George and Harriet Cornell of Delray Beach, Fla., will be honored by Cornell University Saturday, Feb. 13, at the Ritz-Carlton in Manalapan for their gift of $10 million, one of the largest scholarship gifts in the university's history.

Cornell President Hunter Rawlings will attend a reception and dinner starting at 6:30 p.m. in the couple's honor. Also attending will be Cornell student Ryan Walsh, a graduate of Wellington High School in Palm Beach, who is one of 34 students currently receiving scholarships as a direct result of the Cornells' gift.

"George and Harriet Cornell have opened wide the doors of opportunity for generations of talented Cornell students," Rawlings said when he announced the gift in October 1998. "We choose students for their ability to achieve, and scholarships make Cornell affordable to students of outstanding potential, no matter what their financial means. We are deeply grateful and applaud their farsighted philanthropy."

Cornell admits students on a need-blind basis, which means that their ability to pay tuition is not taken into account when their applications are considered. The Cornells' $10 million is the lead gift in a $200 million scholarship campaign Rawlings announced in October.

Currently, 158 students from Florida are receiving financial aid at Cornell.

"Education is what made our country great," George Cornell commented. "It feels good to do this, and we hope others will join us."

George and Harriet Cornell have many ties to Cornell University. George and the university's founder, Ezra Cornell, have a common ancestor in Thomas Cornell, who emigrated from England to Boston in 1638. The Cornell families share a Quaker heritage and passionate belief in education and philanthropy. George's father, Edward Cornell, was a member of the university's first Law School class in 1889 and was its first law librarian. George and his sisters endowed a law professorship and a law librarianship in his honor.