Influence through partnership
August 15, 2025
This summer, I took on a tome and a half with William Kirby’s book, Empires of Ideas: Creating the Modern University from Germany to America to China (2022: Harvard University Press). The inspiration to dive in came partly from the strong recommendation of an acquaintance, but more from the many debates and discussions about freedom of expression on campuses that arose from our theme year in 2024, and since. Whatever the motivation, it was a worthy endeavor, and I learned a lot.
A book about system-wide change in higher education
The book starts from the premise that while American universities may today dominate the major rankings of global universities, this has not always been so. Indeed, during the 19th century, it was the German universities that dominated higher education advancement – not Oxford or Cambridge, but the University of Berlin, Humboldt University, and Free University of Berlin. Kirby uses the first third of the book to feature case studies on these examples of the rise of the research university modeL as it built on and integrated with the liberal education model prevalent in the U.K. and went on to drive the booming university scene in the U.S. at that time. My favorite section introduces Wilhelm von Humboldt (1767-1835). A diplomat and philosopher associated with the German Enlightenment, and a lifelong friend of the influential thinker Friedrich Schiller, Humboldt set forth the model for a new kind of university that would marry research and teaching, protect academic freedom (students could pursue any curriculum of their choosing — sound familiar, Cornellians?) and establish a central “Philosophische Fakultät,” or what we would call a Faculty of Arts and Sciences, the essence of liberal education. Many points in Kirby’s discussion outline how hard it was to bring this model to reality. No doubt.
The middle third of the book is about the rise of “American exceptionalism” as it relates to university education. Part of this comes from the geopolitics of Europe during the two World Wars that led to mass intellectual emigration. But it was much more than this, as Kirby writes in Chapter 4: “Perhaps more than anything else, it was the diversity of the American experience in higher education – diversity of institutions, goals, thought, faculty, students, governance, fundings sources, and more – that distinguished it from both its European ancestors and the many institutions around the world that seek to emulate its success.”
Throughout the 20th Century, the American university system distinguished itself as a bastion of academic freedom when this was under threat elsewhere, and much was accomplished through American investment in rigor and the diversity of talent. I do quibble with Kirby’s choice of Harvard, Duke, and especially Berkeley as his clinical studies for this section of the book. On the emergence and importance of the concept of the land grant university in the aftermath of the Morrill Act of 1862, Cornell University’s founding is the ideal example of the “unique fusion” of the English college, the German research university, and the American land-grant college, centered on vocational education and providing applied solutions to public problems. Thank you, Ezra and Andrew!
The back third of the book and its focus on the rise of universities in China is not surprising, given Kirby’s own expertise as a China scholar at Harvard. It does imply an “arc” to the book that the next century for higher education belongs to the Tsinghua, Nanjing and Hong Kong Universities – he refers to Hong Kong University as “Asia’s Global University.” But I am not sure — and, frankly, nor is he.
In examining the foreign models at play in a modern China, it becomes difficult to identify any immaculate line bringing “global knowledge and international standards of higher education to China, while still serving the state and the nation.” But such is the nature of true exploration and inquiry. There are many fascinating turns in the lives of these 20th Century institutions, immense successes and challenges, and I appreciated this section so much. Our international dual-degree programs China provide boundless opportunities for knowledge-sharing and collaboration amid cultural edification.
The final chapter is by far the winner, though, in which Kirby outlines lessons and prospects. A big theme here is how much leadership matters, not just at the presidential level but at all levels of a university (faculty, deans, board of trustees). It turns out Kirby had this message in mind throughout the book, as he outlined the Humboldts, the Charles Eliots (Harvard), Qiang Yingyi (Tsinghua) in each of the earlier chapters. For yours truly, there was much in his closing passage that caused me to pause and reflect during these warm Ithaca days. Do consider the book for yourself. It is a thought-provoking project.
Reminding us about the seeds of business education at Cornell
Speaking of university history, Cornell Alumni Affairs officer and university historian Corey Earle gave a fascinating presentation at our College’s Leadership Retreat in June about how the seeds for business education at Cornell were penned by first President Andrew White in the 1860s before Cornell was even launched. (And, it’s worth mentioning 24 years before The Wharton School at UPenn, arguably the first US business school, was founded in 1881 and well pre-dating our own Dyson, Nolan or Johnson Schools.)
