ITHACA, N.Y. (AP) - Frank Rhodes, a renowned paleontologist who led the Ivy League’s Cornell University for 18 years and oversaw a huge expansion in research funding, has died. He was 93.
Rhodes died Monday in Bonita Springs, Florida, the school said in a statement.
He was one of the longest-serving presidents in the Ivy League. When Rhodes stepped down in 1995, almost half of Cornell’s then-nearly 123,000 living undergraduate alumni had attended the university while he was president.
“Frank Rhodes was a brilliant scholar and a gracious leader who was not only deeply respected, but truly loved by generations of Cornellians,” said Cornell President Martha E. Pollack in a news release.
During Rhodes’ tenure as president, research funding increased from $88 million to more than $300 million. Major initiatives in astronomy, supercomputing, biotechnology, nanofabrication and Asian studies were established, and diversity among students and faculty significantly increased.
Survivors include his wife, Rosa; four daughters; 11 grandchildren; and one great-granddaughter.
Plans for a memorial service on campus this spring will be announced later.
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This story has been updated to correct Rhodes’ area of scholarly expertise to paleontology, not pathology.
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