Our revolutionary history

From the beginning, we recognized that the Information Age was transforming society and saw the potential to guide and amplify that change.

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1960

1965

Department of Computer Science is formed

Department of Computer Science formed, established Ph.D. program; Juris Hartmanis appointed chair.

Juris Hartmanis, founding chair of Cornell's Department of Computer Science.
1966

First Ph.D. in CS awarded.

1970

1974

Program of Computer Graphics, started under Don Greenberg, receives NSF funding, first of its kind.

Scientific American’s May issue features a computer-generated cover image of renowned architect I.M. Pei’s Johnson Art Museum before it was built.

1978

Computer Science introduces bachelor’s degrees with partner colleges.

1979

John Hopcroft publishes “Introduction to Automata Theory, Languages, and Computation” with colleague Jeffrey Ullman.

1980

1983

Computer Science M.Eng. program started.

1984

330 institutions use Cornell Synthesizer Generator to teach programming.

"The Cornell Box," made history as the first radiosity image, with computations measured in tens of minutes. 

1985

Cornell Theory Center founded, one of only four NSF supercomputer centers.

1986

John E. Hopcroft received Turing Award for achievements in the design and analysis of algorithms and data structures.

A color photo of John Hopcroft

1990

1991

arXiv founded, an open-access archive of scientific articles.

1993

Juris Hartmanis receives Turing Award for paper which established the foundations for the field of computational complexity theory.

1999

Faculty of Computing and Information Science established.

2010

2011

Cornell wins the NYC Tech campus bid.

2012

Cornell Tech begins operations out of several floors in Google’s building. 

Dan Huttenlocher appointed as founding dean and vice provost; Deborah Estrin announced as first academic hire.

2014

Gates Hall becomes new home for Faculty of CIS.

A color photo showing the exterior of Bill and Melinda Gates Hall
2017

Cornell Tech campus opens on Roosevelt Island.

2019

Faculty of CIS celebrates 20 years.

2020

2020

Transformative gift from Ann S. Bowers ’59 renames Faculty of CIS to the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science. 

Kavita Bala appointed inaugural Dean of college.

2021

More than 1,000 degrees granted.

2022

2,000 undergraduate majors.

Cornell Bowers received formal recognition for the first time during Cornell Commencement ceremony.

2024

Cornell Bowers co-signs undergraduate diplomas with student’s admitting college. 

2025

New Computing and Information Science building opens.

Cornell Bowers complex established.

A color photo showing the new building for Cornell Bowers from Gates Hall
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