{{Short description|Private university in New York City, New York, US}} {{Other uses}} {{Pp|reason=Persistent disruptive editing; requested at WP:RfPP; extensive protection history, any admin is welcome to adjust if they disagree with my indefinite semi-protection|small=yes}} {{MOS|date=April 2024}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=August 2025}} {{Infobox university | name = Columbia University<br/>in the City of New York | image = Coat of Arms of Columbia University.svg | image_upright = .7 | caption = Coat of arms | latin_name = Universitas Columbiae<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g6xAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA403|title=Record of the Celebration of the Quatercentenary of the University of Aberdeen|page=403|publisher=University of Aberdeen|date= 1907}}</ref> | motto = {{native name|la|In lumine Tuo videbimus lumen}} | mottoeng = "In Thy light shall we see light"<ref>{{bibleverse-lb|Psalms|36:9|KJV}}. See {{cite web |title=About the Chapel |url=https://ouc.columbia.edu/content/about-chapel |website=Office of the University Chaplain |date= }}</ref> | type = Private research university | established = {{start date and age|1754|5|25}} | founder = George II of Great Britain | accreditation = MSCHE | academic_affiliations = {{hlist|AAU|NAICU|URA|space-grant}} | endowment = $15.9 billion (2025)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edge.sitecorecloud.io/nacubo1-nacubo-prd-dc8b/media/Nacubo/Documents/EndowmentFiles/2025-NCSE-Endowment-Market-Values-for-US-and-Canadian-Institutions-FINAL.xlsx |title=U.S. and Canadian 2025 NCSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2025 Endowment Market Value |publisher=National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) |access-date=February 15, 2026 |format=XLSX}}</ref> | budget = | president = Claire Shipman (acting) | provost = Angela Olinto | faculty = 4,628<ref>{{cite web |title=Full-time Faculty Distribution by School/Division, Fall 2013-2022 |url=https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_faculty_history.pdf |publisher=Columbia University Office of Planning and Institutional Research |date=January 28, 2022 |access-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-date=May 26, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526074947/https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_faculty_history.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> | students = 36,649<ref name="columbia1">{{cite web |title=Enrollment by School and Degree Level, Fall 2022 |publisher=Columbia University Office of Planning and Institutional Research |url=https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_enrollment_degree_level.pdf |date=November 3, 2022 |access-date=April 22, 2024 |archive-date=December 20, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220232223/https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_enrollment_degree_level.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> | undergrad = 9,761<ref name="columbia1"/> | postgrad = 26,888<ref name="columbia1"/> | city = New York City | country = United States | coordinates = {{Coord|40|48|27|N|73|57|43|W|region:US-NY_type:edu|display=inline, title}} | campus = Large city | campus_size = {{convert|299|acre|km2}} | former_names = King's College<br />(1754–1784)<br />Columbia College<br />(1784–1896) | colors = {{college color list|team=Columbia Lions}} | sporting_affiliations = {{hlist|NCAA Division I FCS – Ivy League|EARC|IRA|EAWRC}} | sports_nickname = Lions | mascot = Roar-ee the Lion | logo = Columbia University 1754.svg | logo_size = 250 | website = {{url|https://columbia.edu}} | free_label = Newspaper | free = ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' }}

'''<!--DO NOT REMOVE OR MOVE THE FULL ORGANIZATION NAME PER MOS:FIRSTCORP.-->Columbia University in the City of New York''',<ref name="macauhey-stand-Columbia-177">{{citation |last=McCaughey |first=Robert A. |title=Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University in the City of New York, 1754–2004 |page=177 |year=2003 |location=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=0-231-13008-2 |quote=Several developments at Columbia in the 1890s helped separate, or at least dramatize, the break with what had gone before and what would come later. The first was a formal change in name, giving the institution the fourth in its history. It began in 1754 as King's College and became in 1784 and remained for three years thereafter Columbia College in the State of New York. From 1787 until 1896 Columbia was officially Columbia College in the City of New York, until, by trustee resolution on May 2, 1896, it became Columbia University in the City of New York.<Footnote 2: Columbia University Trustees Minutes, January 8, 1912. The change was formally accepted by the New York State Board of Regents in 1912. (page 609)>}}</ref> commonly referred to as '''Columbia University''', is a private Ivy League research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1754 as '''King's College''' by royal charter under George II of Great Britain on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhattan, it is the oldest institution of higher education in New York and the fifth-oldest in the United States.

