Ithaca campus on Cornell's main campus with
McGraw Tower and Olin and
Uris libraries in the background Cornell University's main campus is located in
Ithaca, New York, on East Hill, offering views of the city and
Cayuga Lake. The campus has expanded to approximately since its founding, now including multiple academic buildings, laboratories, administrative facilities, athletic centers, auditoriums, museums, and residential areas. In 2011,
Travel + Leisure recognized Cornell's campus in Ithaca as one of the most beautiful in the United States, praising its unique blend of architectural styles, historic landmarks, and picturesque surroundings. and
Barnes Hall in the background|leftThe Ithaca campus is characterized by an irregular layout and a mix of architectural styles that developed over time through successive master plans. More ornate buildings generally predate
World War II, while later construction reflects
modernist and contemporary styles. Several Cornell University buildings have been listed on the
National Register of Historic Places:
Andrew Dickson White House,
Bailey Hall,
Caldwell Hall, the
Computing and Communications Center,
Morrill Hall,
Rice Hall,
Fernow Hall,
Wing Hall,
Llenroc, and
Deke House. Morrill Hall has also been designated a
National Historic Landmark. Three other listed historic buildings, the original Roberts Hall, East Roberts Hall, and Stone Hall, were demolished in the 1980s to make way for new campus buildings and development.
Central, North, and West campuses on the Cornell campus, which hosts religious services and concerts and is the final resting place of
Ezra Cornell, the university's founderThe majority of Cornell University's academic and administrative facilities are located on its main campus in Ithaca. Architectural styles range from ornate
Collegiate Gothic,
Victorian, and
Neoclassical buildings to more spare
international and
modernist structures.
Frederick Law Olmsted, designer of
Central Park, proposed a "grand terrace" overlooking
Cayuga Lake in one of the earliest plans for the development of the campus. North Campus is primarily residential, with ten residence halls for first- and second-year students and housing for transfer students in the Townhouse Community. The West Campus House System showcases a blend of architectural styles, including
Gothic-style buildings and residence halls collectively known as "the Gothics". near Baker Hall South In Collegetown, located near the campus in Ithaca, the architectural styles are diverse, reflecting the area's mixed-use nature. The Schwartz Center for the Performing Arts and two upper-level residence halls are surrounded by a variety of apartment buildings, eateries, and businesses.
Natural surroundings Cornell University's main campus in Ithaca is located in the
Finger Lakes region in
upstate New York and features views of the
city,
Cayuga Lake, and surrounding valleys. The campus is bordered by two
gorges, Fall Creek Gorge and Cascadilla Gorge. The gorges are popular swimming spots during warmer months, but their use is discouraged by the university and city code due to potential safety hazards. Adjacent to the main campus, Cornell owns the
Cornell Botanic Gardens, which feature cultivated gardens, arboretum collections, and natural areas.
Sustainability Cornell University has implemented several
green initiatives designed to promote sustainability and reduce environmental impact, including a gas-fired combined heat and power facility, an on-campus hydroelectric plant, and a
lake source cooling system. In 2007, Cornell established a Center for a Sustainable Future. The same year, following a multiyear, cross-campus discussion about energy and sustainability, Cornell's
Atkinson Center for Sustainability was established, funded by an $80 million gift from alumnus David R. Atkinson ('60) and his wife Patricia, the largest gift ever received by Cornell from an individual at the time. A subsequent $30 million commitment in 2021 will name a new building on campus. As of 2020, the university, which committed to achieving net carbon neutrality by 2035, operates six solar farms that provide 28 megawatts of power. Cornell is developing an enhanced geothermal system, known as Earth Source Heating, designed to meet campus heating needs. In 2023, Cornell was the first university in the nation to commit to
Kyoto Protocol emission reductions. The same year, a concert held at Barton Hall by
Dead & Company raised $3.1 million for
MusiCares and the Cornell 2030 Project, which contributed to establishing the Climate Solutions Fund to catalyze large-scale climate research across the university, administered by the Atkinson Center.
