SIMON WHEELER/Journal Staff The Cornell University campus is shown in an aerial view looking south-southeast; the Crescent at Schoellkopf Field is visible near the top left of the picture. On Thursday, Jeffrey Lehman will be inaugurated as the 11th president of the university, which was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White. Jeffrey Lehman Inauguration schedule Jeffrey Lehman, Cornell University's 11th president, is being inaugurated in ceremonies on three Cornell campuses around the globe, Oct. 12-16. The celebration will culminate Thursday on the main Ithaca campus with a processional, speakers and public appearances. The events throughout the inaugural tour included or will include remarks and lectures by the Sheikh of Qatar, national AIDS research leader Anthony Fauci, prize-winning architect Richard Meier and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader-Ginsburg. Thursday's events in Ithaca will be as follows: Meeting with community leaders at the Tompkins County Public Library, 8:30 a.m.: Lehman's day will begin with a tour of the library and a conversation with community leaders on the connection between Cornell and Ithaca. Three concurrent lectures offered on campus, 10 a.m.: Richard Meier, a world-renowned architect, will speak on "The New Architecture of Optimism," in the Statler Hotel auditorium; N.R. Narayana Murthy, chairman of Infosys Technologies Ltd., will speak on "Cornell -- the Unfinished Agenda: The Musings of a Corporate Person," in the large conference room of the Biotechnology building; Alice Fulton and Kenneth McClane, both nationally acclaimed poets and professors in Cornell's English department, will read from their work "Subversive Pleasures: A Poetry Reading," in Sage Chapel. Procession lineup and reception -- Arts Quad, noon: Inauguration delegates and participants will gather, and a new Cornell ice cream, Ezra and Andrew's World View, will be unveiled. Special chimes concert from McGraw Tower, 1:05 p.m. Academic procession from Arts Quad to Barton Hall begins, 1:15 p.m. Installation ceremony -- Barton Hall, 2 p.m.: Bader-Ginsburg will speak, and Lehman will give an inaugural address at the ceremony. "Ezra and Andy's Excellent BIG RED Adventure" -- Barton Hall, 7 p.m.: Students will present entertainment.

ITHACA -- As Cornell University welcomes Jeffrey Lehman as its new president, many scientists, scholars and elected officials look to the institution -- and to Lehman -- as a leader with a wider array of responsibilities than just manning a school.

Taking the reins Thursday in Ithaca, at the final leg of his inaugural tour, Lehman will head an institution known for academic excellence and cutting-edge research. And as a land-grant institution, Cornell's responsibilities extend past its campus confines, into Tompkins County and beyond, from its Cooperative Extension and public school outreach to a medical college in the Persian Gulf.

Cornell has built a reputation not only in outreach and staying ahead of the academic curve, but also as a global trendsetter, particularly in the fields of science and engineering.

Scientific trend-setting is something that's old hat for Cornell, according to Barbara Baird, a chemistry professor.

"We're ranked nationally in separate disciplines," said Baird, who is the university's Nanobiotechnology Center director. "But what we're really strong in is the ability to work together -- it's a very long, very strong tradition."

In fact, "nanobiotechnology," which refers to observation of particles at the atomic level to enhance understanding of biology, was a term coined by Cornell University scientists in 2000. The school's Nanobiotechnology Center, which will find its new home in the nearly complete Duffield Hall on the engineering quad, is a hub of first-rate research in the field, Baird said.

Happening right on campus, but resulting in global ripple effects, Cornell is a leader in several major research projects and investments that may help shape the course of the 21st century.

With billions of dollars of research money from places like the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Cornell's faculty members, staff and students have taken on such multi-scale projects as the Mars Exploration Rovers -- on their way to the planet right now -- and a $500 million Life Sciences initiative, the largest research undertaking in Cornell's history.

Here's an overview of Cornell's status as it heads into the 21st century, and some of the programs -- and dollars -- that will fall under the headship of Lehman, the university's 11th president.

Life Sciences

Research on everything from DNA, neuroscience and ecology are encompassed in Cornell's life sciences initiative, which will be the largest fund-raising campaign in the university's history, according to Cornell News Service.

Announced in May 2002 under former president Hunter Rawlings, the $500 million initiative will pull together Cornell's many-faceted physical sciences resources into a powerful research engine.

It will include construction of a 240,000 square-foot Life Science Technology building. Slated for completion in 2007, the $140 million building will be constructed at the west end of Alumni Field near the center of campus.

The building will be home to research in such areas as plant biology, genomics and biomedical engineering. According to Cornell News Service, funding for that building will come from the state and from private donors.

Designated in 2001 by the state as a research center for genomics, technologies and information sciences, Cornell expects to receive up to $15 million from the state for the life sciences building. University officials said another part of the half-billion dollar investment will be 50 new faculty hires, and the creation of 100 graduate-study fellowships, according to Cornell News Service.

The word on campus is interdisciplinary, the idea being collaboration between departments. Results will be everything from bioengineering, biogeochemistry and biocomplexity, to computational genomics, business innovation and neural systems and behavior, according to Cornell News Service.

