Applications are now being accepted for the third cohort of the Klarman Postdoctoral Fellowships program in the College of Arts and Sciences. The deadline for submission is Oct. 15.
The three-year fellowships are available to early-career scholars conducting leading-edge research in any of the College’s discipline areas. Among the most selective and best-supported of its kind in the…
The National Science Foundation has awarded a nearly $2 million collaborative research grant to principal investigators from Cornell, the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and the University of Maine to assess the effectiveness of open educational resources in teaching core biology concepts, facilitating student-centered learning and supporting diversity, equity and inclusion.
Funding for the…
Cornell researchers have identified a new way to measure DNA torsional stiffness – how much resistance the helix offers when twisted – information that can potentially shed light on how cells work.
Understanding DNA is critically important: It stores the information that drives how cells work and is increasingly being used in nano- and biotechnology applications. One key question for DNA…
Johns Hopkins/APL
Artist's impression of Dragonfly in flight over Titan.
Among our solar system’s many moons, Saturn’s Titan stands out – it’s the only moon with a substantial atmosphere and liquid on the surface. It even has a weather system like Earth’s, though it rains methane instead of water. Might it also host some kind of life?
NASA’s Dragonfly mission, which will send a rotorcraft relocatable lander to Titan’s surface in the mid-2030s, will be the…
Saul Teukolsky, the Hans A. Bethe Professor of Physics and Astrophysics in the College of Arts and Sciences, has been awarded the International Centre for Theoretical Physics’ 2021 ICTP Dirac Medal and Prize for his contributions to the detection of gravitational waves.
Teukolsky is the first Cornell faculty member to receive the medal, which is named for the renowned English physicist P.A.M…
Please note that additional awards are forthcoming and will be added as they are finalized.
DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY
The Freedman Award for Undergraduate Research in Anthropology recipient is David Ni.
DEPARTMENT OF ASIAN STUDIES
The Asian Studies Summer Study, Research, and Service Travel Grants went to Sabrina Raichoudhury (Korea) and Elanor Chang (Taiwan).
The Robert J. Smith…
Davis lab/provided
This composite image shows where the selenium atoms reside in the crystal of niobium diselenide, a transition metal dichalcogenide, using conventional scanned tunneling microscopy (left, in grey) and where the electron pairs are observed using scanned Josephson tunneling microscopy (right, in blue).
In 2016, physicist J.C. Séamus Davis discovered an elusive state of quantum matter in the cuprates, which are copper oxide materials laced with other atoms. That launched a new sub-field in the study of quantum materials.
But whether this was a unique phenomenon in the cuprates or a universal and important property of nature remained unknown – until now.
Using an improved version of…
Ph.D. student Ekaterina Landgren has received a 2021 Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship. The program, open to students worldwide, recognizes up to 35 women annually pursuing doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering and space sciences. It seeks to expand the number of women in the aerospace industry to reach gender equity.
Landgren has created an interdisciplinary Ph.D. program that spans…
CCAT Observatory, Inc.
Mod-Cam receiver for the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope.
More than a hundred people gathered virtually at the end of April for the 2021 annual conference on the CCAT-prime project, which is building the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) in Chile. Despite pandemic challenges, telescope planning, development and construction continues, with “first light” now scheduled for 2023.
FYST, a powerful, 6-meter-diameter telescope currently being…
The College of Arts & Sciences recognizes excellence in teaching and advising at the end of each academic year; this year’s award winners include Samantha Sheppard, recipient of the 2021 Robert and Helen Appel Fellowship for Humanists and Social Scientists; and Jun “Kelly” Liu and Phillip Milner, recipients of the 2021 Robert A. and Donna B. Paul Academic Advising Award.
“During this…
The stark economic realities and inequalities in the United States have been laid bare by the uneven impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Great financial gains for some, stand in contrast to the financial losses that have fallen heaviest on those who can least afford them, spotlighting the impact of racism on federal, state and local economic policies and outcomes.
In the final webinar…
JPL/ NASA
An illustration depicting Mars Helicopter Ingenuity during a test flight on Mars
The first helicopter ever to fly on another planet will soon attempt its first trip above the surface of Mars. Carried under the belly of the Perseverance rover, the helicopter, a drone-like device named "Ingenuity," will test the feasibility of Mars flight. This is a difficult challenge compared with flight on Earth, because the Martian atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth’s at the surface.