New York City campuses Weill Cornell , the medical school of Cornell University, is located on the
East River on the
Upper East Side of New York City.|left Cornell's medical campus in New York City, also called Weill Cornell, is on the
Upper East Side of
Manhattan. It is home to two Cornell divisions,
Weill Cornell Medicine, the university's medical school, and
Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences. Since 1927, Weill Cornell has been affiliated with
NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, one of the nation's largest hospitals. While Cornell's medical school maintains its own faculty and academic divisions, it shares administrative and teaching hospital functions with
Columbia University Medical Center. In addition to NewYork-Presbyterian, Cornell's teaching hospitals include the Payne Whitney Clinic in Manhattan and its Westchester Division in
White Plains, New York. Weill Cornell Medical College is affiliated with neighboring
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center,
Rockefeller University, and the
Hospital for Special Surgery. Many faculty members have joint appointments at these institutions. Weill Cornell, Rockefeller, and Memorial Sloan–Kettering offer the
Tri-Institutional MD–PhD Program, which is available to selected entering Cornell medical students. From 1942 to 1979, the Weill Cornell Medical campus also housed the
Cornell School of Nursing.
Cornell Tech on
Roosevelt Island in New York City, a graduate campus and research center On December 19, 2011, Cornell and
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in
Haifa won a competition for rights to claim free city land and $100 million in subsidies to build an engineering campus in New York City. The competition, established by former
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, was designed to increase entrepreneurship and job growth in New York City's technology sector. The winning bid consisted of a 2.1 million square foot state-of-the-art tech campus to be built on
Roosevelt Island, on the site of the former
Coler Specialty Hospital. The following year, in fall 2012, instruction began at a temporary location in space donated by Google, at
111 Eighth Avenue in
Manhattan. In 2014, construction began on the Cornell Tech campus, and the first phase was completed in September 2017.
Thom Mayne of
Morphosis Architects was selected to design Cornell Tech's first building.
Other New York City programs in
Midtown Manhattan. The
College of Human Ecology and
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences enable students to reach out to local communities by gardening and building with the Cornell Cooperative Extension. Students in the
School of Industrial and Labor Relations' Extension and Outreach Program make workplace expertise available to organizations, union members, policymakers, and working adults. The
College of Engineering's Operations Research Manhattan, located in the city's
Financial District, brings together business optimization research and decision support services used in financial applications and public health logistics planning. in Manhattan, a focal point for alumni In 2015, the
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning opened an 11,000 square foot,
Gensler-designed facility at
26 Broadway in Manhattan's Financial District. The
General Electric Building at 570
Lexington Avenue serves as the New York City location for over a dozen additional Cornell University programs, including the New York City headquarters of the School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the New York City branch of the Cornell Cooperative Extension.
Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar In September 2004, Cornell opened the
Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar in
Education City, near
Doha, which is the first U.S. medical school established outside of the United States. The college, which is a joint initiative with the
Qatar government, is part of Cornell's efforts to increase its international influence. The college is partially funded by the Qatar government through the
Qatar Foundation, a
Qatar state-led non-profit organization, which contributed $750 million for its construction. The medical center is housed in a large two-story structure designed by
Arata Isozaki, a Japanese architect. In 2004, the Qatar Foundation announced the construction of a 350-bed specialty teaching hospital near the medical college in Education City, which was to be completed in a few years.
Research facilities memorial on Cornell's
West Campus in Ithaca Cornell's off-campus research facilities include Shoals Marine Laboratory, a seasonal marine field station on
Appledore Island off the
Maine–
New Hampshire coast, which is operated in conjunction with the
University of New Hampshire and focuses on undergraduate education and research. Until 2011, Cornell operated
Arecibo Observatory in
Puerto Rico, which was the site of the world's largest single-dish
radio telescope., designed by
I. M. Pei|leftThe university maintains several facilities dedicated to
conservation and ecology, including the
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in
Geneva, New York, which operates three substations, the Cornell Lake Erie Research and Extension Laboratory in
Portland, the Hudson Valley Laboratory in
Highland, and the Long Island Horticultural Research Laboratory in
Riverhead on
Long Island. The
Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca conducts research on
biological diversity in birds. Additional research facilities include the Animal Science Teaching and Research Center, the Duck Research Laboratory, the
Cornell Biological Field Station, the Freeville Organic Research Farm, the Homer C. Thompson Vegetable Research Farm, and biodiversity laboratories in
Punta Cana in the
Dominican Republic and the
Peruvian Amazon. The Cornell in Rome program allows students to study architecture, urban studies, and the arts in
Rome, Italy. The university is also a member of the
Laidlaw Scholars program, which provides funding to undergraduates to conduct internationally focused research and foster leadership skills.
Cooperative extension service As New York state's
land-grant university, Cornell operates a
cooperative extension service, which includes 56 offices across the state. These offices provide programs in agriculture and food systems, children, youth and families, community and economic vitality, environment and natural resources, and nutrition and health. The university operates New York's Animal Health Diagnostic Center, which conducts animal disease control and husbandry. ==Organization and administration==