Bayan kammala karatun jami'ar, jami'ar Cornell ta kafa a ranar 27 ga Afrilu, 1865; Majalisar Dattijan Jihar New York (NYS) ta ba da izini ga jami'ar a matsayin cibiyar bayar da tallafin ƙasa ta jihar. Sanata Ezra Cornell ya ba da gonarsa a Ithaca, New York, a matsayin wuri da $ 500,000 na dukiyarsa na sirri a matsayin kyauta ta farko. Abokin sanata kuma malamin Andrew Dickson White ya yarda ya zama shugaban farko. A cikin shekaru uku masu zuwa, White ya kula da gina gine-gine biyu na farko kuma ya yi tafiya don jawo hankalin dalibai da malamai. An kaddamar da jami'ar a ranar 7 ga Oktoba, 1868, kuma an shiga maza 412 a rana mai zuwa. Tambaya: Wanne sanata ne ya kafa cibiyar?
Ezra Cornell