisdom. Sustainability."

Lehman's speech was delivered on October 29 in Alice Statler Auditorium before the Board of Trustees, the University Council, and other members of the Cornell community. In it, he reprised the themes of "beloved Cornell" and "revolutionary Cornell" that he had articulated in his inaugural address and laid out a plan for the University as it moves toward its sesquicentennial in 2015.

Revitalizing beloved Cornell, Lehman said, means that the University must prepare its students for "lives of contribution and meaning." To do this, it must have an extraordinary faculty and provide that faculty with the resources it needs. The students must be "a diverse and actively integrated community of talent," chosen from countries around the world and supported by a financial aid system that eases the burden on lower- and middleincome families. Cornell must also be an "ever more transnational university," not only as expressed by satellite campuses like the one in Qatar but through more partnerships, such as the agreements recently forged with Tsinghua University and Peking University in China.

To remain revolutionary, Cornell must address three great challenges facing humanity. The first, Lehman said, is "life in the age of the genome," which encompasses not only the Life Sciences Initiative but a wide-ranging complement of related issues that must be investigated by the humanities and social sciences. The second is "wisdom in the age of digital information." To meet this challenge, Cornell must add faculty in computing and information science, as well as in "the welter of disciplines" needed to evaluate information in the pursuit of wisdom. The University will also need a new facility to carry out research in this area. The final challenge is "sustainability in the age of development," which will involve a wide range of research in environmental science and related fields, as well as new structures of collaboration for integrating and disseminating information.

"For each of these challenges," Lehman said, "I have asked Provost Biddy Martin to work with deans and faculty members to develop a long-range strategic plan. Each of these plans will structure the support and integration of our many existing efforts. Each will identify aspects that need further development. And each will consider how we can best ensure that Cornell's contributions are uniquely significant and meaningful."

Hadley, Bodman Step Up  BUSH TAPS ALUMNI

AFTER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH CHOSE CONDOLEEZZA RICE to be his new secretary of state, he tapped Stephen Hadley '69 to take her place as national security advisor (NSA).Hadley, deputy NSA since 2001, has served in a variety of defense and national security positions since the 1970s and was the senior foreign and defense policy adviser to Bush during his 2000 presidential campaign. Hadley earned a BA in government on the Hill and was a member of Phi Kappa Psi, Quill and Dagger, and the Glee Club.

Bush also appointed chemical industry executive and former treasury department deputy Samuel Bodman '61 as his new energy secretary. Bodman, a chemical engineering major at Cornell, taught at MIT and spent seventeen years at Fidelity Investments, the mutual fund giant.

Top Workplace  SCIENTISTS ACCLAIM CU

IN A SURVEY CONDUCTED BY THE EDITORS OF THE Scientist, Cornell was ranked fifth in the nation as a place to carry on academic work. Life scientists at the University praised the research facilities and supportive atmosphere provided by Cornell and their colleagues. The poll ranked sixty-six institutions; the California Institute of Technology placed first.

Fantasic Four  UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS

Fantastic four: University presidents eight through eleven celebrated President Emeritus Dale Corson's induction into the Cornell Center for Materials Research's Hall of Fame on December 1.With Corson (second from left) are President Jeffrey Lehman, President Emeritus Frank H.T. Rhodes, and President Emeritus Hunter Rawlings.

Return to top of page