Campaign closes with record support for students and research

Cornell's To Do the Greatest Good campaign surpassed its goal of raising more than $5 billion and engaging more than 200,000 alumni - achievements that will enhance opportunities for students and accelerate critical faculty research.

Nearly 70% of the global Cornellian population - more than 220,630 alumni - engaged with the university during the campaign, which began in October 2021 and ended June 30. More than 500,000 donors gave nearly $6.8 billion in gifts and commitments, including a record $1.1 billion in the final year.

Donors created or enhanced more than 1,000 endowed funds supporting students on the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campuses - helping to ensure that a Cornell education remains affordable, an important priority for the campaign.

"This campaign was enormously successful in furthering Cornell's '…any person…any study' promise by further ensuring the ability of our endowment to support financial aid," President Michael I. Kotlikoff said. "We are incredibly proud to graduate far more Pell-eligible students than our peers and are deeply grateful to the thousands of alumni, families and friends who showed such sustained generosity and commitment to students in this campaign."

The Undergraduate Affordability Initiative, launched in 2021 by President Martha E. Pollack, exceeded its $500 million goal, raising more than $544 million from more than 29,000 donors, with gifts ranging from $5 to $50 million creating 541 new scholarships.

Two hundred new scholarships and fellowships reducing educational costs for graduate and professional students were also created thanks to the campaign.

Student affordability and experience were among Weill Cornell Medicine's top priorities for its "We're Changing Medicine" component of the campaign, including the $260 million Feil Family and Weill Family Student residence.

In 2019, Weill Cornell Medicine launched a debt-free scholarship program for medical students with demonstrated financial need. Donors gave more than $200 million to the effort during the campaign, expanding Weill Cornell Medicine's existing scholarship offerings to cover eligible students' tuition, housing and other living expenses.

Cornell Tech raised $330 million to advance AI and computing research for social prosperity, expand startup creation and establish impact initiatives across the campus - strengthening Cornell Tech's role in New York City's growing tech economy.

The To Do The Greatest Good campaign also enabled Cornell to make sweeping investments in research, education and students' campus experiences. About 64% of total campaign giving was designated for research, academic programs, faculty and facilities.

These investments help students gain the skills and knowledge to navigate rapid technological and economic change, learning directly from faculty whose research and innovation is also being fueled by the campaign.

"Modern societal and economic challenges aren't confined by disciplinary boundaries and do not present simple solutions," Kotlikoff said. "Cornell is well-suited to meet these challenges because of our unique collaborative and interdisciplinary structure across three campuses. We have sophisticated expertise in academic and applied fields, populated by people determined to use their knowledge in service to others. Through the campaign, our alumni and donors help Cornell researchers keep pushing the boundaries of discovery and innovation."

Artificial intelligence, sustainability and climate science, public policy, medicine and biomedical research were among Cornell's top focus areas during the campaign. Landmark gifts provided transformative funding for these priorities and named the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy, the Israel Englander Departments of Dermatology and Ophthalmology at Weill Cornell Medicine, the Cornell CALS Ashley School for Global Development and the Environment, the Cornell David A. Duffield College of Engineering, and many institutes, centers and departments.

Business and entrepreneurship also benefited, including naming gifts for the Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration and the Paul Rubacha Department of Real Estate.

Donors gave $527 million to help build or upgrade facilities supporting student experiences and faculty research, including the new Meinig Fieldhouse for varsity and recreational athletics, the restoration of McGraw Hall, Cornell's oldest academic building and an important space for humanities teaching and learning, and Atkinson Hall, which increases capacity for collaborative research in sustainability, biomedicine and public health. The new Computing and Information Science Building houses the rapidly expanding computer and information sciences, and the Duffield Hall expansion and Martin Y. and Margaret Lee Tang Hall construction support engineering's increasingly sophisticated infrastructure needs.

"Cornell donors invested in the university's educational and research missions in ways that will profoundly help future generations of Cornellians do the greatest good in their communities," said Fred Van Sickle, vice president for alumni affairs and development.

The university received some campaign donations immediately. Others are multiyear pledges and bequests. Many donors make endowment gifts that are invested in perpetuity. Cornell receives a portion of the annual earnings income generated - currently about 4% - to use according to the donors' specific gift intentions. Once all campaign gifts are in hand, the university's permanent endowment will grow by more than $2.6 billion.

Alumni involvement was a key factor in the campaign's success. For the Ithaca and Cornell Tech campuses, more than 70% of funds came from alumni. The alumni who engaged with Cornell during the campaign participated in activities to help students, gave input to the university, networked with one another and took advantage of alumni-focused events, programs and services such as career development and online learning. Around 13,000 alumni volunteers helped make those engagements happen.

"Setting an engagement goal in addition to a fundraising goal was very important to us, because our highly involved alumni body is one of Cornell's most important assets," said Cornell Board of Trustees chair Anne Meinig Smalling '87. "On or off campus, our alumni help the university stay strong and deliver lifelong value to every Cornellian. As an alum, I've experienced the joy and support that come from being part of the Big Red family, and I want our current and future students to have those experiences, too."

Smalling was one of eight volunteers who served as the campaign's co-chairs, along with Gary Davis '76, Richard Emmet '94, Thomas Groos '78, Katrina James '96, Peggy Koenig '78 and Enrique Vila-Biaggi '94, M.Eng. '95.

"I am grateful for the generosity and leadership of our campaign co-chairs, our thousands of dedicated volunteers and every single donor," Van Sickle said. "Their phenomenal generosity and historic commitment to Cornell continually lifted campus spirits during the past few years, which have been so consequential for the university."

Jennifer Campbell is senior director of strategic communications for Alumni Affairs and Development.