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54-579: William Boyce Thompson became wealthy from the copper mining industry and visited Russia in 1917, where he saw the effects of hunger on its people. This trip persuaded Thompson of the importance of ensuring food supply for the world population, and in 1920, he decided to establish the Institute for Plant Research. He wanted the institute to further the understanding of plants, to use this understanding for improving world food supply, and to promote conservation of natural areas. The founding managing director

108-718: A BTI technology. Ascribe Bioscience was founded in Ithaca, NY in 2017. William Boyce Thompson William Boyce Thompson (May 13, 1869 – June 27, 1930) was an American mining engineer , financier , prominent in the Republican party, philanthropist , and founder of Newmont Mining . Thompson was one of the early twentieth century mine operators that discovered and exploited vast copper deposits that revolutionized Western American mining, and reaped tremendous fortunes. The William Boyce Thompson School in Yonkers, New York ,

162-605: A faculty of more than 600 offer the SUNY Cortland student body 50 majors and 38 minors from which to choose, plus 33 graduate majors and four certificates of advanced study. SUNY Cortland has over 100 student clubs. In 2015, the school opened a $ 56 million Student Life Center (SLC). The SLC covers more than 150,000 square feet (14,000 m ) and includes a three-court gymnasium, a swimming pool, indoor running track, rock climbing wall, dining bistro, table tennis room, game room, combatives room, various exercise spaces,

216-674: A golf simulator, and cardio and weight training equipment. The Cortland Red Dragons are the athletic teams for SUNY Cortland. The college competes in NCAA Division III in the State University of New York Athletic Conference for most sports. Football played in the New Jersey Athletic Conference from 2000 to 2014, and became an affiliate member of the Empire 8 in 2015. Wrestling competes in

270-540: A major research university, and soon a 'bidding war' broke out between Oregon State University and Cornell University to attract BTI. The New York State Legislature wanted to keep BTI in New York and appropriated $ 8.5 million for construction of facilities on the Cornell campus if BTI agreed to stay. Oregon also appropriated funds as a relocation incentive. Ultimately, it was decided that affiliation with Cornell offered

324-706: A manner favorable to Wall Street. Thompson provided $ 1 million of his own money to fund a propaganda campaign to counteract Kerensky's mounting unpopularity, and growing popular sentiment against the ongoing war with the Central Powers. With the help of Thompson, the Provisional Government created the Committee of Civic Education in Free Russia to oversee the propaganda drive, with pro-Kerensky Russian revolutionary Catherine Breshkovsky at

378-408: A powerful team (not as Hagedorn writes) after they met again while Gunn was with Guggenheim Exploration, mine finders, and Thompson with Hayden, Stone & Company brokerage. Their Gunn-Thompson partnership was searching in all the major new porphyry districts and developed a number of the major mines by the time heart disease impacted Gunn's abilities, then his death a year later March 11, 1913. Gunn

432-506: A premier team with its second Division III national championship in 2009, defeating Gettysburg in the finals. In 2006 as part of its Silver Anniversary of sponsoring women's sports, the NCAA named the SUNY Cortland women's cross country program as its top cross country program of the past 25 years. The Cortland women captured seven NCAA Division III national championships in a nine-year span between 1989 and 1997 (1989, 1991–95, 1997). In addition,

486-473: A significant gem and mineral collection to New York's American Museum of Natural History . His wife, Gertrude Hickman, and daughter, Margaret Thompson, inherited the balance of his wealth. In 1941, The Alder , Boyce-Thompson's 265 ft. motor-yacht, was given to the U.S. Navy to aid the war effort. The Boyce-Thompson family listed by ancestry/generation: Fortunately for future historians, Thompson began writing his reminiscences before his death. However,

540-477: A tireless worker, a devoted family man, Thompson chewed tobacco, underpaid his employees (though equivalent to pay given by his contemporaries) and, as one of the greatest gamblers of his time, discharged them for gambling. He was prominent behind the scenes in the Republican party, a presidential elector, party chair, as well as served on the Federal Reserve Bank of New York from 1914 to 1919 and

594-547: A veritable fortune in the 1920s. He hoped that this "seed" money would enable the institute to acquire the very best scientists, equipment, and supplies and then to develop relationships with industry and the government to help finance research. He donated money for parks and libraries at many of his mining camps, including the Thompson-Hickman Memorial Library in his birthplace, Virginia City; his wife Gertrude Hickman Thompson officially transferred

