Cornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, U.S. Its two medical campuses are in New York City and Education City, Qatar. Cornell is a member of the Ivy League.

Cornell was founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White as a coeducational, non-sectarian institution where admission was offered irrespective of religion or race. Inaugurated shortly after the American Civil War, its founders intended that the new university would teach and make contributions in all fields of knowledge — from the classics to the sciences and from the theoretical to the applied. These ideals, unconventional for the time, are captured in Cornell's motto, an 1865 Ezra Cornell quotation: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study."

The university is organized into seven undergraduate colleges and seven graduate divisions, each defining its own academic programs in near autonomy. Since the mid-20th century, the university has been expanding both its campus resources and influence worldwide. From a new residential college housing system to its 2001 founding of a medical college in Qatar, Cornell claims "to serve society by educating the leaders of tomorrow and extending the frontiers of knowledge." Cornell counts more than 240,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 40 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students.

Research is a central element of the university's mission; Cornell spent $605 million on research and development in a diverse group of fields during the July 2005 to June 2006 fiscal year.