Skorton

Cornell President David Skorton has been selected to join the Steering Committee of Partners for a New Beginning (PNB), announced former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, chair of PNB, today (Feb. 11).

PNB is a nonpartisan, nonprofit initiative launched in 2010 by former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Albright; Muhtar Kent, chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Co.; and Walter Isaacson, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute. Its mission is to harness private sector and civil society resources to advance a vision of renewed engagement, based on mutual respect and responsibility, with communities in the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia.

“David Skorton is a leading voice on educational diversity, academic and business partnerships, international outreach and immigration reform,” said Albright. “His broad experience, thoughtfulness and energy will be an excellent addition to our outstanding Steering Committee.”

PNB, a partnership with the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Department of State, seeks to broaden and deepen engagement between the United States and communities abroad by building public-private partnerships that advance economic opportunity, science and technology, and education and exchange. The PNB Steering Committee is an advisory group of prominent U.S. leaders committed to using their expertise, global networks and access to resources to foster locally driven public-private partnerships and projects to advance opportunity. Skorton’s ability to leverage the university’s highly successful business, science and engineering and international agriculture capacity will be essential in advancing PNB’s goals, said Albright.

Cornell’s international engagement, overseen by Skorton as president, includes Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar and the KAUST-Cornell Center for Energy and Sustainability. Other international initiatives and agreements include a Master of Management in Hospitality Program housed primarily at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, a dual-degree program with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in India and joint J.D. and master’s degree programs offered by the Cornell Law School in conjunction with the University of Paris, the Paris Institute of Political Studies and Humboldt University of Berlin.

Skorton is a past chair of the U.S. Business-Higher Education Forum, an independent, nonprofit organization of industry CEOs, leaders of colleges and universities, and foundation executives; and he is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has long been active in regional and state economic development. In 2009, he chaired a gubernatorial Task Force on Diversifying the New York State Economy Through Industry-Higher Education Partnerships. And at the request of N.Y. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he co-chaired the Southern Tier Regional Economic Development Council in 2011-12. His strong views on access to education, international educational collaboration and capacity building and the need for broad U.S. immigration reform have often been featured in the national and international media.