Columbia vs. Cornell for Mathematics and/or Physics

monydad
Sat, 01 Apr 2017 12:37:31 +0000

I see they’ve improved those Nobel laureate lists… It used to annoy me that Columbia listed the head of the physics dept. at my school, where he taught for about 34 years, because he spent a sabbatical leave at Columbia.
Now they’ve broken that out in the lists. It is not surprising that someone might want to spend a year in New York or Chicago for a year on sabbatical, but that is very different from making or spending one’s career there. A distinction that can now be made.

Not taking anything away from Columbia which is attractive for “permanent” faculty as well, as the list shows, not just visitors. But no need to overstate what is already a good case. This is better now.