Gregory J. Galvin
"Faculty renewal in a resource-constrained highly competitive environment is Cornell's biggest challenge and opportunity over the next ten years."
Cornell Degrees: MS '82, Ph.D '84, MBA '93
Other Education: BS '79, California Institute of Technology
What do you consider the top three priorities for the president, provost, and trustees to address during the next four years?
The top priorities are faculty renewal, resource allocation, and marketing the university. The unprecedented numbers of upcoming faculty retirements present a large challenge as we enter this with constrained resources and significant competition from our peer institutions. No longer a fiscal crisis, the future will continue to be resource limited, particularly with respect to New York State. How to best allocate resources to implement the strategic plan will be an ongoing priority. Effectively implementing the university's strategic plan will require significant marketing of the institution and its many accomplishments to create awareness with a national and international audience.
Using specific examples, what qualifications would you bring to the position of trustee to help address these priorities?
Having been associated with Cornell for 30 years as a graduate student, an employee, a licensee, and a volunteer, I believe I havea valuable breadth of perspective from both inside and outside of Cornell. I have taken university research and built it into multiple companies, two of which sold for over $500 million in aggregate.A vibrant local economy, and the participation of the university inthat effort, will be instrumental in helping attract faculty, including supporting trailing spouses, generating greater financial support forthe institution, and raising the national recognition and rankings of Cornell.
For Cornell to reach the goals outlined in the strategic plan developed as part of Reimagining Cornell and to better reflect that we are "one Cornell," alumni, parents, and friends need to feel connected to the university. This could involve giving their time, talent, or treasure. How would you help increase engagement and giving among our constituents?
I feel that "marketing" the university goes a long way toward increasing engagement and giving amongst our constituents. People are attracted to success. The better known Cornell is, the more it is referenced by national and international media, and the more our constituents will want to be actively engaged with the institution at all levels. We need to get the message out to our constituents that we are in a highly competitive environment for faculty, students, and funding. Their help is critical to our continued success, and we need them to feel great pride in being part of "one Cornell."
How can alumni help Cornell continue to build a more inclusive community of students, faculty, staff, and volunteer leaders, and what contribution do you see yourself making to this effort as a trustee?
Cornell alumni are a very engaged and supportive group; however, in my opinion they are still largely untapped. We need to broaden the focus from traditional fundraising amongst alumni to engagement with the institution in a variety of avenues. An example from my own experience: We raised investment capital from a number of alumni to support a spin-out of Cornell technology. On exit, those alumni received a great return on their investment and, in turn, many made significant financial contributions to Cornell. Alumni can be a valuable network for capital, for jobs, for recruiting, and for marketing the university.
Professional Experience: Co-founder, president, and CEO of Kionix, one of the world's top three suppliers of silicon micromechanical inertial sensors. Co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Rheonix, Inc., a start-up company in molecular diagnostics.
Alumni Service:
- Cornell University Council (2003-present), International Programs Committee (2004-present), Technology Transfer Committee (2003-present)
- Engineering College Advisory Council (2005-present), Materials Science Advisory Board (2005-present)
- College of Engineering, Kessler Fellow Selection Committee
- College of Engineering and Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, guest lecturer
- Veterinary Medicine Advisory Council (2003-2009)
Community/Public Service:
- Member, Tompkins County Area Development Board
- Director, Kensa Group
- Director, Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research
- Director, El Portal de Belén Foundation
- Trustee, Ithaca Sciencenter
Personal Information:
- Married with three middle-school age children
