Department Homepage
Several College of Arts & Sciences alumni are among those newly elected and re-elected to the Cornell University Board of Trustees. Tara Holm, professor and chair of the Department of Mathematics will serve as faculty-elected trustee.
Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences researchers helped win the 2026 Breakthrough Prize in Fundamental Physics for muon g-2 research. CLASSE scientists contributed detectors, electronics and analysis enabling ultra-precise measurements that test the Standard Model and inspire next-generation experiments.
Graduate students and alumni of Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences have benefited from Cornell University’s Graduate Teaching Fellows program, which trains future faculty through workshops, institutes and mentorship. The program marks 15 years this spring.
Cornell Holocaust scholar Jan Burzlaff warns that AI flattens the irreplaceable details of human experience, echoing Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on protecting human dignity in the age of artificial intelligence. Burzlaff, a Jewish Studies postdoctoral associate at Cornell University, is available for expert comment.
For her volunteer outreach encouraging local children to learn about physics and reading, Abra Geiger ’26 has won the 2026 University Relations Campus-Community Leadership Award.
Books featured by the alumni website Cornellians for May 2026 include, y Cornell College of Arts and Sciences alumni and faculty, a ‘poetic memoir,’ a study of the Gospel of John, and the final mystery from a genre luminary.
Cornell University launched the Cornell Center on Democracy to strengthen democratic institutions through research, education and public engagement. The initiative convenes scholars to address disinformation, polarization, governance and civic engagement challenges globally.
Cornell College of Arts and Sciences professor Isabel M. Perera won the Charles H. Levine Memorial Book Prize and the 2026 European Studies Book Award for “The Welfare Workforce.” Her book examines disparities in mental health care policy.
Students and young alumni from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences have accepted Fulbright U.S. Student Program awards. The 2026–27 Fulbrighters from Cornell, a Fulbright Top Producing Institution, will conduct research, study and teach English in countries around the globe.
Cornell University honored 31 Merrill Presidential Scholars May 19, recognizing academic excellence and mentorship. College of Arts and Sciences senior Carolina Aguilera-Garza and peers celebrated influential teachers and Cornell mentors shaping leadership, scholarship, and public impact.
Researchers from Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences – Jeremy Baskin, Brian Crane and Andrew Grimson – are involved in various collaborative projects receiving 2026 multidisciplinary seed grants from the Cornell Center for Immunology to advance immune research.
Several Cornell College of Arts and Sciences graduate students and one faculty member from the college were honored with 2026 Graduate Excellence and Impact Awards. Presented May 13, the awards honor leadership, service and mentorship.
Since the Cornell in Washington program launched in 1980, about 4,400 Cornellians have taken part in immersive lessons in the nation’s capital. Alumni have become U.S. representatives, federal judges, agency leaders and political journalists.
A federal jury has sided with OpenAI in a court battle with Elon Musk, and the trial outcome leaves questions and debates unresolved, says Cornell College of Arts and Sciences government scholar Sarah Kreps.
A New York Senate bill seeks to make affordable housing available for artists, but Cornell University researcher Jacob Anbinder, postdoctoral fellow in history in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, warns against 'petty squabbles' about who deserves most to live in the city. He says expanding overall housing supply is key to curbing housing inequality.
Cornell University students in a practicum seminar curated an exhibit “Indonesia Embodied: Performing the Space Between” at the Johnson Museum. Students produced the show, highlighting Southeast Asian works and research on performance and provenance.
Cornell’s College of Arts & Sciences honors the winners of its 2026 teaching and advising awards. Faculty members Nicole Giannella, Karola Mészáros and Landon Schnabel stand out this year, earning major awards for excellence; many instructors and teaching assistants received recognition, as well.
Former United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave a lecture at Cornell on April 27, 2026. Before delivering his remarks, he visited Uris and Kroch libraries to view materials about Elias Avery Lowe 1902: his great-grandfather and one of the most notable classics graduates from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences.
Time studying abroad gave Kevin Chang, a senior in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, knowledge of new places, new skills and rich new communities. From Taiwan, Chang attended the National University of Singapore, aCornell Global Hubs partner, for a semester.
