Description
Cornell College, founded in 1853 near Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a small, competitive liberal arts institution, serving many first-generation college students from the Midwest. The College was introduced to the Luce Foundation by Henry R. Luce’s second son, Peter Paul Luce (1929-2018), who served as a trustee there for nearly three decades. In 1998, the Foundation honored his commitment with a major grant to update its art facilities and expand its exhibition program in his name. Among his own contributions to the College was support for a new admissions center, whose work he encouraged by flying more than 125 college counselors to the campus from high schools throughout the region.
Under the leadership of President Jonathan Brand, Cornell College launched a new major, and then a new B.S. degree program, in engineering in 2015. The engineering program is modeled on recommendations from the National Academy of Engineering’s report, The Engineer of 2020: Visions of Engineering in the New Century , which stressed that engineers must “remain well-grounded in the basics of mathematics and science, but expand their vision of design through a solid grounding in the humanities, social sciences and economics.” These recommendations aligned with the College’s data about prospective students’ interests, as well as its research about other offerings in the region. Peter Paul Luce had also long argued, based on his own career in aeronautics, that an engineering program would be a highly appropriate addition to Cornell College’s liberal arts offerings.
Cornell has recruited new professors in engineering to augment its faculty strengths in mathematics and physics. The new program has received approval from the Higher Learning Commission (of the North Central Association, the regional accrediting association), recognition is pending from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), and enrollment has grown each year. A $35 million capital project is nearing completion, which includes a new building for biological sciences and chemistry, and the renovation of its historic West Science Hall for its programs in mathematics, physics, computer science and engineering. The latter facility will include the Peter Paul Luce Machining and Fabrication Lab, for which Mr. Luce made a major contribution when the new program was announced.
The Luce Foundation’s grant would assist with the expansion of the engineering program, including support for faculty and new course development, summer research internships, equipment and operations.
First elected a Member of the Foundation in 1958, Peter Paul Luce never made use of the matching or discretionary grants programs. Since 2006, he has introduced Cornell College’s leadership and new programs, asking that the Luce Foundation explore ways to “come alongside” his own commitment there. Respecting President Brand’s creative work at the College, and learning about the new engineering program, Margaret Boles Fitzgerald and Michael Gilligan considered over the past year a discretionary grant. Gilligan’s site-visit to the campus in April 2018 confirmed the College’s strengths and the new program’s promise, and resulted in this Special Project recommendation to match Peter Paul Luce’s first gift for the engineering lab. Following his death in September 2018, this grant will advance a project that he championed and honor his memory.
