Vice Provost for International Affairs
Wendy Wolford, vice provost for international affairs since 2018, sees global engagement as the central way to “grapple with the big problems in the world today”—and a responsibility shared by the entire Cornell community.
Wendy Wolford is the Robert A. and Ruth E. Polson Professor of Global Development in the Department of Global Development in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. Since 2018, Wolford has served as the university’s vice provost for international affairs.
Wolford is an expert on land distribution, use, and governance around the world. She has worked for many years in Brazil and, more recently, in Ecuador and Mozambique, collaborating with local researchers, community members, policymakers, and multilateral organizations. Wolford has published several books, including This Land is Ours Now, about the Brazilian social movement, the Rural Landless Workers (Duke University Press, 2010), and a co-edited volume, The Social Lives of Land (Cornell University Press, 2024). Her most recent book, The Elusive Plantation, is out now (University of California Press, 2025). Wolford was a fellow in the Yale Agrarian Studies Program in 2004–05 and a Fulbright Research Scholar in 2016–17 and has received support from the National Science Foundation, Mellon, Ford, the Social Science Research Council, and more.
"In an era of persistent inequality and shared vulnerabilities, it is our collective obligation to be good global citizens."
As vice provost for international affairs, Wolford supports the university’s international community and focuses on strengthening the university’s many global connections and interdisciplinary initiatives. Under her leadership, the university has created Global Hubs partnerships, Global Grand Challenges, and increased support for Scholars Under Threat.
At Home in the World
Wendy's talk at a Cornell Leadership Week lunch focused on how Cornell has "always been at home in the world." Enjoy the remarks and accompanying slides.
Vice Provost In the News
Full listing
Vice provost Wendy Wolford discusses the long–lasting impact of visa uncertainty on international students: “How do you recruit the best and the brightest…when there’s an increasing perception of the U.S. as a highly unpredictable landscape for international students?”
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Vice provost Wendy Wolford tells Inside Higher Ed that Cornell graduate students are having trouble getting their visas—or were simply concerned about coming to the U.S.
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Wendy Wolford, our vice provost for international affairs speaks to the New York Times about the biggest loss from the drop in international enrollment: talent.
“They’re literally some of the best in the world,” she said.