During the rebuilding of McGraw Hall, workers have made several discoveries, and faculty are reusing and studying materials from the building in the classroom. Built in 1872, McGraw Hall is one of Cornell University's oldest buildings and home to College of Arts and Sciences departments of anthropology and history and the archaeology program.
The Native American Art Studies Association gave artist and art historian Jolene Rickard, professor in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences and in the American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (AIISP) in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, a lifetime achievement award. A citizen of the Skarù·ręʔ / Tuscarora Nation (Hodinöhsö:ni Confederacy), Rickard is…
Student awards
Researchers in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences report on the first observations with the Tomographic Ionized-carbon Mapping Experiment (TIME). The instrument uses a technique called line-intensity mapping to explore the early universe.
Erik Thorbecke, a Cornell University professor of economics since 1974 and one of the creators of the widely used Foster-Greer-Thorbecke (FGT) Index for measuring poverty, died on April 26 at 97. His work on agriculture, poverty alleviation and nutrition helped shape modern development economics.
Jason Wu, a doctoral candidate in chemistry and chemical biology in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, develops sustainable reactions that improve pharmaceutical synthesis. His research advances nonmetal catalysis, expands medicinal chemical space, and highlights leadership and inclusive scholarship.
Rikki Laser, a doctoral candidate in psychological sciences and human development in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, studies how temperature and parenting shape social development. Her research reveals how environmental perception influences neurobiology, behavior, health, and well-being.
Jacques Bailly, Ph.D. ’97, a doctoral alumni of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences, is the longtime head pronouncer for the iconic Scripps National Spelling Bee. He won the competition in 1980 at age 14 and began working as a pronouncer in 2003.
Founded by Cornell College of Arts and Sciences alumnus Jacob Lehman '06, student group Ring of Steel trains members to stage fight with weapons including steel swords, wooden staves, and even lightsabers. The group performs at campus events and on May the 4th, a.k.a. “Star Wars Day.”
Scholars in Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences are redefining trauma research across humanities, examining delayed memory’s effects on individuals, culture and history. Their insights from many different academic disciplines, including literature, history, archaeology and psychoanalysis connect trauma, testimony and collective witness.
Esther Grace Brenner is a classics major.
Elina Soskina is majoring in mathematics.
Gabriella Best is majoring in computer science.
Alexander Won is majoring in physics and mathematics.
A study from Cornell’s College of Arts and Sciences finds that dead bacteria can shape infection outcomes via immune responses. Researchers Alex Vladimirsky and Stephen Ellner developed a mathematical model showing how microbial corpses sequester antimicrobial peptides.
Two students in Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences are among the student workers receiving the Fuerst award from Cornell University Library in 2026.
Looking ahead to the May 14-15 Trump-Xi Beijing summit, professor Allen Carlson of Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences says domestic pressures on both leaders favor symbolic wins over substantive agreements. The meeting highlights limited prospects for breakthroughs on trade, technology, and geopolitics.
Gabriel Munoz is majoring in French and governent.
Salimata Cisse is majoring in American studies and Africana studies.
Julian Kanu is majoring in philosophy and mathematics.
Anees Mitri is majoring in government and Near Eastern studies.
Emily Vo is majoring in computer science and Asian American studies.
Samara Schiffman is majoring in Jewish studies, government and American studies.
Several students from Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences were honored May 1 at the 10th annual Honors Award Ceremony held by the university's Office of Academic Discovery and Impact (OADI. OADI serves as a hub for academic and professional development resources for Cornell students.
Joice Chen is majoring in sociology, information science and is a Robert S. Harrison College Scholar.
Arushi Kende is an Asian studies major.
Christina MacCorkle is majoring in government and history and is a Robert S. Harrison College Scholar.
Max Nam is an English major.
Caroline Smiltneks is majoring in economics and statistics.
Bilal Afzal Shafi is majoring in computer science, mathematics and philosophy.
Sami Wolf is a computer science and mathematics major.