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648-702: A word of caution about Hermann Hagedorn's The Magnate, William Boyce Thompson and His Time (1935) based on this material. Journalist Hagedorn at times writes more hagiography than biography. For example, his depiction of George E. Gunn is libelous—Gunn was not a lowly miner/prospector born in Nevada and working in Montana when "discovered" by Thompson as a worthy partner. Gunn, an Ohian who attended Oberlin and Ohio State University, had worked his way up to mine superintendent when he met Thompson in Helena. The two later became

702-600: Is named after him. Born in Virginia City , Montana Territory and raised in Butte , he was schooled in the rough mining towns of southwest Montana - but also at Phillips Exeter Academy and the Columbia School of Mines . During the 1890s he joined his father, William, one-time mayor of Butte, in Montana mining and lumber ventures, before moving east to become a mine promoter and stockbroker. His first success,

756-580: Is a public university in Cortland, New York . It was founded in 1868 and is part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system. The State University of New York Cortland was founded in 1868 as the Cortland Normal School . Among its earliest students included inventor and industrialist Elmer A. Sperry of Sperry Rand Corp. In 1941, by an action made by the Board of Regents ,

810-606: Is sponsored by USA Today, the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, and Learfield Sports. The standings are based on schools' national finishes in different sports. The Cortland Red Dragons annually play Ithaca College Bombers for the Cortaca Jug , which was added in 1959 to an already competitive rivalry. The match-up is one of the most prominent in Division III college football. It

864-923: The Adirondacks , the Hoxie Gorge Nature Preserve outside Cortland, and the Brauer Education Center on the Helderberg Escarpment near Albany . The U.S. Department of the Interior in 2004 designated Camp Pine Knot , now known as the Huntington Memorial Camp and part of its Outdoor Education center at Raquette Lake, as the first and only National Historic Landmark within the State University of New York (SUNY). Camp Pine Knot

918-591: The February Revolution of 1917 which resulted in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II . The effects of crop failure and starvation were rampant. Thompson was a member of an American Red Cross relief mission that also hoped to encourage formation of a democratic government in Russia. He was awarded the honorary title of Colonel by the American Red Cross. The objective of Thompson's mission

972-665: The Wright-Martin Aeroplane Co. He was a director of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company . By the 1920s he was a director of Sinclair Oil and promoter of Gulf Sulphur , but all these were diversions from his main interest in mining copper. In 1925, when planning to scout mining properties in South Africa, he became ill and returned home halfway through the trip, his last, lingering illness. Rotund, good-natured, bald,

1026-479: The "Anaconda crowd" in 1912, but with Thompson retaining a 15% share); all made him fabulously wealthy. He had built a considerable fortune developing low grade, large scale porphyry copper deposits at the same time he got lucky with his high-grade Magma mine, which proved a phenomenal bonanza. He retired from the New York stock exchange in 1915 and later created his own holding company, Newmont Mining Corporation , to which he transferred his many mining interests. By

1080-560: The "Dragon Sword" in Women's Field Hockey. The sword was donated by Oswego alumni Kimberlee (Bennett) and Michael Champitto and began play annually in 1999. As of 2021 Cortland has never failed to capture the sword at this event. Cortland snapped Salisbury University's 69-game win streak to capture the 2006 NCAA Men's Lacrosse Div. III National Championship. The team reached the 2007 and 2008 national championship in rematch games against Salisbury University . The lacrosse team cemented its spot as

1134-495: The 12th best place to work. For example, BTI is part of the consortium that is sequencing the tomato genome and creating a database of genomic sequences and information on the tomato and related plants. Each summer, BTI's 10-week Plant Genome Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) program enables undergraduates selected nationally to conduct individual research. BTI also runs after-school science enrichment programs at local grade schools. BTI's research facilities, including

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1188-455: The 1920s, near Superior, Arizona, he built his winter mansion, Picket Post House, overlooking the beautiful desertscape and gardens he created at what is now the magnificent Boyce Thompson Arboretum. < https://btarboretum.org/ > The Mediterranean style home is occasionally open for tours through the arboretum. In 1925, Thompson ordered a luxurious private railroad car, named the Alder , from

