Cornell has been named by Conceive Magazine as one of the top 50 most family-friendly employers in the United States because of the benefits it offers to employees who hope to be parents.

The magazine's national survey of employers across the country looked at such factors as health insurance coverage for fertility diagnosis and treatment, financial assistance for adoptions and paid time off for both parents for birth and for adoption. Cornell University was one of the two universities who received this award this year (Stanford University was the other); among the other organizations that made the top-50 list were American Express, Goldman, Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, Sprint, and Verizon Communications.

"We are proud to be recognized for our efforts to help employees who wish to be parents," said Lynette Chappell-Williams, director of Cornell's Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality. "This award helps verify our ongoing mission to make Cornell a great place to work for people from all walks of life."

During the past year, Cornell has won awards that recognized its human resource policies for such diverse groups of employees as those over 50 years of age; working mothers; adoptive parents; female executives; lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender students and staff; and veterans.

For more information about Conceive Magazine, visit http://conceiveonline.com/. For more information about family benefits and other human resource issues at Cornell, visit http://www.ohr.cornell.edu.