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Cornell University President Hunter Rawlings

The Cornell University Board of Trustees approved the appointment of Hunter R. Rawlings III as interim president of the university effective July 1, 2005. Rawlings, who served as Cornell's 10th president from 1995 to 2003, will serve in an interim capacity until a new president is named.

Hunter R. Rawlings III came to Ithaca with a vision for composing Cornell -- for organizing the remarkably diverse parts of Cornell in such a way that they would work more effectively together. During his presidency, the university took great strides toward making that vision a reality. Today, thanks largely to Rawlings's efforts, Cornell is much more than the sum of its individually excellent parts.

Rawlings renewed Cornell's emphasis on the importance of undergraduate teaching, setting an example by teaching an undergraduate course in the Department of Classics over the last two years of his presidency. He created the new position of vice provost for undergraduate education and created the Presidential Research Scholars program. He envisioned and implemented a new approach to residential life for Cornell undergraduates, resulting in the transformation of the North Campus for freshmen and the forthcoming creation of residential colleges on the West Campus for upper-level students.

He set strategic scientific priorities, as recommended by a faculty committee charged with identifying areas of emphasis in the life sciences and engineering -- advanced materials science, computing and information science, and the new fields that comprise the biological revolution, including genomics, computational biology, bioinformatics, and nanobiotechnology. He reorganized the biological sciences on the Ithaca campus and set in motion the plans for a pioneering Life Science Technology Building.

At the same time, he provided additional support for the humanities and social sciences, recognizing their critical significance for the future of men, women, and children in a rapidly changing scientific and technological environment. He gained the respect of faculty across the campus for his support of intellectual life and academic standards, initiating and personally participating in a series of foundation-supported faculty seminars in the social sciences and humanities to encourage intellectual collaboration across disciplines and departments.

Rawlings renewed the strength of the Weill Cornell Medical College, guiding the implementation of the Medical College's strategic plan through a successful major gifts campaign. He also signed an agreement to establish a new branch of the Medical College in the Middle Eastern nation of Qatar, thereby creating an unprecedented expansion of Cornell's role on the international scene.

In his commitment to academic excellence, Rawlings promoted the growth of undergraduate applications for admissions, lowered the university's rate of admission offers, and raised the yield on those offers of admission. He was an advocate for increased student diversity and Cornell's need-blind admission policy, which was made permanent during his tenure.

Born in Norfolk, Virginia, Rawlings received his Ph.D. from Princeton University in 1970 and is a 1966 graduate of Haverford College, with honors in classics. His scholarly publications include a book, The Structure of Thucydides' History (Princeton University Press, 1981). A national spokesperson for higher education, he served as chair of the Ivy Council of Presidents, chair of the Association of American Universities, and a member of the American Council on Education Board. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and serves on the board of managers of his alma mater, Haverford College, and on the National Advisory Committee of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. He also serves on the boards of the National Humanities Center and the American School of Classical Studies at Athens.

Upon his resignation as president, Rawlings was elected president emeritus. He is currently serving as a professor in Cornell's Departments of Classics and History.