1242-642: The BTI Mass Spectrometry Facility and the Plant Cell Imaging Center, are available to researchers from Cornell University and SUNY Cortland . The HighFive cell line was originally developed at BTI. The cell line and its virus-free sub-clones remain the sole property of BTI . The High Five cells have been used to produce the VLP-based HPV vaccine Cervarix . Ascribe Bioscience is a startup based on

1296-659: The Bolsheviks came to power. But this did not prove to be an immediate set-back in Thompson's plans for Russia. Thompson and his compatriot Raymond Robins attempted to deal with the new Bolshevik government despite the protests of indignant American diplomats and businessmen that the Bolsheviks were merely paid agents of the German Kaiser and not true representatives of Russian democracy. Based on his own observations of Russia's political climate, Thompson believed that

1350-510: The Cortland men's cross country team won the 2008 NCAA Div. III championship. In all, Cortland teams have won 25 national titles, including 18 NCAA crowns. Along with the titles mentioned above, the field hockey team won NCAA Div. III titles in 1993, 1994 and 2001, the women's outdoor track and field team won an NCAA Div. III title in 1985 and the women's indoor track and field team was the 1991 NCAA Div. III champion. The men's lacrosse squad won

1404-627: The Empire Collegiate Wrestling Conference, the women's ice hockey team competes in the ECAC West, women's gymnastics is a National Collegiate Gymnastics Association (NCGA) East member, and women's golf is an independent, as those sports are not offered by the SUNYAC. SUNY Cortland has had the most regional successful men's and women's intercollegiate athletics program in New York over the past two decades. In 1995,

1458-655: The NCAA Div. II title in 1975 and the USILA College Division championship in 1973. The women's soccer won the 1992 NCAA Div. III tournament and captured the first-ever U.S. National Women's Soccer Championship in 1980, defeating UCLA in the finals. The men's gymnastics team won USGF Div. II-III titles in 1986, 1987, 1989 and 1990. The baseball and Women's Lacrosse teams each won their first ever Div. III titles in 2015. The women's lacrosse team won 18 SUNYAC titles between 1997 and 2015. Cortland previously hosted

1512-736: The Pullman Company. The car was later used by ASARCO and in 1971 was owned by the National Railways of Mexico. Thompson died from pneumonia in 1930 and was buried at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery . A 1935 biography of Boyce-Thompson, The Magnate , by Herman Hagedorn , the presidential biographer of Theodore Roosevelt , profiles his life. His portrait was painted by the Swiss-born American artist Adolfo Müller-Ury (1862–1947) about 1920-5, and

1566-631: The Sears Directors' Cup was established to gauge and recognize the most successful intercollegiate athletics programs in the nation. SUNY Cortland is one of only five colleges and universities in the U.S. to have finished every year among the Top 25 NCAA Division III programs. Cortland placed 12th out of approximately 440 schools during the 2015–16 competition that is now known as the Learfield Sports Directors' Cup. The competition

1620-669: The Shannon Copper Company – where he opened mines, built a smelter, and a railroad between them – is now part of Arizona's vast Morenci open pit, largest in the United States. Joining the brokerage firm of Hayden, Stone & Co. during the early 1900s he expanded his promotions: to Ely, Nevada , where he helped organize the Nevada Consolidated, which eventually became a part of the multinational Kennecott Copper Company (Guggenheims), of which he

1674-564: The Soviet Union . There is a persistent narrative, most prominently outlined in "Wall Street and the Bolshevik Revolution" by Antony Sutton that W.B. Thompson gave considerable sums of money to the Bolsheviks. This is a misconception that can be traced back to Thompson's own time, originally appearing in newspapers asserting his support for the Bolsheviks. As pointed out by W.B. Thompson biographer Hermann Hagedorn, when

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1728-605: The anti-war propaganda of the Russian radicals, specifically that of the Bolsheviks . The million given to the Committee by Thompson was quickly exhausted, prompting Breshkovsky to appeal to U.S. President Woodrow Wilson for support. Thompson reached out to President Wilson himself, but failed to produce any further funding for the Committee. The Provisional government was overthrown in the October Revolution and

