Cornell Human Ecology Annual Fund

Through annual fund investment, nine CHE undergraduates pursued cutting-edge summer research exploring multiple fields in 2025. Their investigations ranged from examining how social networks support caregiving for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, to studying early childhood responses to global climate change, and developing sustainable shape-changing fibers through wet spinning techniques and evaluation.

“Undergraduate research has been a defining part of my Cornell experience. I’ve gained valuable skills in research, science communication, and project management. Even more meaningful has been the mentorship and friendship that I’ve found. These are experiences that I’ll carry with me long after graduation.”—Jiayi Guo ’26, undergraduate research stipend recipient

Scholarship support reaches nearly half of all CHE students, helping to make sure that financial circumstances don’t limit academic pursuit and excellence. Expanding the range of life experiences in our student population is a powerful investment and commitment to Ezra Cornell’s founding vision of “… any person … any study.” CHE is committed to helping our students learn in an environment that prizes diversity across many facets, leading to innovative solutions that tackle our most urgent contemporary issues.

By investing in the CHE Annual Fund, you’re fueling research experiences that prepare students to lead with impact, collaborating across disciplines and helping shape global health outcomes. In 2025, Human Ecology undergraduates partnered with the World Health Organization to address urgent health challenges, from childhood obesity to point-of-care anemia diagnosis and infant nutrition. Their findings are shaping international policy.  “One of my biggest takeaways has been realizing how this work can go beyond Cornell to impact a much larger population.”—Esha Shakthy ’24, Hunter R. Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholar, and Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research Scholar.

Expanding scholarship capacity remains our foremost commitment. Enhanced annual fund giving provides broader student engagement through transformative CHE experiences and countless others. Resources provided by your contributions democratize access to high-impact educational experiential learning experiences, where theoretical knowledge is contextualized into universally adopted practices.

We envision every Human Ecology graduate completing meaningful engaged learning during their Cornell tenure. From community-centered work in New York City to faculty-guided research investigations in Ithaca.  Student stipends for summer research and real-world learning experiences are currently limited. Sponsored summer internships provide funding for students who want to take low-paying or unpaid internships to pursue their academic or professional interests.

Strategic annual fund contributions directly affect our ability to recruit and support the world’s leading educators and researchers who will shape the next generation of breakthrough discoveries. Through this sustained commitment to excellence, we cultivate an environment so dynamic and resource-rich that top field professionals compete for the opportunity to join our community as faculty members. By strengthening our human capital through philanthropy, you make it possible for our students to learn from and collaborate with the world’s most innovative minds.