{"id":52198,"date":"2025-05-28T14:55:33","date_gmt":"2025-05-28T18:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?p=52198"},"modified":"2025-05-28T14:55:34","modified_gmt":"2025-05-28T18:55:34","slug":"kotlikoff-commencement-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the President\u2019s Words\u201d brings the president\u2019s major messages to the broader Cornell community, so alumni can hear from the University\u2019s leader first-hand. The following has been adapted from his Commencement address to the Class of \u201925. The full text can be found here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Mike Kotlikoff<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For all of you in caps and gowns, the past few weeks have been full of lasts. Last classes, last papers, last exams; last hike up a hill that\u2019s much too big, much too early in the morning. Right now is a very specific last: the last time you\u2019ll sit in chairs, in rows, with your fellow students, listening to a Cornell professor tell you something they hope you\u2019ll hear and remember.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You don\u2019t need to take any notes. There\u2019s not going to be a test; all of that is behind you now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But before we confer your degrees, and complete your transformation from Cornell students to Cornell alumni, there are a few last things I\u2019d like to add to your Cornell educations\u2014some lessons from the past that might help you on your way in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Two
Banner-bearers lead the procession.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Most of our graduates know the story of Andrew White and Ezra Cornell\u2014the two statues on the Arts Quad, and the founders of Cornell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Andrew White was a planner and an intellectual, a serious thinker always in the middle of an enormous book. Ezra Cornell was a tinkerer, a builder, and a fixer; the oldest of 11 children who had barely been to school and never really learned how to spell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Both were known for their honesty and integrity; their inability to suffer fools gladly; and their utter commitment to public service. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And both were very much aware that the state of the Union in April of 1865\u2014the month that this university was chartered\u2014was about the worst it had ever been.<\/p>\n<\/div>

\"President
Kotlikoff addresses the Class of \u201925.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Half the country had just spent four years fighting the other half. And though the South had surrendered, the nation was not at peace. It was, in many ways, even more bitterly divided than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The year before the Civil War began, Abraham Lincoln, who was then campaigning for the office of president, put the situation plainly: \u201cA house divided against itself cannot stand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Division has frequently been a part of our American society, where the right to think, believe, and speak as we will is among our most cherished freedoms. Democracies aren\u2019t intended to be places where everyone always agrees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Four
Doctoral graduates at the PhD recognition ceremony.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

But what they require to succeed is a shared understanding about how to disagree<\/em>\u2014how to discuss differences, honestly and in good faith, with knowledge and facts, and with respect for those with whom you differ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, our nation is confronting old differences amplified in new ways. New technologies designed to bring people together are instead pulling us apart. Each of us is invited, every day and in a thousand ways, into private worlds built only for us: where we hear only the opinions we agree with, see only the stories we want to read, and watch only news that an algorithm predicts we\u2019ll click on and like.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Democracies aren\u2019t intended to be places where everyone always agrees.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Ezra and Andrew\u2019s plan\u2014for a university where any person could find instruction in any study\u2014aimed to create the opposite experience. To invite young minds into a community\u2014a community of shared experiences that didn\u2019t insulate students from difference, but instead invited them, perhaps for the first time, to experience it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cornell welcomed students from every background, every religion, and every race\u2014enrolling international students from the very first class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graduates
As per tradition, new DVMs brandish inflated exam gloves.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

