Cornell Report Summer 2017
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Wanderings of The Rock
In 1889 a 5,000-pound boulder, hauled six miles on a horse-drawn wagon from The Pal by members of the senior class, came to rest in front of South Hall. The seniors carved their class year into the granite and left with satisfaction at the permanence of their self-tribute. They had created one of Cornell’s oldest […]
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Cornell’s first Chinese graduate
Cornell’s first Chinese student was Ruby Sia of Foochow (now Fuzhou), who graduated in 1910. When Sia arrived at Cornell College around 1900, it was a very different school from today. Cornell’s affiliation with the Methodist Church was much closer than today. Sia came to campus because of that religious affiliation. It was also why […]
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Renovations done right
As anyone who pays utility bills knows, the cost of heating and cooling is continually going up. Figuring out how to use less energy has become an important strategy for homeowners and institutions alike. In fact, energy savings is one of the two chief goals for Cornell College’s Facilities Services. Whatever we do, we come […]
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Eric Dewey ’84
United Way executive Eric Dewey ’84 died March 31 in Nashville, Tennessee, at age 54. He was chief executive officer of United Way of Metropolitan Nashville. A native of Pontiac, Michigan, he majored in political science at Cornell. Prior to accepting the CEO position in Nashville in 2008, Dewey served in leadership roles for United […]
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Kenneth Toepfer ’51
Educator Kenneth Toepfer ’51 died March 19 in State College, Pennsylvania, at age 88. He was provost emeritus of Teacher’s College at Columbia University in New York City. A native of Charles City, Iowa, and the first in his family to attend college, he was Phi Beta Kappa at Cornell. After earning his bachelor’s degree […]
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Robert Rowland ’47
Biophysicist Robert Rowland ’47 died March 19 in Chicago, Illinois, at age 94. He spent most of his career as a scientist, researcher, and administrator at Argonne National Laboratory. He retired in 1983 as director for biomedical and environmental research. After graduating from Cornell, he earned a master of science degree in physics from the […]
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P. Roger Gillette ’37
Physicist and engineer P. Roger Gillette ’37 died on March 2 at age 99 in Salem, Oregon. He grew up in Mount Vernon, the son of Cornell College instructor C. Edgar Gillette and Celia Rodgers Gillette 1917. After receiving his doctorate in physics from the University of Illinois, he conducted classified military research at the […]
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A life immersed in music
Rita Fandrich ’66 began her Cornell education years before she actually arrived in Mount Vernon. At age 12 she had the rare opportunity to study with Helen Venn, who after 29 years as professor of piano at Cornell, retired and moved home to the small Ohio community of North Bloomfield where Fandrich lived. She recalls […]
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For Davy, block plan started it all
When Kyle Davy ’11 talks about his Cornell experience, it all comes down to the block plan. “I attribute many of my successes to the opportunities One Course At A Time gave me,” he says. Davy is the chief revenue officer for the Iowa Energy professional basketball team in Des Moines, Iowa. He took […]
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From refugee camp to biotech with a stop on the Hilltop
The story of Alice Nguyen ’80 begins in Vietnam, winds its way through a refugee camp and the Cornell campus, to her current position as associate director for quality control at a California-based biotechnology company. She was born in what was then North Vietnam and moved to the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon when she […]
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3 longtime faculty retire
Craig Allin, Lyle Lichty, and Rob Sutherland became emeritus professors at the end of the 2016-17 academic year. In their combined 94 years of service, Allin and Sutherland have taught well over half of all politics courses ever offered at Cornell, leaving a deep stamp on the department. Lichty’s service adds an additional 28 years […]
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Up next: Reimagining the core curriculum
Cornell College’s curriculum continues to evolve to stay abreast of changes in society and in the job market. Its efforts recently got a boost with a $50,000 planning grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to innovate and reform the general education curriculum. The planning is closely integrated with the college’s strategic plan to reimagine […]
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Cornell was ready for the Great War
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the United States’ entry into World War I. Cornell prepared for the Great War with the formation of a Student Army Training Corps on Oct. 1, 1918. In charge was U.S. Army Captain W.L. Tooze, who arrived from his previous post at Corvallis, Oregon. He found there were […]
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Cornell Confusion
William W. Cornell (Cornell College’s namesake) and Ezra Cornell (Cornell University’s namesake) were distant cousins. You might say that William had bragging rights over his cousin because Cornell College was founded in Mount Vernon, Iowa, 12 years before Cornell University was founded in Ithaca, New York. Cornell alumni are not surprised when people assume they […]
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Russell Science Center becoming a reality
Wearing lab coats and goggles, supporters “broke” ground at the festive groundbreaking ceremony in May for the Russell Science Center, the first new, freestanding, academic building on the Hilltop in more than 40 years. The actual site behind them was already fully excavated with cranes poised to begin construction. Over the next few weeks crews […]
Wanderings of The Rock 
Cornell’s first Chinese graduate 
Renovations done right 
Eric Dewey ’84 
Kenneth Toepfer ’51 
Robert Rowland ’47 
P. Roger Gillette ’37 
A life immersed in music 
For Davy, block plan started it all 
From refugee camp to biotech with a stop on the Hilltop 
3 longtime faculty retire 
Up next: Reimagining the core curriculum 
Cornell was ready for the Great War 
Cornell Confusion 
Russell Science Center becoming a reality