Cornell University

Cornell University is a private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson White in 1865. Since its founding, Cornell University has been a co-educational and nonsectarian institution. As of fall 2024, the student body included 16,128 undergraduate and 10,665 graduate students from all 50 U.S. states and 130 countries.

The university is organized into eight undergraduate colleges and seven graduate divisions on its main Ithaca campus. Each college and academic division has near autonomy in defining its respective admission standards and academic curriculum. In addition to its primary campus in Ithaca, Cornell University administers three satellite campuses, including two in New York City, the medical school and Cornell Tech, and a branch of the medical school in Al Rayyan, Qatar's Education City.

Cornell is one of three private land-grant universities in the United States. Among the university's eight undergraduate colleges, four are state-supported statutory or contract colleges partly financed through the State University of New York, including the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Human Ecology, the Industrial and Labor Relations School, and the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy. Among Cornell's graduate schools, only the Veterinary Medicine College is supported by New York. The main campus of Cornell University in Ithaca spans 745 acres (301 ha).

As of October 2024,^[update] 64 Nobel laureates, 4 Turing Award winners, and 1 Fields Medalist have been affiliated with Cornell University. The institution counts more than 250,000 living alumni, which include 34 Marshall Scholars, 33 Rhodes Scholars, 29 Truman Scholars, 63 Olympic medalists, 10 current Fortune 500 CEOs, and 35 billionaires.

Cornell University was founded on April 27, 1865, by Ezra Cornell, an entrepreneur and New York State senator, and Andrew Dickson White, an educator and fellow state senator. The university was established as New York's land-grant institution following authorization by the New York State Legislature. Ezra Cornell provided his farm in Ithaca, New York, as the initial campus site and contributed $500,000 as an initial endowment (equivalent to $12,769,000 in 2024). White agreed to serve as the university's first president.

White oversaw the university's early development, including construction of its first two buildings, and traveled to recruit students and faculty. The university was formally inaugurated on October 7, 1868, with 412 male students enrolling the following day.

Cornell developed as a technologically innovative institution, incorporating academic research into campus infrastructure and outreach. In 1883, it became one of the first electrified universities, employing a water-powered dynamo to light parts of the campus. Since 1894, the university has incorporated state-funded colleges that fulfill statutory requirements, and it administers research and extension programs jointly funded by New York State and the U.S. federal government. In 1872, Cornell became one of the first U.S. universities to allow alumni-elected trustees on its board.

During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Cornell was home to literary societies that promoted writing, reading, and oratory. The U.S. Bureau of Education classified several of these societies as following the traditions of literary organizations at Eastern universities.