Bridging Tech & Humanity

11/12/2017

Bank executive, Howard Milstein, and his family made a $20 million donation to Cornell University to establish a new program that bridges the gap between tech and a liberal arts education. The Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity will serve 100 students pursuing an arts and sciences degree with an emphasis on tech. The goal is to produce students who are more tech-savvy and also have the context and ethical framework to shape society for the better.

Tech and academia are often at odds, with some of Silicon Valley's most well-known success stories being proud college dropouts. The tech industry has also been gaining distrust, as Facebook, Google, and Twitter now testify before Congress regarding their role in the spread of disinformation during the 2016 election. When Cornell's new tech campus, Cornell Tech, opened this year, many worried that the university would become too tech-focused. The Milstein program hopes to rectify that, by combining the strengths of both schools of thought. All leaders today will benefit from having more technical skills, but those in the tech world will also benefit from a more broad-based education. LEARN MORE

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