Cornell's bio med facility. (Credit/The Journal)  Duffield Hall» Learn more about Cornell's new NanoScale Science and Technology Facility and the Nanobiotechnology Center

Ezra Cornell probably couldn't have imagined the university that now bears his name: a $300 million-plus per year research institution with students from all over the world and a reputation that spreads just as far; a $2-billion-plus endowment; and a sprawling campus that accommodates upwards of 25,000 people--students, faculty and employees--each day.

Cornell was a tireless jack-of-all-trades whose career of unsuccessful enterprises was abruptly transformed when the scattered telegraph lines he had built were consolidated to form Western Union. Cornell became a wealthy man and a political force in New York state. As a state senator when Congress adopted the Morrill Land Grant, Cornell wanted to create a new university that would provide training in the practical arts and sciences for laboring-class sons and daughters.

Cornell's Senate counterpart, Andrew Dickson White, also wanted a new university. But White, a cosmopolitan gentleman and scholar, envisioned a vigorous and progressive intellectual education.

The pair initially opposed each other as the Legislature sought the best use for the state's share of the federal land provided by the Morrill Act. Later, they were able to merge their ideas.

Cornell pledged his Ithaca farm for a campus and $500,000 for an endowment if the Legislature would commit the proceeds of the land grant to the new university.By an act of the state Legislature, the university was created as an institution endowed with both public and private funds. It received its charter in 1865 and opened its doors in 1868, making it the youngest of the Ivy League institutions. White was the university's first president.

With its nine privately endowed and four state-supported units, Cornell is the largest of the Ivies and boasts programs in just about every academic field, from agricultural economics and architecture to hotel administration and veterinary medicine. In addition to the Ithaca campus, the university's Medical College is located in New York City. The university has more than 195,000 alumni around the world.

Cornell facts

The Dean of Students serves as the primary contact for students in their pursuit of the many and varied student activities on campus. The Office of the Dean of Students (DOS) falls under the Division of Student and Academic Services and is comprised of five program units: Fraternity and Sorority Affairs, New Student Programs and Peer Support, Student Activities office, Willard Straight Hall and Cornell United Religious Work. Questions can be sent to: dean of students-mailbox@cornell.edu. Other items on the Dean of Students Web site include Student Resources and Calendar of Events.

Cornell has title to about 420 active patents, with research yielding such products as the canine parvovirus vaccine, an ultrasonic device used to treat glaucoma, a "gene gun" used in biotechnology and an artificial test-animal system.

Twenty-seven Nobel laureates have been affiliated with Cornell as faculty members or students.

Cornell University Press was the first university publishing enterprise in the United States and is one of the largest university presses in the country.

• Enrollment: 13,442 undergraduates, 5,207 graduate/professional students.
• Tuition: Endowed colleges, undergraduate: $23,760; statutory colleges, undergraduate in-state resident: $10,418 and out-of-state resident: $19,988.
• President: Hunter R. Rawlings III.
• Campus: 745 acres, including 260 buildings, in the City and Town of Ithaca and the Village of Cayuga Heights.
• Faculty: 1,539 full- and part-time in Ithaca.
• Staff: 6,696.
• Degrees conferred, 1998-99, Ithaca and Medical campuses: more than 6,100.
• Fraternities and sororities: 20.
• Information: Phone 255-2000 or visit Cornell's Web site www.info.cornell.edu

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