The university was renamed Columbia College in 1784 following the American Revolution, and in 1787 was placed under a private board of trustees headed by former students Alexander Hamilton and John Jay. In 1896, the campus was moved to its current location and renamed Columbia University.

Columbia is organized into 17 schools, two affiliated colleges—Barnard College and Teachers College—and two affiliated seminaries—Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and Union Theological Seminary (UTS).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Understanding the Affiliation {{!}} Student Affairs {{!}} Teachers College, Columbia University |url=https://www.tc.columbia.edu/student-affairs/understanding-the-affiliation/ |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=Teachers College - Columbia University |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia University |url=https://initiatives.weforum.org/partnership-against-cybercrime/organization-details/columbia-university/001b0000005gukCAAQ |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=World Economic Forum}}</ref> The university's research efforts include the Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and accelerator laboratories with Big Tech firms such as Amazon and IBM.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 21, 2020|title=Columbia Engineering and Amazon Announce Creation of New York AI Research Center|url=https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/news/columbia-engineering-and-amazon-announce-creation-new-york-ai-research-center|access-date=September 14, 2021|website=Columbia Engineering|language=en|archive-date=September 14, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914123701/https://www.engineering.columbia.edu/news/columbia-engineering-and-amazon-announce-creation-new-york-ai-research-center|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Columbia University and IBM Establish New Center to Accelerate Innovation in Blockchain and Data Transparency |url=https://engineering.columbia.edu/press-releases/columbia-ibm-center-blockchain-data-transparency|access-date=January 23, 2019|website=Columbia Engineering|date=July 17, 2018|archive-date=December 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222132815/https://engineering.columbia.edu/press-releases/columbia-ibm-center-blockchain-data-transparency|url-status=live}}</ref> Columbia is a founding member of the Association of American Universities and was the first school in the United States to grant the MD degree.<ref name="A Brief History of Columbia2">{{cite web|year=2011|title=A Brief History of Columbia|url=http://www.columbia.edu/content/history.html|access-date=April 14, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=January 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180106074111/http://www.columbia.edu/content/history.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The university also supports the administration of the annual Pulitzer Prize, following the independent Pulitzer Prize Board's decisions.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |title=History of The Pulitzer Prizes |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/page/%7B%7Bglobal.pageCanocialUrl%7D%7D |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=www.pulitzer.org |language=en}}</ref>

Columbia scientists and scholars have played a pivotal role in scientific breakthroughs including brain–computer interface; the laser and maser;<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Nykolaiszyn|first=J. M.|date=June 1, 2009|title=Curating Oral Histories: From Interview to Archive|journal=Oral History Review|volume=36|issue=2|pages=302–304|doi=10.1093/ohr/ohp054|issn=0094-0798|s2cid=161615270}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Taylor|first=Nick|title=Laser : the inventor, the Nobel laureate, and the thirty-year patent war|date=2000|publisher=Simon & Schuster|isbn=978-0-684-83515-0|location=New York|oclc=44594104}}</ref> nuclear magnetic resonance;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Isidor Isaac Rabi|url=https://www.aps.org/programs/outreach/history/historicsites/rabi.cfm|access-date=December 2, 2018|website=Aps.org|language=en|archive-date=December 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181202202722/https://www.aps.org/programs/outreach/history/historicsites/rabi.cfm|url-status=live}}</ref> the first nuclear pile; the first nuclear fission reaction in the Americas; the first evidence for plate tectonics and continental drift;<ref>N. D. Opdyke, et al., "Paleomagnetic study of Antarctic deep-sea cores", Science 154(1966): 349–357.</ref><ref>Heirtzler, J. R., et al., "Marine magnetic anomalies, geomagnetic field reversals, and motions of the ocean floor and continents", ''Journal of Geophysical Research'', 73(1968): 2119–2136.</ref><ref>Pitman, W. and M. Talwani, "Sea-floor spreading in the North Atlantic", ''GSA Bulletin'', 83(1972): 619–646.</ref> and much of the initial research and planning for the Manhattan Project during World War II.

