Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research

The Boyce Thompson Institute (previously: Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research) is an independent research institute devoted to using plant sciences to improve agriculture, protect the environment, and enhance human health. BTI is located on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, United States, and is fully integrated in the research infrastructure of the University. Faculty at BTI are members of several Cornell Departments, including Plant Biology, Chemistry & Chemical Biology, Molecular Biology & Genetics, as well as Plant Pathology and Plant-Microbe Biology. BTI is governed by a Board of Directors, which is in part appointed by Cornell.

William Boyce Thompson, who acquired wealth in the copper mining industry, visited Russia in 1917 where he saw the effects of hunger on its inhabitants. 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. He wanted the institute to further the understanding of plants, to use this understanding for improving world food supply, and to promote conservation of natural areas.

Thompson named the institute in honor of his parents, Anne Boyce Thompson and William Thompson, and endowed it with $10 million. Subsequently, the BTI has been funded by government support and revenues from the licensing of institute patents. Thompson played an active role in the early years of BTI and sought to encourage commercial development of the institute's research results. Because Thompson sought an active role, rather than locate BTI on the campus of an existing university, in 1924, Thompson built the initial laboratories across the street from his country estate Alder Manor, in Yonkers, New York.

The Yonkers campus, used by BTI until the 1970s, was leased out and used as late as 1997, and was later sold to the City of Yonkers Board of Education in 1999. In 2015 the City of Yonkers sold the property for $4.25 million to Simone Development Cos. The plans for the campus are to re-develop it into a mixed-use center with medical offices, restaurants and retail stores.

BTI remained on its Yonkers campus until the 1970s, when Yonkers property taxes and urban pollution posed major problems. Managing Director George L. McNew favored an affiliation with a major research university, and soon a 'bidding war' broke out between Oregon State University and Cornell University to attract BTI. The New York State Legislature wanted to keep BTI in New York and appropriated $8.5 million for construction of facilities on the Cornell campus if BTI agreed to stay. Oregon also appropriated funds as a relocation incentive. Ultimately, it was decided that affiliation with Cornell offered the most varied research opportunities.

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