This week in Cornell history


Tsai Ing-wen, LL.M. '80

Aug. 30, 1927 Leonard W. Kephart, Class of 1913, is the first American to scale Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. He was in Africa on a search for new grasses for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Kephart took four days to reach the peak, slogging through snow-covered gravel the last day. The climb was not entirely without scientific reward, reported the Cornell Alumni News (Nov. 10, 1927). Kephart discovered three new varieties of clover on the expedition.

Aug. 31, 1956 Tsai Ing-wen, LL.M. '80, is born in Taiwan. She is the first woman in Taiwan to run for president; the election will be held in early 2012. A moderate who favors conditional economic engagement with China, she has chaired Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party since 2008 and served as Taiwan's vice premier 2006-07. She also worked closely with Cornellian Lee Teng-hui, Ph.D. '68, during his tenure as president of Taiwan (1988-2000).