{{as of|2021|December}}, its alumni, faculty, and staff have included 7 of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America;{{efn|Founding Fathers include five alumni: Alexander Hamilton,<ref>{{cite book|title=Alexander Hamilton|url=https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher|url-access=registration|last=Chernow|first=Ron|year=2004|publisher=Penguin Books|isbn=978-1-59420-009-0|page=[https://archive.org/details/alexanderhamilto00cher/page/51 51]}}<!--|access-date=April 14, 2011--></ref> John Jay,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/jay/biography.html|title=A Brief Biography of John Jay|publisher=Columbia University|year=2002|work=The Papers of John Jay|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=November 27, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151127234750/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/digital/jay/biography.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Robert R. Livingston,<ref>{{cite book|last=Dangerfield|first=George|title=Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York, 1746–1813|url=https://archive.org/details/chancellorrobert00dang|url-access=registration|publisher=Harcourt, Brace and Co|location=New York, New York|year=1960}}</ref> Egbert Benson,<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000388|title=Egbert Benson|dictionary=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=May 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514001005/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000388|url-status=live}}</ref> and Gouverneur Morris.<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/morrisg.htm|chapter=Gouverneur Morris|publisher=United States Army Center of Military History|url=http://www.history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/ss-fm.htm|title=Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution|first=Robert K Jr.|last=Wright|year=1987|access-date=April 13, 2011|id=CMH Pub 71-25|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009074857/https://history.army.mil/books/RevWar/ss/ss-fm.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Additionally, Founding Fathers George Clinton<ref>{{Cite web|title=From Alexander Hamilton to George Clinton, [26 November 1784–17 July 1787]|url=http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-26-02-0002-0103|access-date=June 18, 2021|publisher=Founders Online|archive-date=June 30, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210630015513/https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Hamilton/01-26-02-0002-0103|url-status=live}}</ref> and William Samuel Johnson<ref name="Columbia U-2021b"/> served as presidents of the university.}} 4 U.S. presidents;{{efn|Three presidents have attended Columbia: Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Barack Obama. Dwight D. Eisenhower served as the president of the university from 1948 to 1953.}} 34 foreign heads of state or government;{{efn|Alumni who served as foreign heads of state or government include: Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali (Iraq, 1953–54),<ref>{{cite web|author=Muhammad Fadhel al-Jamali|title=Experiences In Arab Affairs|url=http://physics.harvard.edu/~wilson/Fadhel.html|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=Harvard University|archive-date=July 17, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717022602/http://www.physics.harvard.edu/%7Ewilson/Fadhel.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Kassim Rimawi (Jordan, 1980),<ref>{{Cite web |script-title=ar:رئاسة الوزراء — دولة الدكتور قاسم الريماوي |title=Riasat al-Wuzara' — Dawlat al-Duktur Qasim al-Riymawi |trans-title=The Cabinet — His Excellency Dr. Kassim al-Rimawi |url=http://www.pm.gov.jo/content/141215082025/%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%8A.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 17, 2021 |website=Prime Minister of Jordan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160528164512/http://www.pm.gov.jo:80/content/141215082025/%D8%AF%D9%88%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D9%83%D8%AA%D9%88%D8%B1-%D9%82%D8%A7%D8%B3%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%88%D9%8A.html |archive-date=May 28, 2016 }}</ref> Giuliano Amato (Italy, 1992–1993 and 2000–2001),<ref>{{cite web|author=Daniel Peterson|date=November 29, 2007|title=An Interview with Giuliano Amato|url=http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=2716|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151231223412/http://www.theflorentine.net/articles/article-view.asp?issuetocId=2716|archive-date=December 31, 2015|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=The Florentine}}</ref> Hafizullah Amin (Afghanistan, 1979),<ref>{{cite book|last=Amstutz|first=Bruce|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RUSNyMH1aFQC|title=Afghanistan: The First Five Years of Soviet Occupation|publisher=Diane Publishing|year=1994|isbn=978-0-7881-1111-2|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_RUSNyMH1aFQC/page/n326 303]}}<!