Your April 2026 reads
In its April 2026 round-up of new books, the Cornellians website features titles by College of Arts and Sciences alumni, including a mystery novel, a book for kids about loss and a peek into the hidden lives of lab animals.
‘Moonshot’ project aims to restore trust in the digital public sphere
College of Arts and Sciences researchers are on a Cornell team receiving a $250,000 seed grant for AI moonshot restoring trust online. Backed by the Laude Institute, the Cornell team could secure $10 million to build transparent, verifiable AI auditing tools for public discourse.
Ask an ambassador: A senior looks back on study abroad
A Cornell University student reflects on a transformative Oxford semester abroad. Student Ambassador Sarah Mittleman, an English and psychology major in the College of Arts & Sciences, recounts Oxford tutorials, travel across 11 countries and advocates studying abroad.
How One Volunteer Gig Reminded Me What Sport Is Really For
Cornell University alumni Adam Wolford '14, Christine Shaw Palmquist '87, and Manahil Jafri '25 crossed paths at a Dare2Tri adaptive triathlon camp in Tampa, Florida, where Wolford volunteered alongside athletes with physical disabilities. The personal essay, published April 2026 in Cornellians, reflects on the deeper purpose of sport after witnessing disabled athletes rediscover speed and competition through the nonprofit's swim, bike, and run programming.
Admitted Class of 2030 seeks real-world impact
Cornell admits the Class of 2030 emphasizing real-world impact, enrolling 5,776 students from 102 countries. At Cornell University, the diverse cohort reflects the land-grant mission and applied learning goals across multiple colleges.
Your March 2026 reads
This month’s featured titles by A&S alumni and faculty include an evolutionary look at dating, a Christian work on inner peace and a queer love story.
Olympic champion is a trailblazer in women’s pro ice hockey
A three-time captain for the Big Red, Micah Zandee-Hart ’19, BA ’20, now leads the New York Sirens of the PWHL
Cornell alumnae leave Milan with one gold, two silvers in Olympic hockey
Rory Guilday ’25 won a gold medal and Brianne Jenner ’15 and Kristin O'Neill ’20 took silver in women’s Olympic hockey.
Psychology expert on losing a gold medal
Bronze medalists often appear happier than their competitors who win silver, says Cornell psychology researcher Thomas Gilovich.
Online dating seem awful? The reason may lie in evolution
In a new book –released in time for Valentine’s Day – a psychologist alum offers hopeful insights for those looking for love
Cornell researchers win prize for insight into conspiracy belief
Gordon Pennycook and David Rand won the 2026 Newcomb Cleveland Prize from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Three Cornellians named Schwarzman Scholars for study in China
A Cornell student and two alumni have been named Schwarzman Scholars for the 2026-27 academic year and will spend it in a master’s program in global affairs at Beijing’s Tsinghua University.
Four women’s hockey alumnae to play at Winter Olympics
Players familiar to Cornell women’s hockey fans will take the ice when the puck drops at the 2026 Winter Olympics this week in Milan, Italy.
Art offers access to true self
Psychology researcher Jordan Wylie and colleagues found that artistic excellence, rather than moral excellence, offers greater access to one’s true self.
College of Arts and Sciences announces 2026 Klarman Fellows
The 12 early-career scholars will pursue research in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
AI chatbots can effectively sway voters – in either direction
Two new papers – with experiments conducted in four countries – demonstrate that chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs) are quite effective at political persuasion, moving opposition voters’ preferences by 10 percentage points or more in many cases.
Research Matters’ video podcast debuts, translating ideas into impact
Launching Jan. 27 with three episodes, “Research Matters” spotlights Cornell scholars whose research directly engages with real-world challenges, from climate change and public safety to mental health.
Fossiles to fortepianos: The Hill's 'mini-museums' and collections
The next time you visit Ithaca, check out exhibits on Chimes history, astronomical instruments, historical keyboards and so much more
Discovery challenges assumptions about the structure of language
Researchers believe that mental representations of language patterns make humans adept at improvising new sentences.
'Remember they’re playing for the love of the game’
A former Big Red star himself, women’s ice hockey coach and A&S alum Doug Derraugh ’91 has led the squad to five ECAC championships.
2025 Year in Review
In 2025, Cornell produced cutting-edge AI research, inaugurated a president and advanced agriculture and sustainability. The university’s faculty, staff, students and alumni made the world a better place, welcomed back two Nobel laureate alumni and conducted research that matters.
From better sleep to stronger communities: The benefits of gratitude
Gratitude not only makes you feel good, but it helps you live up to your best self and be a better member of society, psychology professor Thomas Gilovich has found.
Celebrating the journey with our December A&S grads
December graduates walk the stage this month, so we sat down for a talk with three A&S grads who’ve taken different pathways through Cornell.
Cornell Center for Social Sciences awards fall grants targeting $50M in external research support
The Cornell Center for Social Sciences offers multiple grants to help Cornell faculty maximize their research impact. These awards help seed ambitious projects and provide support to teams of faculty applying to major external funding and collaboration opportunities.
