Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Encyclopedia
The New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (abbreviated to CALS or Ag School) is a statutory college
Statutory college
In American higher education, particular to the state of New York, a statutory college or contract college is a college or school that is a component of an independent, private university that has been designated by the state legislature to receive significant, ongoing public funding from the state...

 at Cornell University
Cornell University
Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, a private
Private university
Private universities are universities not operated by governments, although many receive public subsidies, especially in the form of tax breaks and public student loans and grants. Depending on their location, private universities may be subject to government regulation. Private universities are...

 university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 located in Ithaca, New York
Ithaca, New York
The city of Ithaca, is a city in upstate New York and the county seat of Tompkins County, as well as the largest community in the Ithaca-Tompkins County metropolitan area...

. With about 3,100 undergraduate and 1,000 graduate
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...

 students enrolled, it is the third-largest college of its kind in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and the second-largest undergraduate college or school at Cornell. It is the only school of agriculture in the Ivy League
Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...

. The undergraduate business program at CALS is one of only two such Ivy League programs accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business
The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business was founded in 1916 to accredit schools of business worldwide. The first accreditations took place in 1919. The stated mission is to advance quality management education worldwide through accreditation and thought leadership. It is regarded...

 (AACSB).

As part of Cornell's land-grant mission, the college jointly administers New York's cooperative extension program with the College of Human Ecology
Cornell University College of Human Ecology
The New York State College of Human Ecology is a statutory college at Cornell University. The college is a unique compilation of studies on consumer science, nutrition, health economics, public policy, human development and textiles, each part of the discipline of human ecology.Students at the...

 and it runs both the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, Ontario County, New York State, is an integral part of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. It is a mission-oriented experiment station with a strong emphasis on applied research...

, in Geneva, New York
Geneva, New York
Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. Some claim it is named after the city and canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Others believe the name came from confusion over the letters in the word "Seneca" written in cursive...

, and the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station, in addition to many other research facilities around the state.

For 2007-08, CALS total budget (excluding the Geneva Station) is $283 million, with $96 million coming from tuition and $52 million coming from state appropriations. The Geneva Station budget was an additional $25 million.

History

Deans of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey was an American horticulturist, botanist and cofounder of the American Society for Horticultural Science.-Biography:...

 
1903–1913
Beverly T. Galloway 1914–1916
Albert Russell Mann 1917–1931
Carl Edwin Ladd 1931–1943
William Irving Myers 1943–1959
Charles Edmund Palm 1959–1972
W. Keith Kennedy 1972–1978
David L. Call 1978–1995
Daryl B. Lund 1995–2000
Susan Armstrong Henry 2000–2010
Kathryn Boor 2010–present


Established in 1874 as the Department of Agriculture, the department became a college in 1888. In 1904, eminent botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 and horticulturist
Horticulture
Horticulture is the industry and science of plant cultivation including the process of preparing soil for the planting of seeds, tubers, or cuttings. Horticulturists work and conduct research in the disciplines of plant propagation and cultivation, crop production, plant breeding and genetic...

 Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey was an American horticulturist, botanist and cofounder of the American Society for Horticultural Science.-Biography:...

, along with New York State
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 farmers, convinced the New York Legislature
New York Legislature
The New York State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York. The New York Constitution does not designate an official term for the two houses together...

 to financially support the agriculture college at Cornell, a private university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 that had been established in 1865 as New York's land-grant
Land-grant university
Land-grant universities are institutions of higher education in the United States designated by each state to receive the benefits of the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890....

 institution. Thus, it became a statutory college
Statutory college
In American higher education, particular to the state of New York, a statutory college or contract college is a college or school that is a component of an independent, private university that has been designated by the state legislature to receive significant, ongoing public funding from the state...

, and changed its name from the New York State College of Agriculture in 1904 to the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in 1971.

In 1898, the State Legislature established a separate New York State College of Forestry at Cornell
New York State College of Forestry at Cornell
The New York State College of Forestry at Cornell was a statutory college established in 1898 at Cornell University to teach scientific forestry. The first four-year college of forestry in the country, it was defunded by the State of New York in 1903, over controversies involving the college's...

