Announcing Our Name Shortening

Boyce Thompson Institute is proud to announce that it is expanding its brand, while shortening its name. Although the institute’s name for legal purposes will remain unchanged, the name is shortening from “Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research” to “Boyce Thompson Institute.”

This new identity, Boyce Thompson Institute, and new business descriptor, “Discovery and Innovation in the Life Sciences,” is the result of a daylong working session involving institute leadership and staff. The decision brings into alignment the reality that BTI discoveries have not been limited to plants.

The rebranding includes a refresh of the existing logo and other materials that feature the Boyce Thompson Institute brand. These visuals provide a strong connection to BTI’s foundation in basic plant science and its storied history that began in Yonkers, NY in 1924.

“Today’s laboratories at BTI develop and employ techniques of chemistry, virology and bioinformatics that add dimension to our portfolio of plant science projects,” said President and CEO David Stern, now in his 12th year leading the institute. “This adaptation of our name recognizes our connection to BTI’s past, while acknowledging the wide range of technologies and organisms used to make advances in BTI’s core areas of agriculture, human health and the environment.”

Will Thompson, the founder of Boyce Thompson Institute, championed the study of plants. “I want to do something to get at the bottom of the phenomena of life processes and I think a good place to study them would be in the realm of plants,” said Thompson. Since BTI’s founding, its researchers have worked to fulfill this mandate within the plant sciences, but have also branched out into life sciences programs including insect cell culture, drug discovery and aging.

Boyce Thompson Institute maintains its strong commitment to education and to training the next generation of scientists. As research becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, the rebranding will encourage creativity and will expand the opportunities for funding, collaboration and training for both scientists and students.

The Boyce Thompson Institute – Discovery and Innovation in the Life Sciences is an independent research institution strategically located on the Cornell University campus. The institute was founded through an endowment from William B. Thompson. He named the institute in honor of his parents, Anne Boyce Thompson and William Thompson.