1782-701: The brand, the institute changed its name from Boyce Thompson Institute of Plant Research to Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI). Faculty investigators at BTI conduct research on plants and other organisms, train postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and undergraduates, and teach classes through adjunct appointments at Cornell University . Current faculty members at BTI are: Gary Blissard, Carmen Catala, Zhangjun Fei, Jim Giovannoni, Maria Harrison , Georg Jander , Magda Julkowska, Fay-Wei Li, Greg Martin, Lukas Mueller, Andrew Nelson, Eric Richards, Frank Schroeder, Aleksandra Skirycz, David Stern, and Joyce Van Eck . The Scientist magazine survey of post doctoral fellows ranked BTI

1836-522: The building to the city in 1918. He donated $ 50,000 for a park in Butte. To his alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy, Thompson donated $ 2 million during his lifetime. His donations created the Boyce Thompson science building, a new gymnasium in 1923, squash courts, a baseball field, sports cage, The Exeter Inn , and other facilities. He willed $ 1 million to Phillips Exeter. Thompson also bequeathed

1890-407: The institution became a four-year college known as the “Cortland State Teachers College,” where students could earn a bachelor’s degree. In 1948, Cortland was a founding member of the State University of New York . In 1961, thirteen years later, the college was officially renamed as the State University of New York College at Cortland . On January 1, 2023, the State University of New York changed

1944-408: The licensing of institute patents. Thompson played an active role in the early years of BTI and sought to encourage commercial development of the institute's research results. Therefore, rather than locating BTI on a university campus, Thompson built the laboratories in 1924 across the street from his country estate Alder Manor , in Yonkers, New York . The Yonkers campus, used by BTI until the 1970s,

1998-539: The mine finder was a perfect match for Thompson the broker and high wheeling financier. Gunn had the talent in Salt Lake City on his staff or as consultants next door to find the mines—Mason Valley, Inspiration, Magma, for example—while Thompson had the connections to finance the developments. Again, many of the tall tales Hagedorn relates about the pre-1913 era, especially about Gunn, need correctives: Gunn's eyes were not gray they were blue and one needs to discount

2052-562: The most varied research opportunities. In 1978 a new 116,854 sq ft (10,856.1 m) building designed by Ulrich Franzen was built next to the Cornell Veterinary School , and the move was made. Although affiliated with Cornell, the institute maintains its independence with a separate endowment, Board of Directors, business office, and employee benefits program. Close ties between BTI and Cornell foster collaborative relationships. In 2015, in an effort to revamp

2106-499: The name of the college from State University of New York College at Cortland to the State University of New York at Cortland . Cortland is off of Interstate 81 , between Syracuse and Binghamton . The college's main campus covers 191 acres (770,000 m ), and includes 30 traditional and modern buildings. Fourteen of these structures are residence halls that provide housing for approximately 3,000 students. SUNY Cortland also operates its Outdoor Education Center at Raquette Lake in

2160-452: The new Bolshevik government was certain to remain in power, and that official Allied recognition & support of the Bolsheviks could keep channels of trade open and influence the Bolsheviks to be less radical. According to him, "if [we] leave Russian radicalism to itself to grow like a cancer, it is going to be a menace to the world." Thompson argued that the Bolsheviks would "soon learn that capital and labor must go hand in hand" and continue

2214-573: The organization's head. According to W.B. Thompson biographer Hermann Hagedorn, the aim of the propaganda disseminated by the Committee was to "beg the Russians in terms which the simplest could comprehend to obey the government and resume the war, not to save the Allies but to save the Revolution." Despite Thompson's generous funding, the Committee was largely unsuccessful and could not compete with

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2268-576: The press uncovered Thompson's financial support for Kerensky and the Committee of Civic Education in Free Russia, they "jumped to the conclusion that he [actually] had given the money to the Bolsheviki for propaganda purposes" likely because of Thompson's unpopular public opinions on the Bolsheviks and their role in the future of Russia. In 1920, he decided to establish the Boyce Thompson Institute , and endowed it with $ 10 million,

2322-648: The rest of Hagedorn's description of his intellect and appearance; he was not buried by an ex-con and the boys, but by the Masonic lodge he had long been a member of and by a reverend, Hagedorn to the contrary. Same could be said of Hagedorn's depictions of and roles of Philip Wiseman, Henry Krumb, Fred Flindt, Walter Aldridge and others. For a more balanced but still dated account see A. B. Parsons, The Porphyry Coppers . State University of New York College at Cortland The State University of New York at Cortland ( SUNY Cortland , C-State , or Cortland State )

