Turning 20! - Alumni - Cornell University

DEVELOPMENT 8
Advancing Scholarship With A.D. White Professors
In January 1993, the President’s Council of Cornell Women
officially endowed an Andrew Dickson White Professorshipat-Large
for an outstanding woman scholar. These Professorsat-Large
are chosen from among the world’s foremost scholars,
thinkers, diplomats and artists and are considered full members
of the Cornell faculty during their two campus visits over six-year
appointments The Council specifically endowed the professorship
for a woman in a field where women are traditionally underrepresented.
By July 1993, Dr. Juliet Mitchell, a noted Professor of
Psychoanalysis and Gender Studies at Cambridge University, was
appointed the first PCCW A.D. White Professor-at-Large. Since
then, three other distinguished women were chosen: Mae Jemison,
engineer and astronaut, 1999-2005; Playwright Wendy Wasserstein,
2005-2006; and Natalie Angier, science writer and journalist,
2006-2012.
Each visit by PCCW A.D. White Professors brings new
opportunity for engagement with Cornell students, faculty and
staff. For example, Dr. Jemison, the first African-American woman
to fly in space on the shuttle Endeavor in 1992, urged women at
Cornell to “serve knowledge” and the “noble cause” of human
advancement. She also noted that “too often,” women in career or
tenure tracks face extra responsibilities for programs in diversity,
education and outreach that place an extra burden on them.
Wendy Wasserstein received the Tony Award for Best Play
and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1989 for her play, The Heidi
Chronicles. A beloved playwright, she never formally visited
campus, but passed away not long after accepting Cornell’s
invitation. A special memorial service was held for her at Sage
Chapel.
The current PCCW A.D. White Professor is Natalie Angier, the
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times science writer and author.
Her books include Natural Obsessions: Striving to Unlock the Deepest
Secrets of the Cancer Cell, and Woman: An Intimate Geography. In a
September 2007 campus lecture, Angier spoke about her book. The
Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science, asserting
PCCW leadership recognized early that financial support should
be an integral part of the Council’s plan in order to carry out
its mission – even though this was not overtly stressed. From the
beginning, fundraising projects were directly related to PCCW’s
objectives and consistent with University priorities. As member
gifts increased, so did the range of PCCW’s projects routinely
selected and voted on by members. As a result, endowed funding
became a reality early in PCCW’s history.
After endowing an A.D. White Professorship-at-Large in 1993,
in 1994 PCCW endowed a Cornell Tradition Fellowship. Then in
1998, the Grants Program transitioned to an endowed fund. This
program, funded in 1992 as seed grants for tenure track junior
faculty, was renamed the Affinito-Stewart Grants Program in 1998
that science is not “scary, impenetrable or dull and dry, but must be
taken on with all the senses to be appreciated. Angier is expected
to visit campus again in the next two years. The endowment
continues to thrive and support its original purposes after nearly 20
years, and Cornell looks forward to welcoming more PCCW A.D.
White Professors-at-Large.
by Penelope Nichols-Dietrich, Program Administrator,
A. D. White Professorships-at-Large
From Seed Money to Vigorous Scholarship
Philanthropy Supports the PCCW Mission
Total Member Giving to PCCW Funds $2,750,388
(Since 1990 through 3/25/2010)
PCCW Affinito-Stewart Grants Program $1,027,616
PCCW Leadership Fund for Women $1,086,453
PCCW Leadership Scholarship Fund $224,025
PCCW A.D. White Professorship-At-Large $165,000
PCCW Cornell Tradition Fellowship $143,291
Women’s Athletics Special Gifts $104,003
Total member giving to Cornell University exceeds $50 million.
in honor of PCCW’s founders. By 2009 this endowment’s book
value exceeded $1 million.
In 2000, as part of its 10th Anniversary, PCCW launched its
Leadership Fund for Women. It is geared to programs for students
and faculty more than to individual faculty. Leadership Grants
support projects that either recognize leadership, or prepare
women for it. They are awarded annually for projects that will
impact students, faculty, administrators and staff over the long
term. By 2008 this endowment’s book value exceeded $1 million.
Proposals are now generated by the Provost’s Office, the Cornell
ADVANCE Center [described above], VP Susan Murphy’s Office of
Student and Academic Services, and the Department of Athletics.
New Leadership Scholarship Fund
For its 20th Anniversary, PCCW is proud to recognize our
members who have led and supported the Development efforts
summarized at left: since inception, total giving to PCCW funds
of $2.7 million. As Cornell looks to its 2015 Sesquicentennial,
PCCW has established the PCCW Leadership Scholarship Fund for
undergraduate women, with an endowment goal of $1 million to
sustain and continue our mission for Cornell’s next generation.
“Cornell is really one of the model programs,” said in reference to
its wide range of activities to promote women as well as its
fundraising.
~ Andrea Kaminski, Executive Director,
Women’s Philanthropy Institute