This article was originally reported in July 2025.
Fordham University is expanding its science and technology programs with the help of a $100 million gift from alumni Maurice “Mo” Cunniffe and Carolyn Dursi Cunniffe, announced on March 6, 2025 as the largest gift in the university’s history. A July 2025 Fordham Magazine feature described how the money and a wave of new degrees fit Fordham’s goal to “stand out for integrating science and technology with ethics, humanities,” in the words of President Tania Tetlow (Fordham Magazine, July 10, 2025; Bronx Times, March 7, 2025).
The Gift and the New Science Center
- The Cunniffe gift will fund an integrated science center on the Rose Hill campus in the Bronx and help launch and expand STEM programs.
- The center will replace surface parking on the campus’s eastern edge, across from the New York Botanical Garden and the Bronx Zoo. It is planned to house biological sciences, chemistry and biochemistry, computer science, mathematics and physics, with wet and dry teaching labs, research space, classrooms and lounges.
- The Bronx Times reported the facility at about 200,000 square feet, along Southern Boulevard; the gift also supports expanded computer science programs at the Lincoln Center campus and a new physician associate studies master’s at the Westchester campus.
- Fordham expects it to open in five to seven years, depending partly on fundraising.
- The broader initiative aims to add up to 900 undergraduate and 600 graduate students over eight years across the Rose Hill, Lincoln Center and Westchester campuses.
Source: Fordham Magazine, July 10, 2025. Provost Dennis Jacobs said the center would allow “a lot more cross-pollination across academic areas.”
New and Recent Programs
| Program | School or unit | Status as reported in July 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| M.S. in Artificial Intelligence in Business | Gabelli School of Business | New; full- or part-time, with internship opportunities at New York City firms |
| Master’s in biotechnology | Interdisciplinary | Launching fall 2025, drawing on humanities, law, social science, business and computer science |
| M.S. in Applied Health Informatics | School of Professional and Continuing Studies | New |
| Master’s in physician assistant studies (full-time) | Planned | Under development |
| Biochemistry major | Undergraduate | Offered since fall 2023 |
| Ph.D. in Computer Science | Computer science | Full-time program launched in 2022 |
| Master’s in health administration | Graduate | Established 2018; Fordham reports 90% graduate employment in its first seven years |
Source: Fordham Magazine, July 10, 2025.
Undergraduate Research: One Example
The feature profiled Ipsita Banerjee, a nanobiotechnology researcher who directs the biochemistry program. Her lab takes about 15 undergraduates a year. Two of her students, Alexandra Ren and Liana Cutter, were designing molecules for Alzheimer’s research and developing peptides for cancer metastasis research and had co-written journal articles. A 2012 graduate she mentored, Nako Nakatsuka, is now a professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (Fordham Magazine).
Latest Details: M.S. in AI in Business
The Gabelli School describes the M.S. in Artificial Intelligence in Business as a 30-credit, STEM-designated degree (Gabelli School of Business, Fall 2024):
- Foundational courses: Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning for Business, Quantitative Foundations of AI, and Law and Ethics of AI.
- Sample electives: Machine Learning for Finance, Artificial Intelligence in Asset Management, Generative AI for Managers, and AI Implementation Strategies.
- Optional tracks: a Finance Industry Track and a Technical Track.
- Audience: professionals leading AI adoption at their companies, IT professionals, aspiring financial analysts, consultants, and product or innovation team members.
Gabelli dean Lerzan Aksoy called the degree “an essential toolkit” for both technical and non-technical professionals.
Notes for International Students
- STEM OPT: a STEM-designated degree can qualify graduates for the 24-month STEM OPT extension after the initial 12 months of OPT. Confirm the program’s CIP code and your eligibility with Fordham’s international student office.
- Full-time study: F-1 students must enroll full time; the part-time option of the AI in Business degree is for students who do not need a student visa.
- Campus: Fordham’s main campuses are Rose Hill in the Bronx and Lincoln Center in Manhattan. Check which campus hosts each program, since housing and commuting costs differ.
About Fordham University
Fordham is a private Jesuit research university in New York City. It is ranked No. 85 among national universities in the 2027 U.S. News Best Colleges ranking, according to Forward Pathway’s ranking database. More admissions and cost data are on our Fordham University school page.
References
- Fordham Magazine: STEM Education with a Conscience: New Programs Meet Demand (July 10, 2025)
- Bronx Times: Fordham University receives record $100M gift for STEM education (March 7, 2025)
- Gabelli School of Business: Gabelli School launches new Master of Science in Artificial Intelligence in Business (Fall 2024)
- Forward Pathway: Fordham University