It welcomed all those people, who didn\u2019t have a lot in common, to an often freezing cold campus, on top of a very large hill, centrally located in the middle of nowhere, with nothing to do but learn together, talk to each other, and figure out some way to make a community together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not actually all that different today\u2014although we do now heat the buildings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of you have now spent four years on this beautiful, if occasionally cold, dark, wet, windy, and isolated campus with people unlike any you\u2019d previously encountered. And I sincerely hope that experience has been an antidote, for all of you, to the isolation that beckons from inside your phones and your feeds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Cornell welcomed students from every background, every religion, and every race\u2014enrolling international students from the very first class.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That those you have encountered here and the experiences you\u2019ve shared have expanded and deepened your understanding of others, and yourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That you have been stretched and strengthened, not only intellectually, but in the fullness of your humanity; in your ability to connect with, and comprehend, and learn from, different people, with different perspectives. What we call \u2026 diversity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And here\u2019s something I\u2019ve noticed, having now spent 25 years at Cornell, and having seen generations of students arrive in Ithaca, earn their degrees, and then come back as alumni.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"President
Kotlikoff congratulates a PhD graduate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, you only really understand the strength of the bonds you\u2019ve built here after you leave. When you realize that you now share, with the people you met here, a common identity\u2014one that will stay with you, and remain a part of you, for the rest of your life. That they are bonds that were built despite, and will endure throughout, your disagreements and differences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, what is so precious and wonderful about Cornell, the thing that struck me so vividly the first moment I arrived here and that I have cherished more deeply every year since, is the sense of shared community\u2014a community that is truly different from any other I have known.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Sometimes, you only really understand the strength of the bonds you\u2019ve built here after you leave.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Cornell is not, and never has been, a place for one specific kind of person. It\u2019s a place that welcomes as its own any person with the ambition and the courage, the creativity and the openness, the practicality and the idealism, to throw the gates of their minds open wide to a community where the walls between us are low, and the goals we reach for are high.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that has been our greatest strength.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The years you\u2019ve spent here as students have been challenging, for our institution and our nation. Today great universities are accused of political bias and intolerance. Our ability to foster discourse and dialogue is doubted. And the value of a university education\u2014and particularly a so-called \u201celite\u201d education\u2014is questioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graduates
CALS alums are all smiles.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, political divisions related to war and suffering have placed our own community under great stress. Some have seen the University as a platform for promoting causes, or protesting them. Some criticize us for allowing too much expression, or too little, or the wrong kinds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some are vocal about their expectation that the University should be a place where never is heard an offensive word.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And some would prefer universities that say: not those<\/em> people, and not those<\/em> studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Cornell is not, and never has been, a place for one specific kind of person.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

At Cornell, we\u2019ve tried very hard to maintain a house united. Stress can either pull a community apart, or make it stronger. The ability to overcome difference, and to avoid division, lies in our ability to listen to each other and stay true to our values and our principles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny person, any study\u201d is our expression, at Cornell, of those values: our commitment to a community of diverse individuals who can work together on anything they decide to pursue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That commitment is what\u2019s transformed us from a tiny, struggling university to a powerhouse of academic excellence that became the model of the modern research university. A place committed to excellence across an extraordinary range of disciplines\u2014a magnet for the brilliant and the curious, who, generation after generation, have enriched this community, and made it their own, and welcomed new generations to make it theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
Bowers College grads pose for a pic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When I first arrived here, back in 1999, one of those people was Hans Bethe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his decades at Cornell, Bethe was known not only for being a theoretical physicist who had won the Nobel Prize, but for picking up students in his car on his way up Buffalo Street, for hair that looked perpetually electrified, and for riding his bicycle around the Synchrotron, which runs 30 feet below the football field our graduates are sitting on right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethe never expected to end up at Cornell. He began his career in physics in Germany, but within a year of his hiring, the Nazis rose to power, Hitler became chancellor, and Bethe, like all faculty of Jewish descent, was out of a job, out of the university, and, in Germany, out of options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

The ability to overcome difference, and to avoid division, lies in our ability to listen to each other and stay true to our values and our principles.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

He left for England, and that\u2019s where he was in 1934 when the job offer came from Cornell. A place that, although certainly not devoid of antisemitism, was committed to welcoming anyone. Where you could talk about or teach anything you wanted, be it physics or politics, without fear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethe talked in later years about the sense of relief, comfort, and belonging he felt when he finally arrived.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An ocean away from where he was born, in a community of people he\u2019d never met, Bethe found the place where he belonged\u2014where, for the rest of his life, he felt at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Graduates
High spirits, despite the rainy weather.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

And in making Cornell his home, he also created an intellectual home for others, a community others wanted to join.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, some of his colleagues from Los Alamos came and spent time at Cornell\u2014like Richard Feynman, who came back, in later years, again and again. At Cornell, Feynman said, \u201cyou could just go and talk to the chemists, or the engineers \u2026 Cornell was where I felt I could start thinking freely again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And another was Freeman Dyson, a fellow alumnus of Los Alamos, who was at Cornell for only a year before spending the rest of his career in Princeton, with Oppenheimer and Einstein\u2014but said, years later, \u201cCornell has always been my vision of America.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Any person, any study’ is the ethos, and the greatness, of Cornell. But it is also, in deep and fundamental ways, the greatness of this nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

