Who We Are: The Importance of Diversity

• The College of Engineering was founded in 1870 and is the largest and highest ranked engineering program in the Ivy League.
• Our program has incredible depth with 14 majors and 22 minors in addition to the breadth of academic opportunities across the University. Around 450 undergraduate engineering courses are taught annually.
• Cornell Engineering sponsors 34 student-led project teams.
• Our undergraduate program is the first of its size and stature to have reached gender parity among students.
• Students from racial and ethnic identities historically underrepresented in engineering make up 20% of our undergraduate community.
• International students compose 10% of our undergraduate engineers.
• Cornell Engineering has over 250 faculty on board. All faculty in our college teach and advise undergraduate students.
• Our students gain access to an unparalleled career network and over 46,000 alumni connections.
• We provide outstanding support services from faculty, peers, and our advising and student services offices.

The Importance of Diversity

Diversity in all definitional forms is intrinsic to excellence in engineering. Indeed, devising the best engineered solutions to complex problems is often achieved by drawing from the diverse ingenuity of people from broadly different backgrounds, lived experiences, and identities.

The compositional diversity of our students, faculty, and staff is fundamental to delivering on Cornell University’s mission to “discover, preserve and disseminate knowledge, to educate the next generation of global citizens, and to promote a culture of broad inquiry throughout and beyond the Cornell community.” The depth, breadth, and quality of our collective diversity is foundational to Cornell Engineering’s mission to educate students of all backgrounds, create superb engineering solutions, and tackle the ever-evolving challenges of an increasingly interconnected and complex world. To this end, the College of Engineering defines diversity inclusively through a wide lens, fully acknowledging that it is at the points where differences respectfully collide, connect, or diverge that discovery, creativity, and deep learning are catalyzed and forged.

Cornell Engineering’s inclusive approach to diversity includes and is not limited to: aspirations; beliefs; economic circumstances; expectations; genders; gender identities and expressions; geographic origin; learning styles; life experiences; neurodiversity; perspectives; personal characteristics; philosophical outlooks; physical abilities; sexual orientations; social, racial, or ethnic backgrounds; and talents.