Corey’s presentation gave a good boost to my welcome of this year’s incoming class of Cornell MBA students last week. As bright-eyed and well-informed as they are, they don’t arrive thoroughly informed about the founding of the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, a business school built with a higher purpose, or about our College’s commitment to stay true to the ideals of our founders.
What ideals? Well, not everyone knows that Ezra Cornell was a self-taught businessman who grew up in central NY and had accumulated massive wealth by building telegraph infrastructure across the US during the Civil War period. He founded Western Union, which is a multi-billion dollar multinational business services company, and arguably the first financial technology (fintech) company, given its pioneering development of electronic money transfers. Cornell then met Andrew White, a Yale-trained historian who appreciated the value of a liberal curriculum but felt that practical expertise and application were crucial skills to teach as well: this resonated with the entrepreneur in Cornell. Together they identified a need for a non-sectarian modern university, open to all students very early on, which could serve the state, the nation, and ultimately the world.
I informed these new students that our core values remain strong. We support purposeful discovery, free and open inquiry, community, discussion respecting different beliefs and views, and the pursuit of business that has a positive impact on people’s lives.
Living our core values each day
If you want to reflect on our core values reflected in action, dear readers, please learn about the Cornell Hanga Ahazaza Initiative. It was formally completed at the end of July this year. This incredible seven-year project was a collaboration of the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, educational and civic agencies in Rwanda, and the Mastercard Foundation to bring upskilling to the management and staff of Rwanda’s growing tourism businesses.
It was the ultimate public-private-academy partnership and one of my favorite expressions of our “land-grant-to-the-world” mission and ethos. It was the best kind of partnership — combining the strengths and needs of public and private entities to build workforce and opportunity in a country rebounding from grave difficulty.
What a great college-wide lift among our faculty and staff featuring each of our three Schools. Between 2019 and 2025, the Cornell Hanga Ahazaza project delivered content leading to 1,444 certificates in hospitality management, tourism, and customer service. The “Train the Trainer” program brought 44 managers to Ithaca to gain skills they shared back home with their employees. The team employed local staff and maintained an office in Kigali, trained new and aspiring entrepreneurs, offered valuable training in the understanding of hospitality and disability accommodations, and created a teaching case study on Sustainable Tourism in Rwanda. Exploring the challenges associated with the management of tourism and conservation in Rwanda’s three major national parks, the case facilitates learning among students interested in business decision-making, policy, leadership, conservation, and tourism. Throughout the grant, they exceeded every goal set, even in the face of adaptations to COVID lockdowns.
It is not an overstatement to say that this program has measurably changed lives. Students attested to their improved leadership, customer relations, and decision-making skills, their deepened understanding of marketing, communications, and business strategy, and their transformed confidence in solving real-world challenges.
Outgoing Associate Director Kim Szpiro conducted surveys at six months and one year post-completion. She reported that “89% of respondents had an improvement in their employment situation (promotion, pay increase, increased responsibility etc.) following the program. One of our early graduates…within two years of graduating, was nominated for the General Managers Program at Radisson Blu and is now next in line for a GM position. There are many such success stories. This program was so impactful that I regularly have people reach out to me to ask when the next program will happen.”
When we think of the university, any university, as a center of power and influence, on society and each other and geopolitics, but here’s a fine example of Cornell’s land-grant mission, indeed our “land grant to the world” ethos of service. Our work affects careers and families, and it defines new opportunities. We build people’s ability to commit to the focused work of leadership and innovation through collaboration.
And I couldn’t leave without mentioning:
- On August 1, we welcomed 14 new faculty members to our College and we are so proud to call them new Cornellians. They span our different area groups and schools and I know that they will contribute immeasurably over the next many years. Welcome to our new colleagues!
- One of our new colleagues, Professor David Rand joined us from MIT Sloan and he takes up a joint appointment in our Marketing and Management Communications area group with Cornell’s Bowers School of Computer Science. David’s work on “the art of persuasion” examines how AI chatbots in the form of large language models (LLMs) have developed the ability to change people’s minds – including their political views – even after less than 10 minutes of conversation. Amazing, right? The Financial Times wrote up a feature on David’s work, which will make you think and want to have a discussion with someone else. Welcome to Cornell, David!
