About the campaign

Students walk through campus in the early evening.

Ezra Cornell built a better future for his community, his country, and the world. He wanted, as he put it, “to do the greatest good” with the resources he had, and he decided that founding a university was the most powerful way to do it. From that deeply personal commitment grew a global institution whose founding principle of “... any person ... any study” revolutionized higher education and reverberated across countless lives.

More than 150 years later, Cornellians remain united by the drive to make Cornell and the world better for future generations.

Today’s complex challenges are not the same ones that moved Ezra Cornell to take action, but the university he built is uniquely ready to take them on. Cornell is one of the few institutions in the world with the range of expertise and depth of commitment necessary to address the issues facing our world today.

By 2026, we seek to connect at least 200,000 Cornellians to one another and to the university—through interactions large and small—and to raise at least $5 billion to continue to fulfill our founding promise in an ever-more-complex world.

Our fundraising goals:
$3 billion raised for the Ithaca campus
$1.5 billion raised for Weill Cornell Medicine
$500 million raised for Cornell Tech

Together, we will help Cornell to remain an educational beacon, a source for solutions, and a bridge to the world. We ask every Cornellian to join us in helping Cornell to do the greatest good for our time, and for all time.

Connecting 200,000 Cornellians

The interactions of hundreds of thousands connect Cornellians with one another and the university. No matter their size, these interactions multiply Cornell’s capacity to do the greatest good for students and communities all over the world.

Together, Cornellians can build these impactful connections by:

Attending Cornell events online or in person

Sharing time as a Cornell volunteer

Making a gift to Cornell

Reading and interacting with Cornell stories and more

Planet Earth reflected in the shape of the Cornell C

We're doing the greatest good as:

An educational beacon

Educating students to be leaders who carry the Cornell ethos into the world

Cornellians learn not only to thrive in their own lives and careers but to lead in a changing world. Committing to our students—welcoming, educating, supporting, and developing “any person”—is the most profound commitment we can make.

Focus areas

Access for any student—expanding access and increasing socioeconomic diversity of the student body
Educational verve—pursuing new ways to teach and to learn that are creative, evidence-based, and always moving forward
Personal wellbeing and growth—providing resources and teaching skills to promote physical and mental health that create a thriving student body

A source of solutions

Tackling the great issues of our age, from theory to practice and back

At the heart of Cornell, we find brilliant individuals working at the frontier of human knowledge. Cornellians engage directly with meaningful issues that challenge our world and our society.

Focus areas

Global sustainability
Human and animal health
Human creativity
Social and economic equity
Technology and society

A bridge to the world

Engaging with others to create knowledge with impact

New York is our home, but Cornellians are everywhere—and so is our impact. This campaign will help Cornell broaden its reach—to do even greater good—in collaboration with communities worldwide.

Focus areas

Partnerships across communities
Presence in New York City
International reach

University campaign leadership

Campaign co-chair

Gary Davis ’76

Gary Davis is a principal of DKR Capital Partners L.P. in Greenwich, Connecticut. Gary is a trustee emeritus of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and serves as chair of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art Advisory Council.

Campaign co-chair

Richard Emmet ’94

Richard Emmet is retired and lives in Larchmont, New York. Richard serves as a member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, co-chair of the College of Arts and Sciences Campaign Committee, and as a member of the Student & Campus Life Campaign Committee.

Campaign co-chair

Tom Groos ’78

Tom Groos lives in Chicago, Illinois and is a partner at City Light Capital. A former Cornell University trustee, Tom now serves as a Presidential Councillor and a life member of Cornell University Council.

Campaign co-chair

Katrina James ’96

Katrina James is the managing director of Dallas County Promise at the Commit Partnership in Dallas, Texas. Katrina is a trustee emerita of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and serves as chair of Cornell Mosaic and as Reunion chair for the Class of 1996.

Campaign co-chair

Peggy Koenig ’78

Peggy Koenig is the chair emeritus of Abry Partners in Boston, Massachusetts. Peggy is a trustee emerita of the Cornell University Board of Trustees and serves as chair of the Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy Advisory Council, and as a member of the Cornell Tech Council.

Campaign co-chair

Anne Smalling ’87

Anne Smalling is the president and managing partner of HM International in Austin, Texas. Anne serves as a member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, chair of the Executive Committee of the Board, co-chair of the College of Engineering Campaign Committee, and chair of the Class of 1987 30th Reunion Campaign.

Campaign co-chair

Enrique Vila-Biaggi ’94, MEng ’95

Enrique Vila-Biaggi is the president and chief executive officer of iedifiko, a buildings and facilities management company in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Enrique is a member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, a co-chair of the Tower Club, and a life member of the Cornell University Council.

Why give

Your support means the world.

By making a campaign gift, you’re joining a movement to make a lasting difference in our world—to do the greatest good—for our time, for all time.

Give today

Subtropical forest, Lezama Park, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Campaign launch event

President Martha E. Pollack shared the university’s plans for continuing to honor our founding principles in the biggest, most world-changing way we can. Did you miss it? Watch the campaign launch event on-demand now.

You'll hear from faculty working to solve the most urgent problems of our time, Cornell leadership breaking new ground to commit to the university’s mission, and incredible students leading the way to a bright future. Watch now and get inspired to do the greatest good.

Watch now