02) Institutional Histories - Cornell University
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This collection is intended to bring together in one place new Cornell University Department Histories and those published in other collections in eCommons.
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Item Cornell University Press, Est. 1869, Our First 150 YearsLaun, Karen (Cornell University Press, 2019)A history of Cornell University Press celebrating the sesquicentennial of the first university press in the United States.Item History of the Department of Communication at Cornell UniversityWard, William B. (Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, 2000-12)Item The Rise and Fall of the Cornell Poultry Department, 1903-1991.Nesheim, Malden C. (The Internet-First University Press, 2018-10-10)This new history of a truly pioneering field at Cornell was written by an emeritus faculty member of that department who later served as Director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences and University Provost. Nesheim provides an intellectual history of a hugely successful effort at Cornell that quite literally touched the state, the nation and the world. He chronicles the creation and dissolution of an academic department. He also describes the national and international impact of this academic department in feeding the people of the world.Item The Biometrics Unit: The First 40 Years,1948–1988Federer, Walter T. (Internet-First Univerity Press, 2018-10)Originally released in 1989, this is a detailed account of the birth of a new field by its founding faculty member at Cornell, Walter T. Federer. The Biometrics Unit was initiated in 1948 and was housed within the department of plant breeding. This subject matter now deeply influences most fields within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. In this data-rich account, Federer documents the birthing pains, the administrative issues, the faculty, the students (undergraduate and graduate), its research thrust and its broad role of statistical consultation in this emerging field. This unit also stimulated and led the early growth of computing at Cornell University, including a Computing Activities Group that was located in Warren Hall.Item Agricultural Economics to the Dyson School: A Personal ExperienceTomek, William (Bill) G. (The Internet-First University Press, 2017-03-07)This prominent econometrician recounts his journey at Cornell, dealing with The Early Years, The Middle Years, his role as Department Chair, Achieving Faculty Diversity, The Later Years, and Other Cornell Experiences. He writes that “On July 1, 2016, the Dyson School became a part of a new Cornell College of Business. The other units are the Hotel School and the Johnson Graduate School of Business. Each school is supposed to retain its unique characteristics, but some decisions seem to suggest otherwise. It will be interesting to see if the Dyson School’s Land Grant mission and other distinctive attributes will survive the reorganization.”Item A history of activities from 1963 – Retirement, 1998German, Gene A. (The Internet-First University Press, 2017-02-07)Gene German describes his Cornell journey from the Food Industry Management Program and the Home Study Program in Food Industry Management to his experiences teaching popular courses, advising students and leading the Food Executive Program. He also describes his interest in athletics and his work with the food industry, with alums, and his sabbatical leaves.Item Department Histories – Cornell University: URL Links to the IFUPCooke, J. Robert (Internet-First University Press, 2009-10-20)This article lists the URLs pertaining to the Department Histories produced by Internet-First University Press and available in eCommonsItem A History of the Summer Session, The First Seventy-Five Years, 1892-1966Smith, William (1974)Item Agronomy at CornellCline, Marlin G. (The Internet-First University Press. ©2016 Cornell University, 2016-07-12)The account which follows focuses on the subject matter within the Department of Agronomy as of 1980, namely soils, production of field crops other than vegetables and fruit, and atmospheric science. That combination is unique among universities, and description of its evolution is one of the purposes of this document. In the early years, these subjects were so intimately intertwined with others under the broad identity “Agriculture” that they cannot be separated as discrete areas of endeavor, but as the university developed, their identities emerged. They were organized and reorganized repeatedly under several different departmental structures during subsequent years, often with subjects that are not now included in Agronomy. These are discussed to the extent that they relate to the development of the Department. Work at the New York Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, which was a separate institution for many years, is discussed, as that station is now part of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences of Cornell.Item Selections Concerning the History of the Arecibo ObservatoryCooke, J. Robert (producer) (Cornell University, 2016)This booklet contains selections from the Cornell Alumni News for the years 1963 through 2007 concern-ing the history of the Arecibo Observatory. A companion collection has been assembled from the Cornell Engineering Quarterly. The PDF containing these articles (in chronological order) includes bookmarks, and with the Acrobat Reader, the file opens with the bookmarks displayed. These materials were written for a broad audience and, hopefully, provide additional context for the col-lection of oral histories about the Arecibo Observatory. The original articles may be viewed and downloaded from the eCommons collection, “Publications of the Cornell Alumni Association,” at https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/3157 An Oral History of the Arecibo Observatory is at https://ecommons.cornell.edu/handle/1813/33201Item Birth of the American UniversityFrey, Brian (2004)Cornell: Birth of the American University, chronicles the founding of one of the great institutions of learning in the United States, focusing on the two extraordinary men, Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, whose individual dreams and ambitions would unite to create a school that would transform Ithaca and the course of American higher education forever.Item The Cornell-Nanking StoryLove, Harry Houser; Reisner, John Henry (The Internet-First University Press, 2012-06-15)The Cornell-Nanking Story describes Cornell’s first technical cooperation program of international outreach–the pioneering effort whose legacy continues robustly today. This report, first released in 1963 by Royse P. Murphy, describes the very successful project in crop improvement that had been led by Harry Houser Love and John