. However, the school ran into political controversy, and the Governor vetoed its annual appropriation in 1903. In 1910, Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey
Liberty Hyde Bailey was an American horticulturist, botanist and cofounder of the American Society for Horticultural Science.-Biography:...

, the Dean of Cornell's Agriculture College, succeeded in having what remained of the Forestry College transferred to his school. At his request, in 1911, the legislature appropriated $100,000 to construct a building to house the new Forestry Department on the Cornell campus, which Cornell later named Fernow Hall. That Forestry Department continues today as the Department of Natural Resources. In 1927, Cornell established a 1639 acres (6.6 km²) research forest south of Ithaca, the Arnot Woods.

In 1900, the college began offering a reading course for farm women. In 1907, the Department of Home Economics was created within college. In 1919, the Department of Home Economics became a school within the Agriculture College. Finally, in 1925, the Home Economics department became a separate college, although both colleges continued to work together to provide cooperative extension services.

The World Food Prize
World Food Prize
The World Food Prize is an international award recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.-The Prize:...

 has been awarded for the sixth time to a Cornellian. Dr. Andrew Colin McClung, M.S. 1949, was awarded the World Food Prize for helping to transform a large area of Brazil into fertile land. His recommendations regarding key agricultural inputs made this transformation possible.

The Agriculture Quadrangle

The Agriculture Quadrangle (Ag Quad) contains buildings which house many of the programs in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. It is a quadrangle
Quadrangle (architecture)
In architecture, a quadrangle is a space or courtyard, usually rectangular in plan, the sides of which are entirely or mainly occupied by parts of a large building. The word is probably most closely associated with college or university campus architecture, but quadrangles may be found in other...

 east of the Arts Quad and west of the College of Veterinary Medicine
Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine
The New York State College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University was founded in 1894. It was the first statutory college in New York. Before the creation of the college, instruction in veterinary medicine had been part of Cornell's curriculum since the university's founding...

. The oldest building still standing on the quad is Caldwell Hall, opened in 1913. The Plant Science Building opened in 1931 and Warren Hall, across from Plant Science, opened in the next year, The art deco
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 style Mann Library on the eastern end of the quad, connecting Warren Hall on the north to the Plant Sciences Building on the south, opened in 1952. Completed in 1990, Kennedy and Roberts Halls, featuring an archway that connects the two halls, extend along the western face of the quad, having replaced the original Roberts Hall (1906). The Computing and Communications Center (1912, formerly Comstock Hall) stands between Roberts and Caldwell Halls. These buildings are owned by New York State, which pays for their construction and maintenance.

Other facilities

The college operates the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station at Geneva, Ontario County, New York State, is an integral part of the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. It is a mission-oriented experiment station with a strong emphasis on applied research...

, in Geneva, New York
Geneva, New York
Geneva is a city in Ontario and Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York. The population was 13,617 at the 2000 census. Some claim it is named after the city and canton of Geneva in Switzerland. Others believe the name came from confusion over the letters in the word "Seneca" written in cursive...

, 50 miles (80 km) northwest of the main campus. The facility comprises 20 major buildings on 130 acres (0.5 km²) of land, as well as more than 700 acres (2.8 km²) of test plots and other lands devoted to horticultural research. It also operates three substations, Vineyard Research Laboratory in Fredonia
Fredonia, New York
Fredonia is a village in Chautauqua County, New York, United States. The population was 11,068 as of 2009.The Village of Fredonia is in the Town of Pomfret south of Lake Erie...

, Hudson Valley Laboratory in Highland
Highland, Ulster County, New York
Highland is a hamlet in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,060 at the 2000 census.Highland is a community in the Town of Lloyd, on U.S. Route 9W. Routes 44 and 55 run through it as well...

 and the Long Island Horticultural Research Laboratory in Riverhead
Riverhead (town), New York
The town of Riverhead is in Suffolk County, New York, on the north shore of Long Island. The population was 33,506 at the 2010 census. The name signifies that the mouth of the Peconic River is in this town...

.

The Dilmun Hill Student Farm is a student-run farm that has been practicing sustainable agriculture on Cornell University's campus since 1996. It is located near the intersection of Judd Falls Rd. and Rt. 366 (Dryden Rd).

