Serving as a Cornell Tech Fellow

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I recently accepted a role as a Cornell Tech Fellow at the new campus on Roosevelt Island, which officially opened last week. I’m working under the direction of Dan Huttenlocher, the dean and leader of Cornell Tech. I have a desk there and be on campus a day or so a week helping Dan with a variety of initiatives as he builds and scales this important new institution (which is very much a entrepreneurial startup).

Cornell Tech is the outcome of the kind of public/private partnerships with world-changing ambition that reflect the civic character of New York City so well. I’ve always been fascinated with how things work and I’m excited to see a new world class campus develop up close from day one. The launch of the campus is a huge moment for New York City and something that will impact generations.

I first met Dan in 2011 when we gave Cornell space to do an alumni event at Etsy. At that time, there was a competition amongst top universities around the world to occupy a new tech campus on Roosevelt Island. Stanford, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, and Cornell were among the 18 contenders. Cornell won the bid with Dan as the leader and six years later (after a few years in Google-provided quarters in Chelsea), the campus is fully operational. I’ve been involved in various ways with Cornell Tech for a few years now, giving a welcome talk to the incoming classes the past two years and as a guest in the Conversations in the Studio series. Every time I have talked with students there, I feel more optimistic about the future of the world. The future is in good hands at Cornell Tech.

I’m excited to be a small part of it. Congratulations to everyone who had a role in launching the new campus, particularly Dan!

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Published by Chad Dickerson

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