Henry Reisner in the 1920s. The present-day Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is one of the premier departments of Cornell University and continues this pioneering spirit as a lead participant in the New Life Sciences effort by Cornell University. The Cooperative Crop Improvement Program between Cornell University, through the Department of Plant Breeding of the New York State College of Agriculture, and the University of Nanking, through its College of Agriculture and Forestry – with financial support from the International Education Board – had its origin in a letter to Professor H. H. Love at Cornell from Dean John H. Reisner in Nanking under the date of February 4, 1924. The purpose of the program was two-fold, to organize and conduct a comprehensive crop improvement program, involving the principal food crops of the famine areas of central and northern China, (cotton was included later) and of equal importance, to train men in the principles, methods, application and organization of crop improvement. Dr. T. H. Shen characterized the outcomes: “The most significant results of the Nanking-Cornell-International Education Board Program for Crop Improvement in China were: (1) training a group of Chinese plant breeders for carrying on a national program of crop improvement; (2) developing better varieties of wheat, barley, rice, kaoliang, millet and soybeans showing increased yields from 10 to 20 percent more than the native varieties; (3) stimulating the Chinese government to establish the National Agricultural Research Bureau of the Ministry of Industry in 1931 which made great improvements in agricultural production in China up to 1949 through scientific research and agricultural extension services. Dr. H. H. Love, of Cornell, served as Advisor to the Bureau in 1931-1934.”Item A Conversation with Richard P. KorfKorf, Richard P.; Zaitlin, Milton (Interviewer) (The Internet-First University Press ©2012 Cornell University, 2012-02-17)Richard Korf, long-time member of the Plant Pathology Faculty in the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, in an interview by Prof. Milton Zaitlin on February 17, 2012 described his department’s early history and the early days of the evolution of mycology and plant pathology – as well as how his interest in the subject was stimulated in 1942 by his encounter with a few great teachers. He discusses the leaders of his field during its formative years. His own productive career included producing a scholarly journal, MYCOTAXON, and even in retirement still serves an editor. Among the innovations Korf instituted were the use of camera-ready submission to speed publication and a unique non-blind refereeing system. This interview is an elaboration of an article about the history of mycology that he published in 1991. His lifelong interest in the theater and acting led to his serving as Chair of the Theatre Arts Department at Cornell at one point. To accommodate various downloading speeds, three alternative QuickTime (H.264) files (AppleTV, iPod, iPhone and computer with a QuickTime Player) are provided. Running time is 35 minutes.Item Evolution of Plant Breeding at Cornell UniversityMurphy, Royse P.; Kass, Lee B. (The Internet-First University Press, 2011)Drs. Royse P. Murphy and Lee B. Kass prepared this 179-page account of the history of Plant Breeding—among the most distinguished academic departments at Cornell—on the occasion of its centennial. In addition to a wealth of historical data for the department and for the university and an equally impressive collection of photographs with identifications and the six living department chairs characterize the milestones that occurred during their terms of departmental leadership. This department in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences is admired for its collegial and productive environment. Two of its graduates have been honored as Nobel laureates, notwithstanding that the work in this field is not normally considered for that honor. Find here a record of immense productivity in its teaching, research and outreach activities and its impact upon the university, the state, the nation and the countries of the world.Item Uris Library: The Secular Cathedral of CornellStukus, Matthew Harrison (2010-01)History of the building and current student use of Uris Library, Cornell University.Item Simulation and model verification of agricultural tractor overturnsDavis, Denny C. (Thesis (Ph. D.) - Cornell University, 1973-08)Item Education & Agriculture: A History of the New York State College of Agriculture at Cornell UniversityColman, Gould P. (Cornell University Press, 1963)The College of Agriculture at Cornell University reveals through this history its contributions of nearly a century of continuous service.Item Perceptions of the College of Agriculture at Cornell University: An Interview of W. Donald CookeColman, Gould P. (Internet-First University Press, 2007)As a contribution to an oral history of the College of Agriculture at Cornell University, W. Donald Cooke, a prominent university administrator at Cornell, was interviewed by the University Archivist, Gould Colman on January 5, 1984.Item Riley-Robb Hall at Cornell University: Celebrating It's OpeningCooke, J. Robert; Furry, Ronald B. (Internet-First University Press, 2007-06-28)In the fall of 1953, 46 years after the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Cornell was founded (in 1907) as Division of Rural Engineering and Architecture, ground was broken for what would become its own home, Riley-Robb Hall, named after its founding fathers, Howard W. Riley and Byron B. Robb. The building was dedicated on October 6, 1954, and in 1956 the Agricultural Engineering Department, as it was then named, occupied its new 2 1/4 acre facility for teaching, research and extension. By Fall Semester 1957, 38 professorial and non-professorial staff, 6 graduate students and 12 office professionals were on the roster, as shown in the new directory of September 25, 1957 in the Appendix. Pictures of many of these individuals can be seen in the photographs included in this album. The appendix contains a listing of this 1957 directory.Item In Their Own Voices: A Conversation with Howard W. Riley: Early Agricultural Engineering at Cornell UniversityColman, Gould P. (Internet-First University Press, 2007)In August of 1963, Dr. Gould Colman, University Archivist Emeritus, interviewed Professor Howard W. Riley, who was the head of the Department of Agricultural Engineering from 1907-1945. In these interviews, Professor Riley candidly records his accomplishments and mistakes, describes his limited access to educational resources that now seem primitive, and repeats his commitment to the overriding goal of teaching and research in the College at the time, and helping New York's rural people improve life's quality in farm and home life.