Cornell University
01/16/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/16/2026 11:20
Margaret Smith, 'embodiment' of land-grant mission, retires
After almost 50 years at Cornell - from an undergraduate student to a widely respected steward of Cornell's land grant mission - Margaret Smith has been elected professor emerita.
Smith came to Cornell in 1974 and earned her bachelor's ('78) and doctorate ('82) degrees in plant breeding. She worked for five years as a corn breeder in Latin America before joining Cornell's faculty in 1987. Since then, she has held leadership roles in the Cornell University Agricultural Experiment Station (Cornell AES), Cornell Cooperative Extension, the New York Seed Improvement Program, and dozens of other state, regional and international programs and research projects focused on supporting agriculture and improving nutrition.
Cornell University published this content on January 16, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on January 16, 2026 at 17:20 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]