For the third consecutive year, Cornell has been named to Working Mother magazine's list of "100 Best Employers for Working Mothers" in the United States for creating a positive work environment for women, including working mothers.

The magazine recognized Cornell's efforts to create an inclusive work environment through child care, flex time and provisions for leave that support faculty and staff parents.

"Cornell recognizes that to recruit and retain the best faculty and staff, we need to do all we can to support all members of our community," said Mary Opperman, vice president for human resources at Cornell. "Our new child-care center, where 48 infants receive high-quality care and another 50 toddlers and 60 preschoolers form a wonderful new community, opened this past August. We have also increased our assistance for adoptive parents and the number of students, staff and faculty who receive child-care grants. Many of the programs that support working mothers -- our flexibility policy, our health benefits and wellness program, our educational benefits and our networking and volunteer opportunities -- support all Cornell staff and faculty."

Lynette Chappell-Williams, director of the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality in the Division of Human Resources, added, "Our flexible work policy, for instance, allows staff to avoid peak travel periods, supports our sustainability efforts and helps employees take advantage of other time- and cost-saving measures, such as carpools, vanpools and rideshares."

"The economy is not going to alter the commitment of the 100 best to working mothers, because they've made family-friendly policies a part of their corporate DNA," said Carol Evans, CEO of Working Mother Media. "Supporting families is a vital part of their culture and not just an added benefit."

The Working Mother award is among several recent accolades that Cornell has received for its human-resource policies that strive to make working at the university attractive to people from all walks of life, including: the Exemplary Voluntary Efforts Award from the U.S. Department of Labor (2007); Top Nonprofit Employer for Women Executives from the National Association for Female Executives (2008); the 100 Best Adoption Friendly Workplaces from the Dave Thomas Foundation (2007 and 2008); ComputerWorld's 10 Best for Information Technology Professionals (2007 and 2008); and the Best Employers for Workers Over 50 by AARP (2005-08).

Cornell and other "100 Best" will be profiled in the October issue of Working Mother Magazine.