Cornell the Winner for New York City’s New Science and Engineering College

Dear Commons Community,

After Stanford University had withdrawn its bid, the Daily News is reporting that Cornell University has won the unprecedented competition to build a new science and engineering college in New York City.   The upstate Ivy League institution beat out six teams of universities to win the right to free land and $100 million in city subsidies to launch a top-flight applied sciences graduate school in the five boroughs.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is supposed to make the announcement today at the Weill Cornell Medical College in Manhattan.  The article states that:

“Cornell, along with Stanford University, was considered an early front-runner. Both schools promised to build sweeping, state-of-the-art campuses on Roosevelt Island.

On Friday, Cornell appeared a near shoo-in after Stanford abruptly dropped out and Cornell revealed it received an anonymous $350 million gift toward the ambitious project.

Cornell, which is partnering with Israel’s prestigious Technion university, is expected to open a temporary program in 2012 at a site outside of Roosevelt Island, a source said.”

Wow!

Tony

3 comments

  1. Dear Commons Community,

    As a quick follow-up to this posting, the New York Times had an article on the Cornell alumnus, Charles F. Feeney, whose $350 million gift to the project tilted the decision in Cornell’s favor. Feeney (Atlantic Philantropies) is a self-made billionaire who has vowed to donate his entire fortune to others. Feeney is a model in this day and age of venture billionaire philantropists whose stye should emulated.

    Thank you Mr. Feeney for your gift to the City of New York.

    Tony