…
As the polarization in the U.S. grows ever deeper, a hot debate rages over whether the media are helping or worsening the divide. In “Transcending the Echo Chamber: Polarization and the Media,” distinguished alumni and Cornell faculty will explore the media’s role and what can be done.
The panel, on April 19, 7 p.m. in Rhodes-Rawling Auditorium in Klarman Hall, is free and the public is…
Ray Jayawardhana, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences, has announced transitions in the College’s senior leadership team that will take place on July 1.
After three-and-half years, Andy Bass will complete his term as Senior Associate Dean for Math and Science.
“We have benefited tremendously from his depth of understanding of science labs and centers across the university from his…
Roald Hoffmann received a Nobel Prize in 1981 for chemistry, but he’s been writing poetry since the 1970s and is as likely to be wrestling with lyrical verses as thinking about molecules. His fifth book of poetry, “Constants in Motion,” was recently published by Dos Madres Press.
The poems in Hoffmann’s latest work interweave Hoffmann’s scientific perspective with his poetic sensibility, often…
“Memmius thinks he’s such a towering figure that when he comes into the Forum, he has to duck under the Fabian arch,” quipped Cicero, a pointed joke that still works more than 2,000 years later.
Michael Fontaine’s lively new translation of Cicero’s ancient text on humor, “How to Tell a Joke: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Humor,” amuses as well as instructs – as Cicero, called by his enemies …
The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the dire consequences of inequities in America’s health care. According to the COVID Tracking Project, African Americans die from COVID-19 at rates more than 1.5 times their share of the population, while Hispanics, Latinos, Native American and Alaskan Natives share of death and sickness is disproportionate to their population in the majority of states with…
A team of Canadian researchers led by University of Waterloo professor Michel Fich have been awarded $4.9 million in funding from the Canada Foundation for Innovation to help build a next generation telescope, the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST). Located in Chile, the FYST will give astronomers insight into how the stars and galaxies in our universe formed, with an innovative wide-field…
Richard Newell Boyd, the Susan Linn Sage Professor of Philosophy and Humane Letters Emeritus, died in his sleep in Cleveland, Ohio on Feb. 20. He was 78.
“Dick’s mind was powerful and his engagement with philosophy was nonstop. In discussion he combined greater penetration, quickness and fluency, along with breadth of knowledge and interests, than anyone else I’ve ever encountered,” said…
Worldwide protests against police brutality, an armed attack on the Capitol, protests in Europe and the U.S. against COVID restrictions– 2020 and 2021 stand out as years when those on the left and the right turned to both peaceful and armed protests to change the directions governments were headed. Structural racism and racial inequality were at the heart of much of these protests.
In…
A smart prey animal knows to avoid a predatory snake armed with deadly venom. But new research suggests that for some cobras, the venom evolved additional complexity to deter potential enemies– possibly including bipedal, larger-brained hominins like Homo erectus, our extinct close relative.
In “Convergent evolution of pain-inducing defensive venom components in spitting cobras,”…
Alexis Soloski, a theater critic for The New York Times, has been named winner of the 2019-20 George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism.
The award committee noted that Soloski’s articles about theater during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic “transcended the limits of traditional reviews” and showed “insight, empathy, and wit.”
The committee comprises the heads of the…
While some consider public opinion polls critical to democratic accountability, others question the ability of today’s pollsters to accurately reflect the public’s preferences on issues and candidates. The Roper Center for Public Opinion Research will host a virtual forum Jan. 21 to examine the future of polling. The event, at 6 p.m., is free and open to the public; registration is…
“The Academic Minute” radio program airs daily on 70 stations across the country, delving into topics from the serious to the light-hearted and keeping listeners abreast of what's new and exciting in higher education.
The program is hosted by Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Programs from the week of Dec. 7 featured…
After more than a decade of design work and planning, groundbreaking for the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) has begun in earnest.