--| access-date=April 18, 2011--></ref> Nahas Angula (Namibia, 2005–12),<ref>{{cite web|date=October 13, 2009|title=Namibia PM is Nahas Angula&nbsp;... Educated in the US|url=http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,109045.html|access-date=April 18, 2011|work=Newsday|archive-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801102702/http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,109045.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Marek Belka (Poland, 2004–05),<ref>{{cite web|title=The Biography of Marek Belka|url=https://www.un.org/sg/senstaff_details.asp?smgID=3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205183638/http://www.un.org/sg/senstaff_details.asp?smgID=3|archive-date=February 5, 2009|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=United Nations}}</ref> Chen Gongbo (China, 1944–45),<ref>{{cite book|last=Reilly|first=Thomas|title=Science and Football III|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=1997|isbn=978-0-419-22160-9|pages=46–47}}<!--| access-date= June 17, 2011--></ref> Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz (Poland, 1996–97),<ref>{{cite news|date=November 1, 2001|title=Charlemagne: Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz|newspaper=The Economist|url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2001/11/01/wlodzimierz-cimoszewicz|access-date=June 17, 2011|archive-date=October 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171024093528/http://www.economist.com/node/842406?story_id=E1_RQNQDG|url-status=live}}</ref> Gaston Eyskens (Belgium, 1949–50, 1958–61 and 1968–73),<ref>{{cite web|title=Honorary Degree Recipients|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/secretary/pdf_and_word/Honorary_Degree_Recipients_1945-2010.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110913142024/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/secretary/pdf_and_word/Honorary_Degree_Recipients_1945-2010.pdf|archive-date=September 13, 2011|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|page=8}}</ref> Mark Eyskens (Belgium, 1981),<ref>{{Cite news|date=January 5, 1988|title=Gaston Eyskens Dies at Age 82; Led Six Governments in Belgium|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/obituaries/gaston-eyskens-dies-at-age-82-led-six-governments-in-belgium.html|access-date=August 16, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816041628/https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/05/obituaries/gaston-eyskens-dies-at-age-82-led-six-governments-in-belgium.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ashraf Ghani (Afghanistan, 2014–21),<ref>{{cite web|date=August 15, 2021|title=Ashraf Ghani: departing Afghan president who failed to make peace with Taliban|url=https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/ashraf-ghani-departing-afghan-president-who-failed-make-peace-with-taliban-2021-08-15/|publisher=Thomson Reuters}}</ref> José Ramos-Horta (East Timor, 2007–12 and 2022– ),<ref>{{cite web|author=Alyssa Smith|date=October 7, 2010|title=State Building Challenges in Timor Leste|url=http://columbiacommunique.org/?p=829|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813205422/http://columbiacommunique.org/?p=829|archive-date=August 13, 2011|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=Columbia Communique}}</ref> Toomas Hendrik Ilves (Estonia, 2006–16),<ref>{{cite web|author=Herb Jackson|title=From Estonia to Leonia|url=http://www.president.ee/en/media/interviews/3304-qfrom-estonia-to-leoniaq-the-record-23-april-2008/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514110653/http://www.president.ee/en/media/interviews/3304-qfrom-estonia-to-leoniaq-the-record-23-april-2008/index.html|archive-date=May 14, 2011|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=Estonian Office of the President}}</ref> Wellington Koo (China 1926–27),<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia 250: Wellington Koo|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/v_k_wellington_koo.html|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=May 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514010300/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/v_k_wellington_koo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Lee Huan (Taiwan, 1989–90),<ref>{{cite news|author=Kerry Brown|date=December 12, 2010|title=Lee Huan obituary|work=The Guardian|location=UK|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/12/lee-huan-obituary|access-date=April 18, 2010|archive-date=February 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209104703/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/12/lee-huan-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref> Benjamin Mkapa (Tanzania, 1995–2005),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Benjamin Mkapa|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Benjamin_W._Mkapa.aspx|access-date=April 18, 2011|archive-date=July 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701072330/http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Benjamin_W._Mkapa.