Linguist links language to social change in ‘Words Matter’

“Words Matter: Meaning and Power” – in this book for a general audience, linguist Sally McConnell-Ginet encourages readers to think critically about the words in their world and about their linguistic practices, which are often tied to groups.

RNA analysis at heart of COVID-19 testing

Jeff Pleiss has been studying RNA in large-batch tests for decades, analyzing things like yeast. With COVID-19 testing in full-swing on the Ithaca campus, Pleiss and his lab are contributing their expertise.

Renowned dissident Yuri Orlov, professor emeritus, dies at 96

Internationally renowned physicist, human rights champion and Soviet-era dissident Yuri Orlov, professor emeritus of physics in the College of Arts and Sciences, died Sept. 27 in Ithaca. He was 96.

Nobel-winning physicist Arthur Ashkin, Ph.D. ’52, dies at 98

Arthur Ashkin, Ph.D. ’52, who won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2018 for pioneering “optical tweezers” that use laser light to capture and manipulate microscopic particles, died Sept. 21 at his home in Rumson, N.J. He was 98.

Ph.D. students design biology lesson for undergrads

Graduate students in six fields of study have designed an evolution lesson on speciation for undergraduate non-majors that applies active-learning techniques. The lesson was published in CourseSource.

Staff News

Student group promotes peer voter registration by Oct. 9

Equipped with Zoom rooms and social distancing tools in the age of COVID-19, a group of students is demystifying the mechanics of voter registration and casting a ballot.

Research division HR head elected to Board of Trustees

Reginald White ’80 is the new employee-elected representative on the Cornell University Board of Trustees. Also announced earlier this year, Abby Cohn is the new faculty-elected trustee.

Experts: Acknowledge uncertainty in COVID communication

Sarah Kreps and Doug Kriner, professors of government, found that different presentations of scientific uncertainty influence attitudes about science and whether models of virus spread should guide public policy.

Gift supports A&S visiting journalist program, Cornell Tech

A $5 million gift from Jan Rock Zubrow ’77 and Barry Zubrow will support two vital university programs, one in the College of Arts and Sciences and the other at Cornell Tech in New York City.

Ezra