Tashara Leak, an associate profession in the Division of Nutritional Sciences and associate dean in the College of Human Ecology, and Aditya Vashishta, an assistant professor in Information Science in the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, received the 2024 Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, Teaching and Service through Diversity.

The award comes with a $15,000 prize. For more information, see story in Cornell Chronicle highlighting their contributions.

Six Cornell faculty members (shown above) are participating in the Ivy+ Faculty Advancement Network, a consortium of 13 research universities, including Cornell, seeking to advance diversity and inclusion in the American professoriate.

Over the 2024-25 academic year, the fellows will join colleagues from other universities in the Institute on Inquiry, Equity and Leadership in the Academic Department. Through in person and on-line workshops they will explore campus climate and how to make their departments and institutions more equitable. More information about the Faculty Advancement Network is available here.

As part of the Ivy + Mellon Fellowship, Anindita Banerjee, an associate professor in the Department of Comparative Literature, has been appointed a special assistant to the dean for curriculum and program development in the School of Continuing Education (SCE).

She will assist SCE's efforts to develop an online bachelor’s degree, re-launch the residential summer precollege programs, and strengthen SCE’s role as a pathway to Cornell for students from underserved backgrounds.

"I am excited to be working with Dean Loeffelholz on these multifaceted efforts to expand access to Cornell’s excellent education across the disciplines, and to forge innovative structures and channels for doing so,” said Banerjee.

Banerjee's appointment culminates her two-year-long term as Ivy+ Mellon fellow with the Faculty Advancement Network.

Derek J. Penslar, William Lee Frost Professor of Jewish History in the Department of History at Harvard University, is coming to Cornell this fall. Originally scheduled for April 8, his talk Beyond Sympathy and Antisemitism: The International Community and the Creation of the State of Israel, 1947-1949, was eclipsed by the eclipse.

Penslar will speak on Sept 24, at 5 PM in G10 Biotechnology and on-line. Stay tuned for future emails.

Penslar's talk is part of a series, Antisemitism and Islamophobia Examined, sponsored by multiple academic units in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Provost's office. Links to the recordings are provided below.

Nov 16, 2023, The Intersectionality of Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Racism, given by Ross Brann, the Milton R. Konvitz Professor of Jewish and Near Eastern Studies, College of Arts and Sciences, Cornell University

Feb. 12, 2024, Antisemitism, the Israel-Hamas War, and Distorting the Law of Genocide, given by Menachem Rosensaft, Adjunct Professor of Law and Lecturer, Cornell Law School

Feb. 26, 2024, Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: What's the Relationship? given by Dov Waxman, Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Foundation Professor of Israel Studies, UCLA

March 18, 2024, Out of Time: On the Rise and Resilience of Anti-Muslim Bigotry Today given by Moustafa Bayoumi, Journalist and Professor at Brooklyn College, City University of New York

March 26, 2024, Let's Talk about Anti-Zionism given by Ethan Katz Associate Professor of History and Director of the Center for Jewish Studies, University of California Berkeley

March 28, 2024, Racializing Religion: Islamophobia, Antisemitism and Palestine, Sahar Aziz, Distinguished Professor of Law and Director, Center for Security, Race and Rights, Rutgers University Law School

April 30, 2024, Villains into Heroes: The Rehabilitation of Fascists and Antisemites in Europe and North America given by Robert Williams, Finci-Viterbi Executive Director, USC Shoah Foundation

Now in its fifth year, the Academic Leadership Series gives faculty leaders -- chairs and directors -- and those aspiring to take on leadership roles an inside look into university operations, how decisions are made and the issues academic leaders face.

Comprised of 20 tenured faculty members across the university, this year's cohort first met in March when they listened to a talk Cornell by the Numbers given by Chris Cowen, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Additional sessions covered topics such as managing crisis, and strategic planning and restructuring. This fall's topics include understanding the undergraduate experience, and mediation.

Each session is designed with an action-learning pedagogy to engage participants in dialogue. The series is led by Avery August, Deputy Provost; Yael Levitte, Senior Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Development and Diversity; Kathryn Boor, dean of the Graduate School, and Sunita Sah, an associate professor of management and organizations in SC Johnson College of Business.

Participants are nominated by their deans. Self-nominations with the support of deans are welcome. Applications for the 2025-26 cohort will be solicited early next year.

OFDD's writing accountability program, Making Time to Write, is open to all faculty. More than 300 faculty members have participated in the program since it began in spring 2020.

Held on Zoom, the three-hour-long sessions occur weekly and give faculty opportunities to set time aside on their calendars to write. Led by facilitators, the sessions run most weekdays, depending on demand. Participants join a community of writers from across the campus. Encouragement and accountability but not critique are offered.

To participate in this Fall's program running from Sept 2-Dec. 1, please register.

To activate your NCFDD subscription, follow these instructions:

1) Go to www.faculty.diversity.org/join;