Carl L. Becker

A member of the faculty of Arts and Sciences, Becker published the groundbreaking History of Political Parties in the Province of New York in 1909 . Modern History became a standard high school text in 29 states during his lifetime. Another book The Declaration of Independence: A Study in the History of Political Ideas, published in 1922, remains a seminal reference.

He is credited with describing the soul of Cornell in a eulogy for his mentor, George Lincoln Burr, a Cornell medieval history professor: "If there be any intangible possession that distinguished this university, it is the freedom united with responsibility � freedom to do what one chooses, responsibility for what it is that one chooses to do."