Photo: Ryan Young/Cornell University

Meng Zhou, M.S. ’92, Ph.D. ’96, and his doctoral advisor, E.V. Baker Professor of Agricultural Economics Emeritus Andrew Novakovic
Photo: Provided

Donor’s New Fund to Support Students, Mentoring

Inspired by his experience as a graduate student at Cornell, Meng Zhou, M.S. ’92, Ph.D. ’96, has established the Andrew Novakovic and Meng Zhou Ph.D. Scholars Fund to support doctoral students in applied economics and management. The fund is named to celebrate the relationship between Zhou and his doctoral advisor.

Read more about the fund.

More Graduate School News

• Ten Inducted into Bouchet Graduate Honor Society
• Physics Ph.D. Candidate Wins 2024 Three Minute Thesis Competition
• Doctoral Candidate Selected as World Food Prize Council of Advisors Youth Representative
• Doctoral Alumna Selected for SUNY Chancellor Distinguished Ph.D. Graduate Dissertation Award

In 1918, J.L. Summers operates a check signing machine in the treasury department.
Photo: Provided

Long before people worried about the effects of ChatGPT on personal communication and social norms, there was the autopen that some feared would be misused to forge signatures. In a new analysis, Cornell researchers, including information science doctoral student Pegah Moradi, examined three autopen controversies to see what they reveal about when it is OK to automate communication.

Read more about uses of the autopen.

More Research with Impact

• 3D Reflectors Help Boost Data Rate in Wireless Communications
  • Bal Govind, electrical and computer engineering doctoral candidate
• microRNA Predicts Severe Crohn’s Disease in Children
  • Alexandria Shumway, genetics, genomics, and development doctoral candidate
• Digitized Images Illuminate U.S. Colonial Period in the Philippines
  • Claire Cororaton, history doctoral candidate

McGraw Tower is shown covered in construction scaffolding on Feb. 7.
Photo: Alexandra Bayer/Cornell University

In 1891, the University Library, with its 173-foot clock tower, was the newest building on the Arts Quad. Cows grazed on Libe Slope as 1,538 students glanced up to the clocks to check the time. More than 130 years later, enrollment has expanded to more than 25,000 students, the number of bells has grown to 21, and time and weather have taken a toll on McGraw Tower. A $7 million restoration of the tower is expected to be completed in November.

Read more about the restoration.

More Cornell and Ithaca News

• The Eclipse in Photos: Looking Up, from Two Campuses
• South Hill Recreation Way Trail Nears Eight-mile Extension After NYSEG Deal
• Digital Campus Guide Makes Cornell Tech More Accessible

Cayuga Lake stretches out beyond the Cornell campus.
Photo: Lindsay France/Cornell University

Free Cornell-themed Quizzes and Puzzles

Want to know what Cornell building you are? Think you can identify campus stairways based on pictures? Want to test your Big Red trivia knowledge? Are you an Ezra or an Andrew? Find out with quizzes and puzzles from Cornellians!

Explore the quizzes and puzzles.

Magnolia blossoms are in full bloom outside Sage Chapel.
Photo: Jason Koski/Cornell University

Cornellians Would Love to Hear From You!

Grad Notes are your opportunity to connect with your fellow alums and share news. Have you marked a career milestone or taken a trip? Did you get married, have a baby, or welcome a grandchild? Do you have a Big Red memory that would make other Cornellians smile?

Submit a news form or email cornellians@cornell.edu.

Elbert Cox, Ph.D. 1925, in academic regalia
Photo: Provided

After becoming the first Black person to earn a Ph.D. in the field of mathematics, Elbert Cox, Ph.D. 1925, spent a lifetime inspiring others to follow.

Read more about Cox.

What’s Behind Canned Wine’s Rotten Egg Smell? Cornell Team IDs Culprit
Cornell Chronicle, 4/16/24
Alumni: Gavin Sacks, Ph.D. ’05; Julie Goddard ’99, Ph.D. ’08; and Rachel Allison, Ph.D. ’22

Flexible Due Dates Lower Student Stress Without Loss of Rigor
Cornell Chronicle, 3/22/24
Alumni: Mark Sarvary, Ph.D. ’06, and Joseph Ruesch, M.S. ’16, Ph.D. ‘22

Sander Kersten Named New Director of Division of Nutritional Sciences
Cornell Human Ecology, 2/6/24
Alumni: Sander Kersten, Ph.D. ‘97

In Chatty Midshipman Fish, the Midbrain Awakens a Gift of Gab
Cornell Chronicle, 1/2/24
Alumni: Najva Akbari, Ph.D. ‘21

Long-lost Moog Synthesizer Finally Makes it to the Stage
Cornell Chronicle, 12/13/23
Alumni: Robert Moog, Ph.D. ’65

See more alumni in the news stories.

Have you seen a Cornell Graduate School alumnus or alumna featured in the news recently?
Let us know, and we’ll include the details in the next Alumni Newsletter! Submit your news story.

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