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The good Cornellians can do: Ivan Rosenberg ’64, MS ’66

Ivan (2nd from right) and colleagues attend a Uniquely Abled Academy graduation ceremony at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California.
Ivan (2nd from right) and colleagues attend a Uniquely Abled Academy graduation ceremony at the College of the Canyons in Santa Clarita, California.
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As a father of two kids on the autism spectrum, Ivan Rosenberg ’64, MS ’66 hoped to create career pathways for people who, like his children, might experience mental, physical, and experiential obstacles to employment.

Looking at the 60-90% unemployment rate for the autistic population, Ivan was determined to do better. Ivan credits his Cornell engineering training and his experience as a management consultant with helping him to problem solve a solution.

“My Cornell engineering education allowed me to approach the problem as an engineer—analyzing, formulating, and testing,” Ivan explains. “I was able to understand and address the underlying factors that have led to decades of failures. This led me found the first Uniquely Abled Academy (UAA) at Glendale Community College, in California.”

About ten years ago, Ivan founded the Uniquely Abled Project—with a goal of creating vocational opportunities in way that could be scaled locally, nationally, and beyond. Since then, 26 UAAs across the country have graduated over 245 individuals with a 100% graduation rate, and an 85% job placement rate. In July 2025, Ivan is looking forward to opening the first international UAA in Oman.

Cornellians around the globe are sharing how they do good in communities big and small. Share your own story.