‘Any person, any study’ is the ethos, and the greatness, of Cornell. But it is also, in deep and fundamental ways, the greatness of this nation.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Your time as a Cornell student is now over. Your lives as Cornell alumni are about to begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Cornell, I hope you\u2019ve learned to value discussion and debate, to evaluate arguments on their merits, to consider evidence and make decisions based on facts. You\u2019ve learned, as well, why civil discourse matters: what we ourselves lose when we shut other voices down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And what I ask of all of you, in the years and decades ahead, is to use what you have learned here wisely and well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Three
Capturing the moment with a selfie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Build and cherish new communities in the new places in your lives; and hold fast as well to this community, and the values you found here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For wherever you go, Ithaca will always be your home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congratulations, Cornellians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Top: A view from the dais in Schoellkopf. (All photos in this story by Cornell University photographers Alex Bayer, Sreang Hok<\/em><\/em>, and<\/em> Jason Koski.)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Published May 28, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":52519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"alumni_hub_syml_posts":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[663],"tags":[],"cornell_year_post":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-52198","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-presidents-words"],"yoast_head":"\n'A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019 - Cornellians | Cornell University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"'A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019 - Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cornellians | Cornell University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cornellians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-05-28T18:55:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-28T18:55:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@WeCornellians\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beth Saulnier\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"11 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beth Saulnier\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\"},\"headline\":\"‘A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-28T18:55:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-28T18:55:34+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2009,\"commentCount\":1,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"In the President\u2019s Words\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/\",\"name\":\"'A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019 - Cornellians | Cornell University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-28T18:55:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-28T18:55:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\"},\"description\":\"In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2025\\\/05\\\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg\",\"width\":1600,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"A view from the stage as President Mike Kotlikoff, academic regalia, speaks to the crowd during commencement at Schoellkopf Field.\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"‘A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cornellians | Cornell University\",\"description\":\"Cornell's alumni publication\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100\",\"name\":\"Beth Saulnier\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beth Saulnier\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/alumni.cornell.edu\\\/cornellians\\\/author\\\/ess8\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"'A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019 - Cornellians | Cornell University","description":"In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"'A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019 - Cornellians | Cornell University","og_description":"In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference","og_url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/","og_site_name":"Cornellians | Cornell University","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Cornellians","article_published_time":"2025-05-28T18:55:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-28T18:55:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1600,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beth Saulnier","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@WeCornellians","twitter_site":"@WeCornellians","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beth Saulnier","Est. reading time":"11 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/"},"author":{"name":"Beth Saulnier","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100"},"headline":"‘A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019","datePublished":"2025-05-28T18:55:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-28T18:55:34+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/"},"wordCount":2009,"commentCount":1,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg","articleSection":["In the President\u2019s Words"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/","name":"'A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019 - Cornellians | Cornell University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg","datePublished":"2025-05-28T18:55:33+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-28T18:55:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100"},"description":"In his first Commencement address as president, Mike Kotlikoff celebrates Cornell\u2019s culture\u2014one of connection across difference","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/05\/HERO-2025_1197_JK_105.jpg","width":1600,"height":900,"caption":"A view from the stage as President Mike Kotlikoff, academic regalia, speaks to the crowd during commencement at Schoellkopf Field."},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/kotlikoff-commencement-2025\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"‘A Magnet for the Brilliant and the Curious\u2019"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#website","url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/","name":"Cornellians | Cornell University","description":"Cornell's alumni publication","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/#\/schema\/person\/32fea64e8c64bb984ed5809675634100","name":"Beth Saulnier","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/321760a8edb5153d2c562bbadd61cc5ebb987bda75fb59074266c35cc35beae1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beth Saulnier"},"url":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/author\/ess8\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52198","targetHints":{"allow":["GET","POST","PUT","PATCH","DELETE"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52198"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52198\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52683,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52198\/revisions\/52683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52198"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52198"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52198"},{"taxonomy":"cornell_year_post","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cornell_year_post?post=52198"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alumni.cornell.edu\/cornellians\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=52198"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}