2376-514: The sensational Midvale Steel financing during the War when the stock rose from 290 to 500. He promoted the great Nipissing silver deposit at Cobalt, Ontario , Canada for the Guggenheims and reaped a quick million dollars return. He refinanced American Woolen Co. and Tobacco Products Co., launched Cuba Cane Sugar Co., got control of Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Co. , organized Submarine Boat Corp. and

2430-431: The time of his death, Newmont Mining was a major factor in world copper production. Today, Newmont is the largest gold producer in the United States but continues the legacy of Thompson to explore and bring into production new ore deposits. Thompson's promotions and financial holdings were scattered from Canada to Peru. They included Indian Motorcycle Co. He financed lead, zinc and coal mines, street railways, and handled

2484-543: The war against Germany. Nevertheless, Thompson's predictions did not come true. The Bolsheviks withdrew from the war, ratifying the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk in 1918. While the Soviet Union allowed foreign investments and free trade for a time during the era of the New Economic Policy , this accommodation ended when Joseph Stalin took power and inaugurated the first five-year plans for the national economy of

2538-520: Was William Crocker , an associate professor of plant physiology at the University of Chicago who along with Herbert Hice Whetzel had been academic advisers to Thompson when he planned the institute. Thompson named the institute in honor of his parents, Anne Boyce Thompson and William Thompson, and endowed it with $ 10 million. Subsequently, the BTI has been funded by government support and revenues from

2592-472: Was a director; Mason Valley where he opened old copper mines and built his smelter town which was named Thompson, Nevada after him (now a ghost town); and most fortuitously in the 1910s opened the Magma mine at Superior, Arizona , which became a major copper producer; and the promotion of the incredibly rich Inspiration Copper Company at Inspiration, Arizona , near Miami, Arizona , during the 1910s (absorbed by

2646-579: Was called the "biggest little game in the nation" by Sports Illustrated in 1991. The Red Dragons had a seven-game winning streak as of November 2016, but lost 48–20 in 2017. They also play the Cortaca Mic game every Friday before the Cortaca Jug game. Which is played between the Ithaca (WICB) and Cortland (WSUC) school radio stations. Cortland has never lost this game since it has been played. Cortland also plays rival SUNY school Oswego each year for

2700-574: Was donated to the New York Chamber of Commerce around 1948/9 by the artist's friend, the soprano Jessica Dragonette (died 1980) who had acquired it from the artist's estate; she claimed in her autobiography 'Faith is a Song' (1951) that she offered it to Thompson's daughter who set a fee for the privilege of destroying the portrait. The portrait is now in the New York State Museum at Albany. Thompson visited Russia just after

2754-556: Was leased out for use as late as 1997, and then sold to the City of Yonkers Board of Education in 1999. In 2015 the city sold the property for $ 4.25 million to Simone Development Cos. As of 2015 the plans for the campus were to re-develop it into a mixed-use center with medical offices, restaurants and retail stores. BTI remained on its Yonkers campus until the 1970s, when Yonkers property taxes and urban pollution posed major problems. Managing Director George L. McNew favored an affiliation with

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2808-617: Was the first Great Camp of the Adirondacks and the birthplace of what is now known as the Adirondack style of architecture. SUNY Cortland has 55,000 alumni who live in all 50 states and in more than 40 countries. Cortland is a comprehensive college within the State University of New York system. Today, approximately 6,800 students are pursuing degrees within the college's three academic divisions—arts and sciences, education and professional studies. Twenty-eight academic departments with

2862-531: Was to enlarge the business opportunities in Russia for himself and his Wall Street associates. But on the ground in Russia, he saw firsthand the suffering of the people and the inability of the social democratic Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky to handle the crisis and feed the hungry. Along with assisting the Provisional government in dealing with the famine, Thompson also endeavored to shape post-Revolutionary Russia's political landscape in

2916-704: Was twice (1916 and 1920) a delegate to the Republican National Convention . In 1921, he declined nomination for a cabinet post under President Warren G. Harding . He was head of and principal supporter of the President Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association from 1919 until his death. In 1912, he built the W. B. Thompson Mansion at Yonkers, New York . It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. During

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