On the eve of the college’s 100th anniversary celebration, an alumnae-led fundraising initiative in Cornell Human Ecology (CHE) has achieved a milestone. As part of the university’s campaign To Do the Greatest Good, the ‘100 at 100’ initiative has increased the number of endowed undergraduate scholarships from women donors to 100, marking a commitment to student access and affordability, honoring the college's history of women's leadership, and paving the way for future generations of scholars.
"This is a testament to the unwavering dedication and generosity of our trailblazing alumnae,” said Rachel Dunifon, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology. “These new scholarships will not only ensure access for deserving students, but also uphold our commitment to improve human lives, in every context and at every scale.”
New gifts for undergraduate scholarship endowments have exceeded $17.5 million to date, with contributions ranging from $100,000 to over $2 million. Spanning the classes of 1957 to 2008, each gift honors the legacy of women’s leadership in the college with many donors choosing to name their scholarship after a woman who has made an impact on their lives. The effort includes daughters honoring mothers, husbands honoring wives, and a granddaughter honoring her two grandmothers.
Tanni Wu ’06 established a scholarship in 2023 in honor of her late mother, Mary Ma, a former member of the Cornell China Advisory Board (CAB). Ma, who worked at Lenovo/IBM, visited her daughter at Cornell often when she traveled to the U.S. for work.
“She became a Big Red fan in no time,” Wu said, “and the quality time we spent together on her many quick visits to Ithaca in the midst of her intense business itinerary were among the fondest of our shared memories, and a source of inspiration for her ‘yes’ when invited to join CAB years after my graduation.”
Following her mother’s passing in 2019, Wu and her friends and family made gifts to create an affordability scholarship in honor of the global citizen who deeply believed in and embodied Cornell’s core values.
“This scholarship is deeply personal, and it is a commitment to values,” said Wu. ”Throughout my Cornell career and during my decade-plus experience as an alumni volunteer, I have encountered a number of brilliantly accomplished Cornellians whose life-changing Cornell education was made possible by the generosity of those who came before us. I have learned so much from their diligence, focus, and sense of purpose, and I wanted to do my modest part to help sustain this tradition.”
Gwen Whiting ’98, who established a $1 million scholarship also serves as Human Ecology’s campaign co-chair.
“I am so proud to be part of ‘100 at 100’ and grateful to those who were inspired to participate,” Whiting said. “The number of women who give meaningfully to Cornell is growing fast, and I think it’s important that our impact is visible to inspire and encourage others while honoring the college's female founding roots. It's also very important to me that this initiative is going to support more student opportunities with financial aid.”
CHE provides nearly $20 million in financial aid each year, upholding Cornell's need-blind commitment and ensuring that all qualified students can pursue their education. Endowed scholarships sustain this commitment into the future, allowing the college to attract and enroll exceptional students who will make a lasting impact on human health and thriving.
The college has long been a home for trailblazing women. In 1911, Martha Van Rensselaer and Flora Rose, co-directors of what was then the Department of Home Economics in the College of Agriculture, were named Cornell’s first female full professors. They led the expansion of the department into a school and ultimately, in 1925, the New York State College of Home Economics. Sarah Blanding became the first dean of the college – and first female college dean at the university – when she was appointed in 1941. And in 2021, Eve DeRosa, the Mibs Martin Follett Professor in Human Ecology, became the first woman and first person of color elected Dean of Faculty at Cornell.
Today, women represent more than two-thirds of the college’s alumni body. They hold a range of leadership position in the communities where they live and work, harnessing their influence, resources and networks to tackle the challenges facing individuals and societies.
Undergraduate affordability remains the single greatest fundraising priority in Cornell’s campaign To Do the Greatest Good, and Human Ecology will continue to seek new donors for ‘100 at 100’ into its centennial year and in the remaining years of the campaign, Dunifon said. “This initiative has created an enduring legacy of women's leadership and philanthropy, ensuring that the college continues to be a home for trailblazers for the next hundred years and beyond.”