Cornell e-News -- September 2008

September 2008

Andrew and Ann Tisch receive applause during a reception honoring their gift to Cornell

Andrew and Ann Tisch give $35M for faculty recruitment and retention

Cornell trustee Andrew H. Tisch '71 and wife Ann are giving Cornell $35 million to establish the Tisch University Professorships, allowing the university to honor -- and retain -- current faculty members and recruit the most talented young scholars and researchers from around the world. President David Skorton announced the gift Sept. 26 at a reception at the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

Skorton issues statement on Cornell's economic health

Assuring the Cornell community that the university is financially sound, President David Skorton sent an e-mail Sept. 26 to faculty and staff addressing the instability in the financial markets, the effect of Washington's bailout measures on research funding, and Cornell's endowment and investments. On Sept. 29 Skorton also addressed the issue of hate speech on campus in a column in The Cornell Daily Sun.

ALSO IN THIS ISSUE:

CAMPUS:
Harris interview ... Olin renovation ... Dean Alonso retirement ...
New York nano ... Green campus ... Magazine debut ... Rankings

PEOPLE:
Fulton fiction ... Alumni 'geniuses' ... Bell's varied interests ...
State Department honor ... Retirement symposium ...
Remembering Ned Harkness; Robert Elias; Lucille Wright

RESEARCH:
Rover's odyssey ... Your brain on drugs ... Spoofing GPS devices ...
Integrity boosts business ... World's thinnest balloon ...
Synthetic trees ... Pinpointing geographic origins using DNA

OUTREACH:
N.Y. Farm Day in D.C. ... Expanding Horizons ... Whale watch ...
HIV/AIDs in Africa ... Inequality in education ... Water in Greece

FAR ABOVE ... A CAMPAIGN UPDATE:
Flora Rose House ... Keeton event ... Susan Murphy fellowship ...
Stewart gift ... Altschuler honored ... Annual Fund success

ALUMNI NEWS & EVENTS:
Tailgate at Lehigh ... Big Red Band in Boston ... Zinck's Night ...
Skorton in Seattle ... Squyres coast to coast ... Mosaic@NYC

CORNELL LINKS:
Quick links to Cornell resources

ALUMNI NEWS & EVENTS:

All-alumni pregame tailgate at Lehigh
Cheer on the Big Red as it takes on the Lehigh Mountain Hawks, Saturday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. in Bethlehem, Pa. Preregister for BBQ lunch; Cornell goodies for attendees. Space is limited. Game tickets are available from Lehigh at 610-758-4263. Tailgate registration and information is available online or contact Mindy Hillenbrand at mjh224@cornell.edu.

Big Red Marching Band in Boston
The red coats are coming! Join us in historic Quincy Market on Friday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. to hear the cheer and excitement of the Big Red Marching Band. Contact Shane Dunn '07 at sdunn321@gmail.com for more information.

International Spirit of Zinck's Night
Cornell students and alumni observe the annual Spirit of Zinck's Night in more than 90 locations around the world. You may be thousands of miles from Cornell, but on Thursday, Oct. 16, you can feel just steps away from the Hill by attending the Spirit of Zinck's event nearest you.

CEN Seattle presents President David J. Skorton
Join us in Seattle Thursday, Oct. 23, at 7 p.m. for a conversation with President Skorton and presentations on highly successful marketing strategies by Randy J. Tinseth '81 of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and Ronald D. McCray '79 of Nike Inc. To learn more, see the CEN Web site or contact Shannon Murray at shannon.murray@cornell.edu or 650-755-9711.

Steven Squyres in San Jose, Calif., and Washington, D.C.
Steven W. Squyres, principal investigator for NASA on the successful Mars Exploration Rover project and Cornell's Goldwin Smith Professor of Astronomy, will discuss the mission and how it has shaped our understanding of the red planet. San Jose, Wednesday, Nov. 5, Tech Museum of Innovation; and Washington, D.C., Thursday, Nov. 20, Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. San Jose event site; D.C. event site.

Cornell Mosaic@New York City
On Nov. 14, Cornell Mosaic invites the Cornell community to a discussion of the historic presidential election: "Obama vs. McCain: 'And the winner is ...'" Michael Jones-Correa, professor of government, will give the keynote; Sheryl Tucker '78, executive editor, Time Inc., will moderate a faculty/alumni panel. Interim Provost David Harris will provide a diversity update. Learn more and reserve seating.

CORNELL LINKS:

Rhodes Professorship nominations are due Oct. 15:
http://rhodesprofessors.cornell.edu/nominations.html

Far Above ... The Campaign for Cornell: http://www.campaign.cornell.edu/
Cornell alumni: http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/
Alumni events calendar: http://aadserv5.aad.cornell.edu/world/cal/external/default.cfm
Get involved: http://www.alumni.cornell.edu/volunteer.cfm

Cornell Alumni Magazine: http://cornellalumnimagazine.com/
In the September/October 2008 issue of Cornell Alumni Magazine, former Daily Sun editor Farhad Manjoo '00 laments the demise of factual certainty in his essay "... And Nothing But the Truth."

Cornell home page: http://www.cornell.edu/
Search Cornell: http://www.cornell.edu/search/
Campus Events Calendar: http://www.cornell.edu/events/
CornellCast videos: http://www.cornell.edu/video/

Chronicle Online: http://www.news.cornell.edu/
Get Cornell news by RSS: http://www.news.cornell.edu/RSS/RSS.shtml

Big Red sports: http://cornellbigred.com/
CyberTower: http://cybertower.cornell.edu/
Cornell Adult University: https://www.sce.cornell.edu/cau/
The Cornell Store: http://www.store.cornell.edu

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