Private company

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future

Logo: Dsr86 at en.wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons3

The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability is the center for collaborative sustainability research at Cornell University, forging connections among researchers, students, staff, and external partners. The center’s funding and programming accelerate research within and across all of Cornell’s colleges and schools. In turn, the center is the university’s home to new ideas and models.2 It was founded in 2008.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

2008Founded1

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Photo: Dmadeo, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons5

The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability is the center for collaborative sustainability research at Cornell University, forging connections among researchers, students, staff, and external partners. The center’s funding and programming accelerate research within and across all of Cornell’s colleges and schools. In turn, the center is the university’s home to new ideas and models.2

Corporate structure

Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future is part of a group headed by Cornell University. 29 entities, 2 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • Cornell University Ithaca, New York, United States
    • Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future
    • Cornell Club of New York Subsidiary · New York City
    • Cornell University Library Subsidiary
      • Sidney Cox Library of Music and Dance Subsidiary · United States
    • Cornell University Press Subsidiary · Ithaca
    • Archaeological Exploration of Sardis Subsidiary · Turkey
    • Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, Cornell University Subsidiary · United States
    • Cornell Institute for Social and Economic Research Subsidiary · United States
    • Cornell Lab of Ornithology Subsidiary · New York, United States
    • Cornell Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell Law School Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell Tech Subsidiary · United States
    • Cornell University Board of Trustees Subsidiary
    • Cornell University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell University College of Arts and Sciences Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell University College of Engineering Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell University College of Human Ecology Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell University School of Continuing Education and Summer Sessions Subsidiary · United States
    • Cornell University School of Hotel Administration Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscale Science Subsidiary · Ithaca, United States
    • L. H. Bailey Hortorium Herbarium Subsidiary · United States
    • Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies Subsidiary · United States
    • Weill Cornell Medicine Subsidiary · Manhattan, United States
    • and 4 more

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability grew out of the Cornell Center for a Sustainable Future (CCSF), which was established in 2007 as a pilot program with support from alumnus David R. Atkinson '60 and his wife Patricia following a multiyear, cross-campus discussion about energy and sustainability. In 2010, the Atkinsons endowed the center with an $80 million gift, making it the largest gift ever received from an individual at Cornell University at that time.

Recognizing that sustainability solutions cannot be limited to one field of inquiry and that discovery in one area may affect other parts of the whole, the center is home to 514 Faculty Fellows representing 12 Cornell University colleges and 90 departments.

By providing startup funding for cross-college collaborations, time-sensitive research, and external partnerships, the center supports discovery with real-world impact in food systems, energy transitions, climate, behavior, the built environment, and the linkages between human and environmental health.

Construction on a new building to house the Center was announced in 2021, and completed in 2025.

From Wikipedia’s article on Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

The Atkinson Center supports Cornell University researchers through multiple funds and fellowships:

Academic Venture Fund—The Academic Venture Fund (AVF) seeds original, multidisciplinary research that is not likely to find funding elsewhere because the projects are novel, risky, need early data to establish traction, or involve new teams working together.

Innovation for Impact Fund—The Innovation for Impact Fund (IIF) connects our nonprofit, government, and industry partners with the research capacity of Cornell to jointly develop and test evidence-based solutions. Current collaborators include CARE, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, Avangrid, and the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute.

Rapid Response Fund—The Rapid Response Fund (RRF) facilitates urgent or time-sensitive sustainability research, workshops, and other activities. With unusually flexible guidelines, the RRF is a source of funding for smaller projects that foster a broad range of sustainability initiatives.

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Faculty Fellowship for Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts—The Social Sciences, Humanities, and Arts (SSHA) Faculty Fellows Fund adds a unique and invaluable perspective by reshaping imaginations, behaviors, and minds. This work complements and extends the center’s sustainability advances in the life, physical, environmental, and agricultural sciences.

From Wikipedia’s article on Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 2008Founded Founded1

Sources

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