Academics

The undergraduate programs lead to the Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...

 in at least one of the 23 currently offered majors. The college also offers graduate
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...

 degrees in various fields of study through the Graduate School
Cornell University Graduate School
The Cornell University Graduate School confers most professional and research master's degrees and doctoral degrees in various fields of study for the university. The departments under which instruction and research take place are housed in Cornell's other schools and colleges. The administrative...

, including the M.A.T.
Master of Arts in Teaching
The Master of Arts in Teaching degree is generally a pre-service degree that usually requires a minimum of 30 semester hours beyond the Bachelor's degree. While the program often requires education classes in order to meet state licensure requirements, it emphasizes advanced course work in a...

, M.L.A.
Master of Landscape Architecture
The Master of Landscape Architecture is a professional and academic degree dealing with the manipulation of outdoor and public spaces to achieve socio-behavioural, environmental, and/or aesthetic outcomes.-Curriculum and Requirements:...

, M.P.S.
Master of Professional Studies
Master of Professional Studies is a recognized masters degree concentrated in an applied field of study. The MPS is usually a terminal degree and is often interdisciplinary, frequently offered in substantive areas that do not readily fit into any of the traditional fields in university curricula...

, M.S.
Master of Science
A Master of Science is a postgraduate academic master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is typically studied for in the sciences including the social sciences.-Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay:...

, and Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated as Ph.D., PhD, D.Phil., or DPhil , in English-speaking countries, is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities...



The departments within the college are:
  • Animal Science
  • Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management
  • Biochemistry
  • Biological and Environmental Engineering (with the College of Engineering
    Cornell University College of Engineering
    The College of Engineering is a division of Cornell University that was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts...

    )
  • Biological Sciences
  • Biology and Society
  • Biometry and Statistics http://www.bscb.cornell.edu/
  • Communication http://comm.cornell.edu/
  • Crop and Soil Sciences
  • Development Sociology
  • Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (with the Colleges of Engineering
    Cornell University College of Engineering
    The College of Engineering is a division of Cornell University that was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts...

     and Arts and Sciences
    Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences
    The College of Arts and Sciences is a division of Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding, although its name has changed over time. It grants bachelors degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the Cornell University Graduate School...

    )
  • Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
  • Education
  • Entomology
  • Food Science
  • Horticulture
  • Information Science (with the Colleges of Engineering
    Cornell University College of Engineering
    The College of Engineering is a division of Cornell University that was founded in 1870 as the Sibley College of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanic Arts...

     and Arts and Sciences
    Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences
    The College of Arts and Sciences is a division of Cornell University. It has been part of the university since its founding, although its name has changed over time. It grants bachelors degrees, and masters and doctorates through affiliation with the Cornell University Graduate School...

    )
  • International Agriculture and Rural Development
  • Landscape Architecture
  • Microbiology
  • Molecular Biology and Genetics
  • Natural Resources
  • Neurobiology and Behavior
  • Nutritional Sciences
  • Plant Biology
  • Plant Breeding and Genetics
  • Plant Pathology

  • Rankings

    The Undergraduate Business Program at Cornell University (or Applied Economics and Management program) ranked 4th Nationally in BusinessWeek's Best Undergraduate Business Programs for 2008. In 2009, DesignIntelligence magazine ranked Cornell's undergraduate and graduate landscape architecture programs as 4th and 3rd respectively, in the nation.

    Cornell University Esbaran Amazon Field Laboratory

    The Cornell University Esbaran Amazon Field Laboratory was inaugurated in July 2001, as a research facility dedicated to education, conservation, and the discovery of novel medicinal compounds from applied field chemoecology, under the direction of Dr. Eloy Rodriguez
    Eloy Rodriguez
    Eloy Rodriguez is a Mexican-American biochemist. He is the James Perkins Professor of Environmental Studies at Cornell University. He was born in Edinburg, Texas....

    . The laboratory was constructed in partnership with the Amazon Yarapa River Lodge, an ecotourism venture, with funds granted from Cornell University
    Cornell University
    Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

    , the National Institutes of Health
    National Institutes of Health
    The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...

    , and private donations.

