In celebration Ezra Cornell's 205th birthday, today is Founder’s Day.
Ezra Cornell founded the university using his own background as a model for the type of education his school would provide. A carpenter, mechanic, farmer, salesman, inventor, entrepreneur, politician, trustee, and philanthropist, as well as a Quaker who left his religion to marry a Methodist, Ezra Cornell is a perfect embodiment of “Any Person…Any Study.” Of course, that is his own motto.
Now, in 2012, with the sesquicentennial right around the corner, Ezra would have likely added “Any Place” to his idea of a Cornell education. This would have been preposterous in his time. However, today, not only is there a Cooperative Extension program in each New York State county, but also there is a Cornell footprint in New York City, Washington, DC, Puerto Rico, Rome, and Doha, Qatar. That New York City footprint is about to get even larger with the upcoming construction of the New York City Tech Campus.
Happy Birthday, Ezra.
