High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The history of Cornell University begins when its two founders Andrew Dickson White of Syracuse and Ezra Cornell of Ithaca, met in the New York State Senate in January 1864. Together, they established Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, in 1865. The university was initially funded by Ezra Cornell`s $400,000 endowment and by New York`s 989,920-acre (4,006.1 km2) allotment of the Morrill Land Grant Act of 1862.