Empowered by Ann S. Bowers’ investment, Cornell Bowers CIS is pursuing a growth strategy that supercharges the college’s impact on higher education, technology, and society.

New Building

The Bowers gift enables a new multi-use building that will house an exemplary environment for teaching, research, interdisciplinary exchange, and interactive learning. An expanded CIS campus will bring the college’s three departments closer—further enhancing the vibrant community at the heart of our Ithaca-based campus.

Award-winning Boston-based firm Leers Weinzapfel Associates leads the design of the building, which will stand adjacent to Bill & Melinda Gates Hall. In September 2021, Steve ’95 and Alexi ’96 Conine, along with Niraj ’95 and Jill Shah, added to the Bowers gift momentum with a combined $10 million gift.

Additional philanthropic support is needed to ensure construction remains on course for spring 2025 move-in. A vital first step in the Cornell Bowers CIS growth strategy, the building will provide currently unavailable academic, collaboration, and study spaces important to students and faculty alike. State-of-the-art research labs will be a key motivator in the recruitment and retention of top faculty.

Outstanding naming opportunities are available to recognize gifts between $75,000 and $10,000,000-plus.

Should you be interested in learning more, please contact: Danielle Bluey, Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs & Development, danielle.bluey@cornell.edu; or Amy Horner, Associate Director of Development, ash6@cornell.edu.

Niraj Shah ’95 & Steve Conine ’95

Gifts totaling $10 million—$5 million from Steve Conine ’95 and his wife Alexi Conine ’96, and $5 million from Niraj Shah ’95 and his wife Jill Shah—were announced in September 2021.

The combined gift, led by the co-founders of the online home-goods retailer Wayfair, will bolster college growth to support increasing student demand and interest in computing and information science.

Faculty Excellence

Cornell Bowers CIS faculty are renowned leaders, expanding fields of inquiry, developing core technologies, and examining the societal, sustainability, and ethical implications of technological innovation.

Driven by exponential student demand, the college must invest heavily to expand its faculty—with a goal to increase by 50% over the next few years. Growth at this scale will allow the college to seize opportunities in critical research and emerging subfields and increase cross-disciplinary and university-wide collaboration.

Endowed professorships are among the best tools in recruiting top faculty and provide incentive for the best scholars to stay at Cornell. Current-use gifts directed to faculty support enable the college to offer critical start-up funding to the most sought-after talent in a market in which we compete not only with other institutions, but with industry as well.

The college’s ability to hire the best academics ensures our continued prominence at the top echelon of similarly scoped programs and enables us to meet overwhelming student demand for our classes and programs.

♦ Distinguished Professorship: $5,000,000

Awarded to exceptional senior scholars in recognition of career-long achievement, the endowed professorship enables support for research—essential in the face of competing offers from other institutions.

♦ Leadership Chair: $3,000,000

The faculty chair is awarded for a specified term of years to a newly tenured faculty member, often at the point in their career when they are most at risk of recruitment by a competitor institution.

♦ Faculty Fellowships: $500,000

The faculty fellowship is a current-use fund, enabling the Dean to support an early career faculty member. Fellowships provide startup support for research, beginning at time-of-hire and extending up to five years.

For additional information on how you can invest in the future of Cornell Bowers CIS through faculty support, please contact: Danielle Bluey, Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs & Development, danielle.bluey@cornell.edu; or Amy Horner, Associate Director of Development, ash6@cornell.edu.

Student Access, Experiences, and Educational Opportunities

Photo of human computer interaction

David Kim ’22 works on a robot to assist people with mobility issues

The college attracts exceptional minds and provides them with the tools, engaged learning opportunities, and mentoring needed to be successful in their chosen fields—regardless of their ability to pay. Our programs offer the sound fundamentals and technical expertise required for students to problem-solve across multiple domains.

Photo of human computer interaction

Student app developers enrich life on campus and beyond

Undergraduate enrollment in the college’s majors has grown sixfold over the past decade, with a record 2,000 majors in spring 2022. Notably, more than 76% of Cornell’s 15,500 undergraduates take at least one Cornell Bowers CIS class.

At the graduate level, Cornell Bowers CIS competes internationally for top talent, with alumni pioneering computing and information technology across academia and industry.

There are several ways you can support Cornell Bowers CIS students—from financial aid to funding research, entrepreneurial, and career-readiness opportunities.

Your investment helps shape tomorrow’s leaders.

Should you be interested in learning more about these options, including Cornell’s current affordability challenge, through which your gift can have an even greater impact, please contact: Danielle Bluey, Associate Dean for Alumni Affairs & Development, danielle.bluey@cornell.edu; or Amy Horner, Associate Director of Development, ash6@cornell.edu.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Cornell was an early and enthusiastic leader in dramatically broadening the scope of the technology field to include, support, and advance women and students from traditionally underrepresented groups. As a result, the college’s student body surpasses national averages for diversity: 43% of majors are women, and 16% are underrepresented minorities.

Looking ahead, Cornell Bowers CIS is committed to growing the backgrounds, identities, and intellectual persuasions of its students to reflect the communities from which they come, and the futures of which they will shape.

If you would like to help Cornell Bowers CIS further broaden the participation of marginalized populations and promote a cultural climate that celebrates diversity, equity, and inclusion, you can do so by making a gift to the Cornell Bowers CIS Innovation Fund.

Please specify in the “Other Designation or Special Instructions” box that your gift is to be directed to DEI initiatives.

Your support will enable us to sustain and build upon the programs that have proven successful and fulfill our mission to better serve our communities.

Diversity is a foundational priority and three summer offerings – CSMore, SoNIC, Designing Technology for Social Impact Workshop – demonstrate that commitment.

“Cornell Bowers CIS will continue to push boundaries in the information age through its commitment to both developing state-of-the-art computing and information technologies, and in studying and understanding the societal and human impact of these technologies.”

— Dean of Cornell Bowers CIS Kavita Bala, professor of computer science