Among the goals of the project are medical treatments and nutritional plans tailored to specific genetic makeups, vaccines administered through food, and "mouse-on-a-microchip" systems to test drugs without harming live animals.

"These are research areas in which we feel we have an opportunity to be real leaders," said Kraig Adler, Cornell's vice provost for life sciences. "Or in cases where we are already the leaders, it is important to make these investments to remain ahead."

Part of the investment will be the $62.5 million Duffield Hall, currently under construction, which will house mostly nanotechnology research.

The College of Veterinary Medicine will also receive a $20 million facility and laboratory for lab work with mice, and between $50 million and $75 million will be dedicated to renovation and expansion of chemistry, chemical biology, physics and applied physics departments.

Materials Science

Two advanced electron microscopes are just one part of what Cornell's $4 million annual grant from the National Science Foundation brings to the table in the field of materials research, said Helene Schember, associate director for the Center for Materials Research.

In the midst of several research projects, the Cornell Center for Materials Research is currently awaiting the arrival on campus of microscopes, one of them designed by Cornell professor Jim Silcox.

One will be moved to Cornell's campus and will find a home in Duffield Hall in February 2004. The other should come by late summer 2004, according to Helene Schember, associate director for Cornell's Materials Research Center.

"Both of them are fantastic and they're going to make Cornell a real magnet for modern microscopy," Schember said.

Housing the largest 29 materials science research program in the nation, Cornell's center looks at how materials -- from plastics to metals --are formed, and what their properties are.

The center also gets $400,000 from the state to fund industrial partnerships and encourage New York industries to collaborate, according to Schember.

Space Sciences

By having a faculty whose research interests and expertise fall in the field of astronomy and space sciences, Cornell has become a place that's heavily supported by the wider space community including NASA, in doing experiments and participating in world-class missions.

"Cornell has long been a leading institution in sending satellites up above earth's atmosphere and doing observations," said Saul Teukolsky, a physics and astronomy professor.

A major initiative that --literally -- left the ground this year, is the $700 million Mars Exploration Rover project, led by professor Jim Squyres.

Two rockets are now headed for Mars, carrying rovers that will detach from the craft and sweep up information from the planet's surface. One of the two rovers was designed and analyzed by Cornell professors and graduate students.

The first craft is expected to reach Mars early next year, Teukolsky said.

"The underlying goal is to find out if the conditions on Mars could ever have been hospitable to life," he said. "They will look for water, and other chemicals."

Another project that is underway is entitled SIRTF, or the Space Infrared Telescope Facility. For the first time, a highly sensitive telescope will be combined with a new generation of infrared technology to detect and record light from early galaxies, according to Teukolsky.

Launched in August, Cornell's component of the SIRTF project, led by professor Jim Houck, involves the design of one of three cameras. Attached to the SIRTF, the cameras are designed to record faraway light from early galaxies.

That project's total price tag is $458 million, Teukolsky said.

"This will do for infrared astronomy what the Hubble Telescope has done for optical astronomy," Teukolsky explained.

Nanobiotechnology

Creating tools to better understand biology at its very smallest, sub-cellular level, is the goal of Cornell's Nanobiotechnology Center, created in 2000 and engaged in a number of research projects.

One way that nanotechnology is used to enhance understanding in other scientific disciplines is the work being done at Cornell on genomics -- the study of human genes. With advancements in nanotechnology, geneticists can get a better understanding of the structure and functions of the tiniest strands of human genetic material, Baird said.

According to Baird, the center is waiting for approval of a renewal grant from the National Science Foundation to continue its research. The $20 million original grant, which lasts through 2004, is up for a five-year extension, but is not yet finalized.

International scope

Besides its high-tech research here on Ithaca's campus, Cornell has expansion plans that reach overseas.

Mostly recently in Cornell's international extensions, Cornell dedicated Sunday its new medical college in the Persian Gulf country of Qatar.

Weill Cornell Medical College in Doha, Qatar, was signed into agreement with the country's Emir in April 2001, and will throw open its doors in time for the 2003-04 school year. The school will offer both pre-medical courses and a four-program for an M.D. degree. Entry requirements are the same as those at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City.

Another program in the works through the college of agriculture is called Bridging the Rift, according to Gil Levine, acting director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies at Cornell. The program would be a joint venture between Cornell and the governments of Israel and Jordan, to establish a research and instructional facility near the border between the two nations.

"There is a formal agreement signed and at the present time it's in the advanced planning process, Levine said. "There's a hope that students will be placed there next year."

In the realm of international studies, Cornell Provost Carolyn "Biddy" Martin appointed an advisory committee last year to look at Cornell's role in opportunities for education overseas, Levine said.

"Part of it will be increasing internationalization of the undergraduate curriculum," he said. "Another will be linkages with universities around the world. We already have a number but there may be a more concentrated effort."

He also said the university may encourage students to take semesters and years abroad in Asia and Africa, as opposed to the more traditional destinations in Europe, and English-speaking countries.

Contact: aju@ithaca.gannett.com

Originally published Wednesday, October 15, 2003