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Mohammad Musa Shafiq (Afghanistan, 1972–73),<ref>{{cite web|title=Historical Note on Afghanistan|url=http://afghanistanjusticeproject.org/UNMappingReportAfghanistan-3.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723010024/http://afghanistanjusticeproject.org/UNMappingReportAfghanistan-3.pdf|archive-date=July 23, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=United Nations|page=15}}</ref> Nwafor Orizu (Nigeria, 1965–6),<ref>{{cite magazine|date=January 1, 1945|title=Education: Prince with a Purpose|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791871,00.html|url-status=dead|magazine=Time|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626142446/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,791871,00.html|archive-date=June 26, 2007|access-date=June 17, 2011}}</ref> Santiago Peña (Paraguay, 2023–present),<ref name=":SantiPeña">{{Cite web |title=Santiago Peña Palacios |url=https://live.worldbank.org/experts/santiago-pena-palacios |access-date=May 5, 2023 |website=World Bank Live |archive-date=May 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230511130320/https://live.worldbank.org/experts/santiago-pena-palacios |url-status=live }}</ref> Mikheil Saakashvili (Georgia, 2004–13),<ref>{{cite news|date=January 25, 2004|title=Profile: Mikhail Saakashvili|work=BBC News Online|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3231852.stm|access-date=April 18, 2011|archive-date=August 13, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080813041905/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3231852.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Juan Bautista Sacasa (Nicaragua, 1933–36),<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Juan Bautista Sacasa|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/515180/Juan-Bautista-Sacasa|access-date=June 17, 2011|archive-date=November 26, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111126120925/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/515180/Juan-Bautista-Sacasa|url-status=live}}</ref> Salim Ahmed Salim (Tanzania, 1984–85),<ref>{{cite web|title=Biography of Salim Ahmed Salim|url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/salim-salim-bio.htm|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=United Nations|archive-date=May 5, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190505042419/https://www.un.org/News/dh/hlpanel/salim-salim-bio.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Ernesto Samper (Colombia, 1994–98),<ref name="usinfo.org">{{cite web|title=U.S. Students yesterday, world leaders tomorrow|url=http://usinfo.org/usia/exchanges.state.gov/education/educationusa/leaders.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051125112223/http://usinfo.org/usia/exchanges.state.gov/education/educationusa/leaders.htm|archive-date=November 25, 2005|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=U.S. Department of Education}}</ref> T. V. Soong (China, 1945–47),<ref>{{cite web|title=T. V. Soong (Song Ziwen) – A Prominent Businessman and Politician in Republic of China|url=http://history.cultural-china.com/en/50History7158.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111005204854/http://history.cultural-china.com/en/50History7158.html|archive-date=October 5, 2011|access-date=June 17, 2011|publisher=Cultural China}}</ref> Sun Fo (China, 1932; Taiwan, 1948–49),<ref>{{cite book|last=Boorman|first=Howard|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict03boor|title=Biographical dictionary of Republican China|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1970|pages=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict03boor/page/163 163–165]|url-access=registration}}</ref> C. R. Swart (South Africa, 1959–67),<ref>{{Cite news|agency=AP|date=July 18, 1982|title=Charles Swart Dies; South African Was First State President|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/18/obituaries/charles-swart-dies-south-african-was-first-state-president.html|access-date=August 17, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817034028/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/07/18/obituaries/charles-swart-dies-south-african-was-first-state-president.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Tang Shaoyi (China, 1912),<ref>{{cite book|last=Reilly|first=Taylor|title=Science and Football III|publisher=Taylor and Francis|year=1997|isbn=978-0-419-22160-9|page=348}}<!--| access-date=April 18, 2011--></ref> Abdul Zahir (Afghanistan, 1971–72),<ref name="usinfo.org" /> and Zhou Ziqi (China, 1922).