Faculty and Research
Faculty
Cornell’s nearly 1800 graduate faculty represent the nation’s finest researchers, scholars, and teachers. (Source: Graduate School)
Faculty Distinctions
Cornell counts 52 Nobel laureates with faculty or alumni affiliation over the years, and each year our faculty receive numerous prestigious awards. Recent faculty distinctions include:
- 224 current and emeritus faculty memberships in select scholarly societies
- 19 career development and young investigator awards won by young faculty (as of 2010)
- Eight faculty have been recipients of the President’s National Medal of Science
- One faculty finalist for the National Book Award in 2024
- Two Cornellians awarded MacArthur “Genius” Fellowships in 2024
Sources: Cornell Chronicle, OVPRI, NSF, Department of Philosophy, Cornellians
Research and Scholarship
With $1.18 billion in research and development expenditures (as of 2022), one of the 10 largest academic research libraries, top ranked graduate fields, and some of the best facilities in academia, Cornell University is consistently ranked as one of the most comprehensive universities in the world.
Cornell has more than 100 interdisciplinary research centers, institutes, laboratories, and programs where research is conducted on everything from nano-particles to labor migration in Nepal. The Graduate Linkage program links graduate students at Cornell University’s Ithaca campus with Weill Cornell Medicine and its Graduate School of Medical Sciences.
Graduate education receives strong financial support with nearly $50 million in tuition, stipend, and organized research expenditures as of 2010. Cornell was ranked first among the nation’s academic institutions in National Science Foundation research funding as of 2010. (Source: OVPRI)
Research Highlights
- Cornell scientists are building and testing a prototype of a linear accelerator-driven, ultrabright x-ray source – the Energy Recovery Linac (ERL) – an essential tool for investigating all types of materials, physical phenomena, biological molecules, and chemical processes.
- With its legacy of leadership in nanoscience and nanotechnology, Cornell is a global force in nanofabrication capabilities, particularly featuring advanced electron beam and optical lithography and expertise in complex process integration.
- With a long tradition of research leadership in genetics and genomics, Cornell is a nationally recognized institution for implementing and utilizing the latest sequencing technologies as shared resources. More than 1,000 researchers use Cornell’s sequencing capabilities annually for genomics research.
- A Cornell lead science team created two of the world’s most famous robots – Spirit and Opportunity – which have been exploring Mars since January 2004.
- Cornell faculty scholarship in literary theory is among the most highly regarded in the field.
- Cornell biophysicists invented multiphoton microscopy, a widely-used technology that is allowing researchers to image fluorescent markers deep inside tissue, “seeing” what takes place inside living cells.
- Cornell University annually ranks among the top 10 research universities in innovation and patents issued. (OVPRI Statistical Supplement)