The 6-meter (20-foot) diameter telescope, designed to operate at submillimeter to millimeter wavelengths, will be located at an elevation of 18,400 feet near the summit of Cerro Chajnantor in Chile’s Atacama Desert. The telescope project was…
Some of the world’s most prominent human-rights leaders honored the late Yuri Orlov, professor emeritus of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, in a webinar Nov. 18 at 10 a.m.
Former students and physics colleagues of Orlov also participated in the webinar, which was an opportunity to learn about his life and legacy, as well as what it means to be an activist and dissident,…
Black feminist scholars will examine the current socio-political and cultural moment in “Triangle Breathing: A Conversation with Hortense Spillers and Alexis Pauline Gumbs,” the final Barbara & David Zalaznick Reading Series: At Home virtual event of the fall. The event, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m., is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Lyrae Van Clief-Stefanon,…
Despite civil rights legislation, Supreme Court rulings, protest and other efforts, many Americans continue to attend schools and live in neighborhoods that remain stubbornly segregated by race.
The College of Arts and Sciences’ (A&S) yearlong webinar series, “Racism in America,” will examine past and present impacts of racism on education and housing in its next webinar, “Education and…
An international team of astronomers — including the research group of Cornell astronomer Dominik Riechers — has obtained profound new insight into the nature of galaxies in the early universe and how they formed their stars across cosmic history. The team found that galaxies likely started forming their stars only about 200 million years after the Big Bang and that they were already fairly…
Former U.S. Sen. John Kerry, secretary of state in former President Barack Obama’s administration and 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, will be the Belnick Family LaFeber/Lowi Presidential Forum speaker Oct. 29 at 5 p.m. The virtual event is open to those with a Cornell NetID; registration is required. The event, “A Conversation with John Kerry, 68th Secretary of State (2013-2017)” is…
Director Robert H. Lieberman ’62 takes viewers on a journey into the vast and little-known country of Mongolia in his latest film, “Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan,” in a one-week online sneak peek beginning Oct. 16. Cornell Cinema and Cinemapolis of Ithaca are presenting the advance showings, ahead of the film’s international release. The film will be available for two-day rental, for…
Christopher Morrison Pierce, a doctoral candidate in the field of physics, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for the Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) Program. The SCGSR Program provides supplemental funds for awardees to conduct part of their thesis research at a host DOE laboratory, in collaboration with a DOE laboratory scientist. The research projects…
The Carl Sagan Institute is getting a boost from an unexpected source: Fiat Chrysler Automotive’s ad for its new plug-in hybrid, Jeep’s Wrangler 4XE. The ad features the late Carl Sagan’s famous “Pale Blue Dot” monologue and images -- and for every view of the ad on Jeep’s Youtube channel, a donation will be made to the Carl Sagan Institute (CSI). The donation arrangement was a requirement of…
Excitement – and anxiety – about the 2020 election ratchets higher with the release of each new poll and prediction. But polls don’t tell the whole story and many forecasts in 2016 were proved wrong: what can we expect this year?
In “Between the Polls: How Voters Decide,” a webinar held on Oct. 19 at 7 p.m., a panel of experts examined how we learn about voters and their decisions and how…
Internationally renowned physicist, human rights champion and Soviet-era dissident Yuri Orlov, professor emeritus of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S), died Sept. 27 in Ithaca. He was 96. For his strong anti-Soviet political activity, Orlov spent nearly a decade in KGB prison, labor camp, and Siberian exile, during which time he gained international attention and was…
In the wake of George Floyd’s death and the unrest in her hometown of Minneapolis/St. Paul, violinist Ariana Kim, associate professor of music, has teamed up with Twin Cities artists narrator Lou Bellamy, writer-narrator Sarah Bellamy and composer-activist Steve Heitzeg to create a multimedia piece for solo violin and spoken word entitled, "How Many Breaths? – In Memory of George Floyd and…
Fred Young ’64, M.Eng. ’66, MBA ’66 in front of the summit of Cerro Chajnantor in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile, site for the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope.
The powerful new telescope being built for an exceptional high-elevation site in Chile by a consortium of U.S., German and Canadian academic institutions, led by Cornell, has a new name: the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST).