<ref>{{cite book|last=Gerth|first=Karl|title=China made: Consumer Culture and the creation of the nation|publisher=Harvard University|year=2004|isbn=978-0-674-01654-5|page=224}}<!--| access-date= April 18, 2011--></ref> Faculty and fellows include Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Brazil, 1995–2002),<ref>{{cite web |title=Fernando Henrique Cardoso |url=http://www.fulbright.org/node/152 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316234404/http://www.fulbright.org/node/152 |archive-date=March 16, 2011 |access-date=April 18, 2011 |publisher=Fulbright Association}}</ref> Alfred Gusenbauer (Austria, 2007–2008),<ref name="sandiegouniontribune.com">{{Cite web |date=May 15, 2009 |title=Kofi Annan named a Columbia University fellow |url=https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-us-columbia-annan-051409-2009may14-story.html |access-date=July 18, 2022 |website=San Diego Union-Tribune |language=en-US |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718121908/https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-us-columbia-annan-051409-2009may14-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Václav Havel (Czechoslovakia, 1989–1992; Czech Republic, 1993–2003),<ref>{{Cite web |year=2012 |title=Blue Velvet |url=https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/blue-velvet |access-date=July 18, 2022 |website=Columbia Magazine |language=en |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718121924/https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/blue-velvet |url-status=live }}</ref> Lucas Papademos (Greece, 2011–2012),<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lucas Papademos |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucas-Papademos |access-date=July 18, 2022 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica |language=en |archive-date=June 26, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220626031142/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Lucas-Papademos |url-status=live }}</ref> Mary Robinson (Ireland, 1990–1997).<ref>{{Cite news |date=January 15, 2004 |title=Robinson to take up new Columbia University professorship next week |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/robinson-to-take-up-new-columbia-university-professorship-next-week-1.1130065 |access-date=July 18, 2022 |newspaper=The Irish Times |language=en |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718121907/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/robinson-to-take-up-new-columbia-university-professorship-next-week-1.1130065 |url-status=live }}</ref>}} 2 secretaries-general of the United Nations;{{Refn|Boutros Boutros-Ghali taught as a Fulbright Research Scholar from 1954 to 1955.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boutros Boutros-Ghali |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/boutros-boutros-ghali |access-date=July 18, 2022 |website=UN|date=August 4, 2016 |archive-date=July 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220713103858/https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/boutros-boutros-ghali |url-status=live }}</ref> Kofi Annan was a global fellow at SIPA from 2009 to 2018.<ref name="sandiegouniontribune.com"/>|group=n}} 10 justices of the United States Supreme Court; 103 Nobel laureates; 125 National Academy of Sciences members;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Member Profile Search – Columbia University|url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/member-search-results.html?primary_institution_new=columbia-university|access-date=March 18, 2022|website=National Academy of Sciences|archive-date=March 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319072356/http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/member-search-results.html?primary_institution_new=columbia-university|url-status=live}}</ref> 53 living billionaires;<ref name="CNBC2">{{cite news|author=Kathleen Elkins|title=More billionaires went to Harvard than to Stanford, MIT and Yale combined|publisher=CNBC|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/18/the-universities-that-produce-the-most-billionaires.html|access-date=July 5, 2018|archive-date=May 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180522013005/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/05/18/the-universities-that-produce-the-most-billionaires.html|url-status=live}}</ref> 23 Olympic medalists;<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Columbia University Athletes Who Have Medaled at the Olympics Over the Years|url=https://news.columbia.edu/news/columbia-university-athletes-who-have-medaled-olympics-over-years|access-date=August 7, 2021|website=Columbia News|language=en|archive-date=August 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804201215/https://news.columbia.edu/news/columbia-university-athletes-who-have-medaled-olympics-over-years|url-status=live}}</ref> 33 Academy Award winners; and 125 Pulitzer Prize <!-- Already linked above --> recipients.

