Queen Mary partners with Cornell as part of new ‘Global Hub’ initiative

Cornell's campus in Ithaca, New York

Queen Mary University of London and Cornell University, an Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement that will build on and significantly strengthen the existing relationship between the two institutions.

The partnership expands Cornell’s Global Hubs footprint in the UK, enabling students, staff and alumni to study, research and teach at both institutions. Global Hubs connect the whole of Cornell with strong international peer institutions and their communities, countries, and regions.

Cornell and Queen Mary have shared strengths in international outlook, academic and research excellence as well as founding commitments to diversity and inclusion and a history of public engagement.

Queen Mary’s previous engagements with Cornell include collaboration on research into migration, an exchange with Queen Mary’s School of Business and Management and hosting study abroad students from the university. In 2021 both institutions pledged to extend student exchange to all faculties.

“This is a fantastic opportunity for Queen Mary University of London,” said Professor Colin Grant, Queen Mary's Vice-Principal (International).

“This brilliant partnership will allow us to build on our existing relationship to deepen and extend our international research collaborations, strengthen student and staff mobility and further develop our policy and research impact.

“I can think of no better representation of Ezra Cornell’s founding principle of ‘any person’ than the opportunity for a student from the best university in the country for social mobility to travel to Cornell to study. In turn, we are excited to welcome students and staff from Cornell to our campuses and to our city.” 

"Hubs build the kind of strong, long-term international relationships that create understanding and meaningful change," said Wendy Wolford, Cornell University's Vice Provost for International Affairs, and Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor of Global Development.

“Queen Mary has been one of our students’ favourite study abroad destinations, and we are thrilled to deepen and extend the collaboration across both universities.”

Cornell's Global Hubs will be discussed in the panel “Global Partnerships: Innovation, Resilience, and Planetary Futures” as part of Cornell’s “Innovation. Resilience. Change.” event in London today (4 November 2022).

The partnership with Cornell is part of a wider focus on North America by Queen Mary, which established a regional office in the United States in July 2021, with hot-desking space available in Washington, D.C.