The telescope – formerly the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope-prime (CCAT-prime) – is being renamed in honor of Fred Young ’64, M.Eng. ’66, MBA ’66,…
The powerful new telescope being built for an exceptional high-elevation site in Chile by a consortium of U.S., German and Canadian academic institutions, led by Cornell, has a new name: the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST). The telescope – formerly the Cerro Chajnantor Atacama Telescope-prime (CCAT-prime) – is being renamed in honor of Fred Young ’64, M.Eng. ’66, MBA ’66, an ardent and…
As calls to address institutionalized and systemic racism reverberate around the country, the College of Arts and Sciences is launching a year-long webinar series exploring “Racism in America.” The series will feature Cornell faculty whose research examines how racism is embedded in education systems, criminal justice systems, the health care system, electoral politics, the economy, and…
Ray Jayawardhana, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of astronomy, has been awarded the 2020 Carl Sagan Medal by the Division for Planetary Sciences (DPS) of the American Astronomical Society for excellence in public communication in planetary science. “This is wonderful recognition for Ray Jayawardhana,” President Martha E. Pollack said. “Not only is he a visionary and…
G. Roger Livesay, professor emeritus of math in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Aug. 1 in Ithaca after a long illness. He was 95. Livesay received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 1948 from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and his Ph.D. in 1952 from the same institution. He was an instructor at the University of Michigan from 1950-56 before joining Cornell as a research…
Herpetologist Harry Greene had challenged himself this year to finish the manuscript of his next book, “Monkey, Snakes and Spears: Reflections on Wildness.” In between writing, he planned to spend some weekends in Mason County, Texas, getting his new property – Rancho Cascabel (“Rattlesnake Ranch”) – ready for habitation. He had lived in this Texas Hill Country as a child, where he first began…
Ray Jayawardhana, the Harold Tanner Dean of Arts and Sciences and professor of astronomy, drew upon multiple disciplines and his own far-flung explorations to educate and inspire approximately 1,000 K-12 teachers at the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) Summer Series conference. Held virtually July 13-24, the online conference featured several guest speakers, including former NASA…
What can, and should, faculty members, staff, students and the community be doing in response to institutional racism and its role in shaping health equity? A webinar organized by the Cornell Center for Health Equity (CCHEq) will examine this question Thursday, July 23, at 1 p.m. The webinar is free and the public is invited; registration is required. The webinar will also explore how systemic…
Maps are more than two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional terrain. They are also powerful political tools to control territory, as Cornell sociologist and science studies scholar Christine Leuenberger explains in her new book, “The Politics of Maps: Cartographic Constructions of Israel/Palestine,” co-written with Izhak Schnell of Tel Aviv University. As the co-authors write,…
In the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, it’s common to feel stress levels rise every time we hear the word “virus.” But new Cornell-led research reveals that the sound of the word itself was likely to raise your blood pressure – even before “corona” was added to it. The study, “Affective Arousal Links Sound to Meaning,” published July 14 in the journal Psychological Science, shows that some sound…
A $1 million gift from Robert ’92 and Carola Jain to the College of Arts and Sciences will support Black A&S students with demonstrated need, and others who enhance Cornell’s diversity, equity and inclusion. The Robert ’92 and Carola Jain Cornell Promise Scholarship meets a critical need at a moment when the COVID-19 pandemic has hit Black communities particularly hard, according to Ray…
“The Hidden Life of Rosa Parks,” a new TED-Ed animated video written by Riché Richardson, associate professor of Africana studies in the College of Arts and Sciences, explores Parks’ work with the NAACP, bus boycotts and her lifelong fight against racial inequality.
“One of our goals with the project was to spotlight dimensions of Rosa Parks that are less familiar and to help viewers move…
A new animation about two innovative telescopes being developed at Cornell has just been released by the research group led by Michael Niemack, associate professor of physics and astronomy in the College of Arts and Sciences.
The two-minute video explains how researchers are “measuring the oldest light in the universe with the highest telescopes on Earth.”
CCAT-prime is a 6-meter…
In a group decision-making process such as the one happening in the U.S. this November, swing voters are crucial. At least that’s the conventional wisdom. Whether it’s a presidential election, a Supreme Court vote or a congressional decision – and especially in highly partisan environments, where the votes of the wings are almost guaranteed – the votes of the few individuals who seem to be in…
