Faculty Positions

With hires averaging 8 to 12 per year, Cornell is about halfway to its goal of adding approximately 120 life sciences faculty. The aim is to create an optimal blend of established senior scholars and promising junior professors who will build Cornell's competitive standing and bolster its collaborative culture.

This strategic increase intensifies an already competitive hiring climate: nearly every major research university is both replacing retiring professors and expanding its life sciences faculty ranks.

Top faculty prospects will choose universities that give them the resources to excel. Endowed positions are vital to this effort. In addition to conferring prestige, they supply a stable salary as well as funds for research activities and graduate students or postdoctoral fellow support.

Types of Support

Cornell welcomes gifts of all sizes. Select named opportunities are described below.

Named full professorship: $2–$4 million
Naming a full professorship in the life sciences sends a bold message: that the life sciences are of utmost importance, and that the recipient of this honor stands to make significant contributions to science.

Full professors help set strategic directions. They forge research paths that shape departments and fields. Their talent and drive also make them very attractive prospects for other institutions. Offering them named tenured positions is a proven way to attract and cultivate the best of these high performers.

Named assistant professorship: $1 million
To name an assistant professorship is to help someone build an illustrious career at Cornell University—to invest in an up-and-coming scholar who may inspire a generation of students or unlock the cure to a devastating disease.

Cornell excels at finding talented young professors and empowering them to build careers in a collegial environment. This is why Cornell's faculty are so loyal. It's also one reason they have such a long history of working seamlessly across departments. The results are novel, innovative projects that other institutions regard as the gold standard for collaboration.

 

To discuss support for life sciences faculty, contact Laura Toy.