Grants to support research at nexus of AI, climate science
New grant funding will support eight research projects seeking to reduce AI’s energy use and integrate AI in environmental research.
Nexus Scholar alumni profile: Jacqueline Allen ’23
"I got a taste of what neuroscience research is really like."
Right or left, low-quality news links popular on social media
The spread of dubious headlines on social media isn’t just a right-wing thing – it's a social media thing, according to new research from psychology professor David Rand ’04.
Combining humanities and tech for research gains
An interdisciplinary project is sparking collaborations among those interested in digital approaches to the study of history, languages and culture.
To disclose or not to disclose good deeds, that is the do-gooder dilemma
A new study explores how people feel about sharing their good deeds.
Nobel laureate Richard Thaler delights in the human side of economics
Richard Thaler, a Nobel laureate who was a professor at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management from 1978 to 1995, spoke Oct. 17 at the Alice Statler Auditorium.
Native American stereotypes, as seen by Native Americans
A Cornell-led study centered the voices of teenage citizens of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians as they gain awareness of stereotypes. Adam Hoffman, Assistant Professor of Psychology, is the first author of an article published Sept. 25 in the journal Youth & Society describing the study.
Nobel-winning behavioral economist Richard Thaler to speak Oct. 17
Thaler won the Nobel Prize in 2017 for work done in the 1980s at Cornell. He is now the Charles R. Walgreen Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Economics at the University of Chicago.
Behavioral economics: Born at Cornell, embraced by policymakers
Economists and psychologists work together to understand how human behavior impacts people's decision-making in the marketplace.
Safety first: Babies heighten adults’ perception of threats
In a threatening situation, the world looks more dangerous when caring for an infant, finds new research that used a virtual baby to explore parenting dynamics.
Nine postdocs honored with achievement awards
Inbal Ravreby, Klarman Postdoctoral Fellow in psychology, received an Achievement Award for Excellence in Leadership.
Three Nobel Laureates to speak on campus this semester
This fall, the Cornell community has the chance to hear from three Nobel Laureates in one semester, two of whom are alumni: Claudia Goldin ’67, Jack Szostak, Ph.D. ’77, and Richard Thaler.
New Faculty: Jordan Wylie
Jordan Wylie, Psychology
2025 Nexus Scholars talk about academic growth, transformation
Ten students who participated in this summer's Nexus Scholars Program share their stories..
Your July 2025 reads
This month’s featured titles include a look at the world’s first advice column, self-help for parents, and a scholarly book on Venezuela.
Psychology Faculty win 2025 SUNY Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence
Psychology faculty members Felix Thoemmes and Karl Pillemer were selected for 2024–25 State University of New York (SUNY) Chancellor’s Awards for Excellence.
Why are lefties more creative? Turns out, they’re not
“The data do not support any advantage in creative thinking for lefties,” said Daniel Casasanto, associate professor in the Department of Psychology and College of Human Ecology, and director of the Experience and Cognition Lab. “In fact, there is some evidence that righties are more creative in some laboratory tests, and strong evidence that righties are overrepresented in professions that require the greatest creativity.”
Where the gender bias grows: Coming-of-age novels rife with stereotypes
An article published June 7, 2025, in the Journal of Research on Adolescence by researchers including Department of Psychology faculty Jane Mendel and Misha Inniss-Thompson, highlighted the issue of rigid gender stereotypes in novels aimed at young adults. The Cornell researchers used computational text analysis to sift through every word of more than 300 American coming-of-age novels published over the last 100 years.
Conspiracy theorists unaware their beliefs are on the fringe
Overconfidence is a hallmark trait of people who believe in conspiracies, Cornell psychology researchers have found.
Emotion – not just action – helps brain define, divide events
Study participants who watched scenes from popular movies showed emotion plays a larger role than previously understood in establishing event boundaries that help structure attention and memory.
Why our attempts to avoid emotional discomfort often backfire
"As a clinical psychologist, I’ve learned that moments of anxiety can be golden opportunities to learn to tolerate distress," A&S psychology major Alissa Worly Jerud ’08 writes.
Staff graduates recognized for academic achievements
More than two dozen staff members who earned degrees at Cornell or other institutions this year while also working at the university were celebrated in a ceremony June 10.
Study shows how city life shapes music choices
Living in a metropolis broadens our musical horizons, and makes our playlists less alike.
US Rep. Beth Van Duyne ’95, Brooks School dean to discuss policy at Reunion
The discussion will explore the intersection of public policy, politics and civic engagement.
Brain-inspired AI model learns sensory data efficiently
With brain mechanisms as a guide, Cornell researchers are designing low-energy robotic systems inspired by biology and useful for a wide range of potential applications.
Roper Center announces 2025 student fellows advancing public opinion research
This year’s cohort includes the W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow and three Kohut Fellows. These emerging scholars will advance data-driven research by contributing original scholarly work that uses Roper iPoll’s extensive survey archive.