Far Above Cayuga's Waters and Infinitely Beyond

Lauren Ritter
Phi Sigma Sigma

It never ceases to amaze me how incredible Cornell’s alumni are. I know I sound like such a dork saying that, but have you ever searched Google for a list of famous Cornell alumni? I swear I’m not as nerdy as I seem, but it was a snowy Sunday night, my apartment was freezing and I wanted to procrastinate doing my homework. So, naturally, I found myself on Wikipedia reading random articles.

I always smile when I hear about famous Cornellians who have accomplished great things around the world and feel a greater sense of pride for the college I attend. We all know the motto upon which Ezra Cornell founded this university in 1865: "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study." I think that our opportunity to study so many different fields is what has allowed our alumni to go out and accumulate such a wide range of accomplishments.

After reading about famous Cornellians for about four hours, I came up with a list of 21* famous Greek alumni who have contributed to Cornell as well as the far reaches of the world, well beyond these 10 square miles surrounded by reality (Read: that means Ithaca for all you non-Townies).

1)      David Starr Jordan, class of 1872(1851—1931) entered Cornell in 1869, pursuing a career in botany. While at Cornell, Jordan became a member of the Delta Upsilon fraternity. In 1885 he was named President of Indiana University, which was big news at the time given that he was the youngest university president at 34 and first president at IU to not be an ordained minister. Jordan also served time as president of Stanford University beginning in 1913.Besides working in the academic world, Jordan became well-known for being a peace activist, serving as president of the World Peace Foundation from 1910—1914.

2)      Willard Dickerman Straight ’01 (1880 –1918) came to Cornell in 1897 to study architecture. After moving to the Hill, Straight joined Delta Tau Delta. The Oswego native also edited and contributed to a few different campus publications and helped to organize Dragon Day. In addition to being a brother of DTD, Straight was inducted into the mysterious Sphinx Head Society. Following graduation, he worked as a secretary to foreign diplomats in China, Korea and Cuba, and then returned to America where he went to work for J.P. Morgan as an investment banker before getting married. He also began a political newspaper with his wife and friend before joining the United States Army, where he was promoted to the rank of Major. After his death in 1918, Straight’s wife Dorothy made a substantial donation to Cornell to build the student union building across from the campus store.

3)      James Lynah ’05 (1881—1956) was a transfer from Clemson University when he first came to study engineering at Cornell. Lynah was captain and quarterback for the Red’s football team during his time on the Hill, as well as a brother of Sigma Phi and a member of the Quill and Dagger society. After graduating Cornell, Lynah worked for DuPont and General Motors before becoming the first Director of Athletics at Cornell from 1935—1943. In that position, he spearheaded a movement which would create an athletic conference specific to the eastern United States, the modern ECAC (Eastern College Athletic Conference). After leaving Cornell, Lynah chaired the NCAA committee on recruitment. Lynah Rink is named in his honor, as he was an inaugural member of the Cornell university Athletic Hall of Fame.

4)      John S. Knight ’18 (1894—1981) attended Cornell, but never graduated; however, he did later receive a degree of “War Alumnus.” Before leaving early to enlist in the Army, Knight was a member of Phi Sigma kappa. Outside of Cornell, he started working for his father’s newspaper, The Beacon-Journal, as a sportswriter, moved up to managing editor and later inherited the paper. Knight began buying other nationwide newspapers between 1937—1873, and eventually merged his company with another to form Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Inc. A former member of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, Knight won a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing and was award an honorary law degree. He is also the namesake of the John S. Knight Institute for Writing in the Disciplines here at Cornell.

5)      Elwyn Brooks “E.B.” White’21 (1899—1985) is arguably one of Cornell’s most well-known names, many of us having read his books since we were little. White earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1921. During his time at Cornell, White worked as an editor of The Cornell Daily Sun, became a brother of Phi Gamma Delta (FIJI) and was inducted into the Quill and Dagger Society. After graduating from Cornell, White wrote for The Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer before joining the staff of The New Yorker. White married fellow staffer and Literary Editor, Katherine Angell. The couple’s son Roger also worked for The New Yorker, serving as a fiction editor and baseball writer. White is probably most well-known to our generation through his children’s fiction, including Stuart Little, Charlotte’s Web and The Trumpet of the Swan. White won an honorary Pulitzer Prize in 1978 for his work as a whole.

6)      Herbert Fisk Johnson, Jr. ’22 (1899—1978) was the grandson of Samuel Curtis Johnson, Sr., the founder of the S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., as well as the third generation to lead the family company. Johnson was a member of Chi Psi while at Cornell as well as an active Board of Trustees member after graduating. He was one of the university’s top benefactors, having the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art named for him.

7)      Robert Trent Jones ’30 (1906—2000) designed his own major when he attended Cornell. Growing up Jones was an avid and skilled golfer, so he decided he wanted to be a professional golf course designer and then took classes in landscape architecture, horticulture, hydraulics and econ, among others. During his time on the Hill as a brother of Cornell’s Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter, Jones also designed the back nine of Cornell’s golf course, which is named in his honor. Though the course wasn’t used until 1941, he returned in 1954 to complete the front nine holes as well. Jones has designed or redesigned almost 500 golf courses in the United States and abroad. His courses are trademarked by their artistic landscaping and deft placement of hazards. Jones’ courses encourage golfers to take risks because golf is a game of strategy where there is no reward for not taking risks.  

8)      Austin H. Kiplinger ’39 (1918—) was the first of three generations of Kiplingers to attend Cornell. Son of the founder of the Kiplinger Washington Editors, Kiplinger began his journalistic career in high school working for his father. This love for wri