The World's Land Grant University

Cornell is an international university, and over the next several years it is likely to become more so. Is it appropriate for our university to increase our international presence? To encourage more Cornell undergraduates to seek a study abroad experience? To welcome thousands of international students and scholars each year? Should we expend efforts and resources toward internationalization when there are so many pressing needs right here in Ithaca?

I believe that the answer to all those questions is “yes.” Universities need to engage the world to educate American students to function in a global economy, to expose them to the breadth of world cultures and to continue to address common problems in an interconnected world.