Working for some of the largest corporations in the world—IBM, General Electric and now Boeing—Bethany Tate Cornell, MS ’90 communications, has steered these iconic brands through their learning and leadership development. Described as “developing talent across generations and cultures,” she’s a pioneer in her field—from her graduate days at IC, to today, 27 years later, as vice president of leadership, learning and organizational capability at the aerospace giant. Where, she says, “I’m happy to help Boeing move their learning culture forward.”

Cornell’s unmapped journey began at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where a professor asked her to join a class he was piloting on instructional design. “Nobody even knew what that was back then. I took it and loved it. I wanted to go on for my master’s degree.

“I was accepted into other instructional systems design schools but I wanted a program where the faculty really knew their stuff. The IC professors were seen as subject matter experts, thought leaders, and were doing consulting work. The Ithaca program gave me great exposure, and my connection to it helped me get my job at IBM.”

Cornell worked for IBM in the early 1990s, an era of satellite learning, as an instructional systems designer. She helped software engineers translate their jobs into learning and then coached them on delivering the technical content over the corporate education network. Trying to keep the learner engaged with two-way audio, but only one-way video. Although high tech for the time, it was primitive compared to what she did years later at General Electric.  

Energized by the iconic brand of learning and leadership development that GE is known for, Cornell became chief learning officer of GE Energy in 2010. It was the biggest GE business at the time, with 100,000 employees in over 130 countries, and worth $40 billion. “My role was to look at the business strategy and help translate it into what capabilities do we need to maximize the potential of the people to deliver the business results? GE Energy was doing a ton of global expansion. So how were we going to service the needs of bringing people into GE in these various countries, with various guidelines, laws, and language barriers? What capabilities would they be lacking? What would we need to build? How do we build it?”

Also responsible for leadership development, Cornell partnered with University of Michigan, Ross School of Business to design a leadership program that was implemented globally in China, Budapest, and the U.S. “We started to model the value of learning and the importance of continuous learning to our business strategy. We emphasized various forms of learning including eLearning. We did a lot of marketing and promotion of ‘what does learning mean to you as an employee of GE Energy and how can you learn?’”

Her last assignment at GE took her down an uncharted path. Cornell led culture and engagement for the largest acquisition in the company’s history when GE purchased Paris-based Alstom and shifted its employees to a newly created $9 billion “startup” called GE Renewable Energy. “How do we integrate 65,000 people into the company and make sure that they have the right support, training, the right capability building, and the right engagement from leaders to feel welcome and included?

“The one thing with that assignment was that it was massive. I had no road map. I had never done it before. It was about being innovative, being a pioneer. Trying things.”

Good advice for Ithaca students, including one of her own. She and her husband, Scott Cornell ’90, have a son, Andrew, in the class of 2019. Cornell adds, “With each experience that is put in front of you—seize it. Learn. Try. Do. Experiment. Maybe fail, but learn from that. Each experience on your journey is going to further grow and develop you. Every encounter, engagement, and exchange you’re going to have is building your network and growing your tool kit. Do it!”