Cornell names Kotlikoff its 15th president, removing interim tag

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Cornell University board of trustees on March 21 voted to appoint Michael Kotlikoff as Cornell’s 15th president, effective immediately. Kotlikoff has served as the school’s interim president since July 2024, following the retirement of Martha Pollack. “Over the last eight months as interim president — and his 25 years on Cornell’s faculty — Mike has demonstrated the leadership and vision that the university needs right now,” Kraig Kayser, chair of the Cornell University board of trustees, said in the school’s announcement. “His institutional knowledge, expertise and passion for our shared mission will continue to help him lead Cornell through a period of great uncertainty and provide much-needed continuity at a critical time.” As interim president, Kotlikoff has sought to foster connection and dialogue on campus and to “highlight the unique attributes” of Cornell — including its history and its ethos, the Ivy League school noted. “I’ve spent 25 wonderful years at Cornell, and serving this university is an honor and a privilege,” Kotlikoff said. “I’m committed to finishing my career here, leading an institution I love through these challenging times. As higher education across the U.S. navigates difficult political, financial and societal headwinds, I hope to guide Cornell in ways that reflect our core principles as an institution committed to doing ‘the greatest good.’” Kotlikoff was Cornell’s longest-serving provost and served as chief budget officer in addition to chief academic officer, per the school’s announcement. As provost, he helped steward many large and complicated projects, such as the creation of the SC Johnson College of Business and the Cornell Jeb E. Brooks School of Public Policy; the Radical Collaboration initiative; the North Campus Residential Expansion; and the university’s COVID-19 response. A professor of molecular physiology, Kotlikoff arrived at Cornell in 2000 to build a new department in biomedical sciences at the College of Veterinary Medicine (CVM). He also launched and led the university’s Mammalian Genomics Life Science Initiative. He was named dean of CVM in 2007, and he became university provost in 2015, Cornell said. Previously, Kotlikoff was professor and chair of the department of animal biology at the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in 1973 and VMD (veterinary medical doctor) degree in 1981, with a Ph.D. from the University of California, Davis, in 1984. By the time he was hired at Cornell in 2000, his research interests had expanded from studying ion channel proteins that control muscle excitability to using genetics to understand the fundamental processes that underlie and limit repair of the damaged mammalian heart. Kotlikoff’s arrival opened new opportunities for studying mouse genetics at the university, Cornell said. His lab’s breakthroughs included developing optogenetic signaling molecules that can be expressed in mice to explore cell function, ways to use cell therapy to treat cardiac arrythmias in injured hearts, and an understanding of the limits of precursor cells in heart repair. Kotlikoff has published 152 papers and his lab, which he closed in 2021, was continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) since he began his research career. He has served in numerous roles at the NIH, including chairing the board of scientific counselors at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and serving on the NIH Council of Councils, Cornell said.