Boyce Thompson Institute

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.

[1][2] The founding managing director 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.

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.

In 2015 the city sold the property for $4.25 million to Simone Development Cos.[4] As of 2015[update] the plans for the campus were to re-develop it into a mixed-use center with medical offices, restaurants and retail stores.

[7] Although affiliated with Cornell, the institute maintains its independence with a separate endowment, Board of Directors, business office, and employee benefits program.

[9] 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.