    The laboratory is located in the Amazon Rainforest
    Amazon Rainforest
    The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...

     along the banks of the Yarapa River, a remote tributary of the Amazon River
    Amazon River
    The Amazon of South America is the second longest river in the world and by far the largest by waterflow with an average discharge greater than the next seven largest rivers combined...

     in Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. Jaldar, the closest native village, has been brought into an agreement to serve as custodians of the land and manage it in a way consistent with conservation and sustainable use. Further upstream can be found the villages of Nuevo Loreto and Puerto Miguel, and on an adjacent tributary the village of Jerusalem where a local shaman leads students in botanical expeditions.

    Research at the EsBaran Field Laboratory relies heavily on the collaboration of local guides with native knowledge of the rainforest. Students engage local children in an exchange of knowledge to facilitate the sharing of perspectives and cultural assets.

    Social Media Lab

    The Social Media Lab is a laboratory of Cornell University
    Cornell University
    Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

    's Communication Department. This lab being one of the Communication Department's primary research lab for undergraduate and graduate students focuses on how people interact in CMC and on online communities. On going studies include deception on the Facebook, analysis of Grindr profile pictures, and disclosure analysis on Facebook.

    The faculty and students working in the Social Media Lab are interested in the way people live, behave, think and love online. The Social Media Lab investigates a variety of behaviors that take place online, including language processes, patterns of deception, self-presentation in social networking sites, and the formation of attributions and relationships. The Social Media Lab coined the term “butler lie” in 2009. The butler lie is described as lies that politely initiate and terminate instant messaging conversations. (“Gotta go, boss is coming!”) Like butlers, they act as social buffers, telling others that we are at lunch when we are just avoiding them. The lab is a state-of-the-art facility, and is supported by funding from the National Science Foundation
    National Science Foundation
    The National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...

    , the United States Department of Defense
    United States Department of Defense
    The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

    , and Cornell University
    Cornell University
    Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

    . The Social Media Lab is run by professors Jeff Hancock, Jeremy Birnholtz, and Natalie Bazarova.

    Notable alumni

    • Robert C. Baker
      Robert C. Baker
      Robert C. Baker was an inventor and Cornell University professor who invented the chicken nugget as well as many other poultry related inventions...

      , inventor of the chicken nugget and turkey hot dog;
    • Bryan Colangelo
      Bryan Colangelo
      Bryan Colangelo is the President and General Manager of the Toronto Raptors of the NBA. He is the son of Phoenix sports mogul, Jerry Colangelo. He attended Cornell University. He was the 2005 and 2007 recipient of the NBA Executive of the Year Award.-Phoenix:Bryan began his NBA front-office career...

      , president and general manager of the Toronto Raptors
      Toronto Raptors
      The Toronto Raptors are a professional basketball team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are part of the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1995, along with the Vancouver Grizzlies, as part of the NBA's re-expansion...

    • Jon Daniels
      Jon Daniels
      Jon Daniels is the current General Manager of the Texas Rangers, a Major League Baseball. When hired, at age 28, he was the youngest GM in Major League Baseball history. And as of 2011 was still the youngest GM.-Biography:...

      , general manager of the Texas Rangers
      Texas Rangers (baseball)
      The Texas Rangers are a professional baseball team in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, based in Arlington, Texas. The Rangers are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League, and are the reigning A.L. Western Division and A.L. Champions. Since , the Rangers have...

    • Arthur Rose Eldred
      Arthur Rose Eldred
      Arthur Rose Eldred was an American agricultural and railroad industry executive, civic leader, and the first Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America...

      , America's first Eagle Scout
      Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)
      Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America . A Scout who attains this rank is called an Eagle Scout or Eagle. Since its introduction in 1911, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than 2 million young men...

      , American agricultural official and executive;
    • Barbara McClintock
      Barbara McClintock
      Barbara McClintock , the 1983 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, was an American scientist and one of the world's most distinguished cytogeneticists. McClintock received her PhD in botany from Cornell University in 1927, where she was a leader in the development of maize cytogenetics...

      , plant geneticist, Nobel Laureate in Physiology and Medicine;
    • Keith Olbermann
      Keith Olbermann
      Keith Theodore Olbermann is an American political commentator and writer. He has been the chief news officer of the Current TV network and the host of Current TV's weeknight political commentary program, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, since June 20, 2011...

      , sportscaster, news anchor and political commentator

    External links

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