Dr. La Jerne Terry Cornish is the 10th president of Ithaca College, a position she assumed in March 2022. She joined the College in 2018 as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. Prior to joining Ithaca, Dr. Cornish was associate provost for undergraduate studies at Goucher College in Baltimore, Md., from 2014 to 2018.
As provost and then president at Ithaca, Cornish led the College through the COVID-19 pandemic and a strategic plan, “Ithaca Forever,” that included an academic prioritization plan to align academic programs with student interest and need, and to align the size of the faculty with the size of the student body.
Today, Cornish is laying the groundwork for a new strategic plan that will build upon Ithaca’s commitments to promoting hands-on learning from day one as part of its academic programs; to providing a welcoming and supportive campus environment for all; and to engaging in community partnerships that improve the quality of life in its home city and surrounding areas. In broad consultation with the College's constituencies, Cornish will look to refine resource stewardship and allocation, as well as pursue opportunities to diversify revenue.
During her time as Ithaca’s president, Cornish has launched programs that improved student retention and graduation rates; she created a Center for Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging to help build understanding and fuel creativity among students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds; and she expanded career service programs into a Center for Career Exploration and Development that begins working with students during their first year on campus.
Cornish holds a doctorate in language, literacy, and culture from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County; a master’s degree in education with a concentration in urban and diverse learners from Goucher College; and a bachelor’s degree in English, also from Goucher. Her research interests include new teacher induction, culturally responsive teaching, and campus responses to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
She has been a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first intercollegiate historically African American sorority, since 1984.
In addition to her work in the public and private education sectors, she served as a commissioned lay pastor at Trinity Presbyterian Church in Baltimore, where her ministerial focus had been congregational nurture and care.
Her wife, Deborah Ptak, is the principal of Lehman Alternative Community School in the Ithaca City School District. Together, they have three children: Wayne Cornish Jr., a graduate of Goucher College; Em Ptak-Pressman, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College; and Joshua Ptak-Pressman, a graduate of Fordham University.