Looking toward Cornell's sesquicentennial in 2015, President David J. Skorton said in his State of the University Address June 11 that his vision was for a "new opportunity university for students of talent no matter their means, no matter where they were born."

Addressing about 1,000 alumni and friends in Bailey Hall during Reunion, Skorton said that vision also included Cornell setting the standard for the globalization of higher education; stepping up to the challenge of public engagement; and renewing the faculty by recruiting "a new generation of superb scholars and teachers."

After reviewing the many faculty, student and staff accomplishments this past year, Skorton said that, despite the Great Recession, Cornell remains committed to access so that talented students from all backgrounds can continue to afford Cornell. That access was aided by a $25 million endowment created in 2008 through the work of Cornell trustee Ratan Tata '59, B.Arch. '62, to help attract students from India, Skorton said. Cornell has kept its promise of need-blind admissions and offers need-based financial aid to half its undergraduates, and U.S. News & World Report placed Cornell seventh in economic diversity among top national universities, he said.

Globalization, the second component of Skorton's vision, will come from building on the success of the Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar; the work in addressing such issues as poverty, malnutrition and global food security around the world; and such academic programs as those offered through the Einaudi Center for International Studies. Already considered "an international powerhouse" and a globally respected institution of learning, discovery and creativity, Cornell can do even more. Globalization, he said, must pervade "our education, research and scholarship, our outreach and, most importantly, our view of our place in the world."

As for public engagement, Cornell was recognized this year for its outreach work by being named to the national 2010 President's Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll and designated by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching as "an engaged university," Skorton said. Student outreach also remains high, with the Cornell Student United Way earning the inaugural United Way Worldwide Campus Organization of the Year award.

Yet another example of Cornell as "an engaged university" is its work in sustainability. The Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future has already involved more than 230 Cornell faculty members in projects garnering $75 million in external funding for their sustainability research, Skorton said.

Announcing a new, potential opportunity for public engagement, Skorton said that Cornell has formally expressed interest in partnering with the city of New York to build a "visionary applied sciences and technology campus in Manhattan." He said a number of excellent institutions are competing for this opportunity, but "I know that Cornell is uniquely positioned to succeed at this venture."

Skorton said that faculty renewal, the fourth component of his vision, has already begun through a $100 million faculty renewal initiative, with three new endowed professorships in the humanities recently established through the generosity of three Cornell families in partnership with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. "Our new faculty members, like those you remember most fondly and those who are at Cornell today, will be world-class researchers, scholars and thought leaders who are also inspired -- and inspiring -- teachers," he said.

Skorton said that when Ezra Cornell first opened the university's doors nearly 150 years ago, he had noted that the foundation was laid -- "'It is a commencement we now have in hand,'" Skorton quoted the founding father as saying.

"Sons and daughters of Cornell," Skorton said, "our university is still not finished. But between now and your next reunion in 2016, I see us honoring our heritage as an 'opportunity university.'"

After recapping the four cornerstones of his vision, he said: "Then. Now. Always. Cornell. Just as it was on that first opening day. 'It is a commencement we now have in hand.' Let us begin anew."