NextGen Professors is a career-development program focused on preparing Cornell graduate students and postdocs for faculty careers across institutional types. The primary audience for this program is doctoral students (in year three or beyond) and postdocs with a demonstrated commitment to to advancing access to higher education and supporting inclusive learning, mentoring, and research environments. Participants are members of a cohort who, together, engage in a series of professional and career development activities including monthly NextGen Professors meetings, Power Mentoring Sessions with faculty, and the Future Professors Institute. Participants also engage in program offerings of Future Faculty and Academic Careers, which focus on effectively integrating research and teaching skills for career development.

For More Information

News article about the program.

Visit the NextGen Professors Program section on the Cornell Graduate School website for full details.

Applications for the 2025-2026 cohort will open in late summer 2025

Contact

Please contact Graduate School Associate Dean for Inclusion & Student & Faculty Engagement Sara Xayarath Hernández (sh267@cornell.edu) or Associate Dean for Professional Development Colleen McLinn (cmm252@cornell.edu) with questions about this opportunity.

Acknowledgement and Disclaimer

This initiative is co-sponsored by the Graduate School Office of Inclusion & Student Engagement and Future Faculty and Academic Careers. This project was previously partially funded by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1647094 from 2016-2022. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in these materials are those of their respective authors and do not represent the views of the National Science Foundation.