==History== {{Main|History of Columbia University}}

===18th century=== [[File:Johnson2.JPG|thumb|180px|Samuel Johnson, the first president of Columbia]] Discussions regarding the founding of a college in the Province of New York began as early as 1704.<ref name="McCaughey20032">{{cite book|last=McCaughey|first=Robert|title=Stand, Columbia : A History of Columbia University in the City of New York|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2003|isbn=978-0-231-13008-0|location=New York, New York|page=1}}<!--|access-date=April 11, 2011--></ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Keppel|first=Fredrick Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/columbia01keppgoog|title=Columbia|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1914|location=Oxford, England|page=[https://archive.org/details/columbia01keppgoog/page/n49 26]}}</ref>

Classes were initially held in July 1754 and were presided over by the college's first president, Samuel Johnson.<ref name="Matthews 19042">{{cite book|last=Matthews|first=Brander|url=https://archive.org/details/ahistorycolumbi02unkngoog|title=A History of Columbia University: 1754–1904|author2=John Pine|author3=Harry Peck|author4=Munroe Smith|publisher=Macmillan Company|year=1904|location=London, England}}</ref>{{rp|8–10}}<ref name="Butler 19122">{{cite book|last=Butler|first=Nicholas Murray|title=An Official Guide to Columbia University|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=1912|location=New York, New York}}</ref>{{rp|3}} The college was officially founded on October 31, 1754, as King's College by royal charter of George II,<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a3wwAQAAMAAJ |title=Ecclesiastical Records of the State of New York |publisher=J. B. Lyon Company |year=1905 |editor-last=Hastings |editor-first=Hugh |volume=V |location=Albany |pages=3506 |language=en |access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428064451/https://books.google.com/books?id=a3wwAQAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pine |first=John B. |date=1919 |title=King's College and the Early Days of Columbia College |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42890076.pdf |journal=Proceedings of the New York State Historical Association |publisher=Fenimore Art Museum |volume=17 |pages=116 |jstor=42890076|access-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-date=March 15, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315090452/https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/42890076.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States.<ref name="A Brief History of Columbia2" />

In 1763, Johnson was succeeded in the presidency by Myles Cooper, a graduate of The Queen's College, Oxford, and an ardent Tory. In the charged political climate of the American Revolution, his chief opponent in discussions at the college was an undergraduate of the class of 1777, Alexander Hamilton.<ref name="Butler 19122" />{{rp|3}} The Irish anatomist, Samuel Clossy, was appointed professor of natural philosophy in October 1765 and later the college's first professor of anatomy in 1767.<ref name="Stookey2">{{cite journal|last1=Stookey|first1=Byron|date=1964|title=Samuel Clossy, A.B., M.D., F.R.C.P. of Ireland: First Professor of Anatomy, King's College (Columbia), New York|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451190|journal=Bulletin of the History of Medicine|volume=38|issue=2|pages=153–167|issn=0007-5140|jstor=44451190|pmid=14133620|access-date=October 15, 2020|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016060217/https://www.jstor.org/stable/44451190|url-status=live}}</ref>

thumb|left|King's College Hall in 1790 Following the start of the American Revolutionary War and the arrival of Continental Army in 1776, the school suspended instruction for eight years. The suspension continued through the military occupation of New York City by British troops until their departure in 1783. During this time, the college's library was looted and its sole building requisitioned for use as a military hospital first by American and then British forces.<ref>{{cite book|last=Schecter|first=Barnet|url=https://archive.org/details/battlefornewyork00sche|title=The Battle for New York: The City at the Heart of the American Revolution|publisher=Walker & Company|year=2002|isbn=978-0-8027-1374-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=McCullough|first=David|title=1776|title-link=1776 (book)|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=2005|isbn=978-0-7432-2671-4|author-link=David McCullough}}</ref>

[[File:Columbia1797.jpg|thumb|The 1797 Taylor Map of New York City, showing "The Colledge [sic]" at its Park Place (then Robinson Street) location and its earlier location, Trinity Church, on the lower left]] The legislature agreed to assist the college. On May 1, 1784, it passed "an Act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called King's College".<ref name="Matthews 19042" /> The Act created a board of regents to oversee the resuscitation of King's College. In an effort to demonstrate its support for the new Republic, the legislature stipulated that "the College within the City of New York heretofore called King's College be forever hereafter called and known by the name of Columbia College."<ref name="Matthews 19042" /> In February 1787, the Regents appointed a revision committee, which was headed by John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. In April of that same year, a new charter was adopted for the college granted the power to a separate board of 24 trustees.<ref name="Moore-1846">Moore, Nathanal Fischer (1846). ''A Historical Sketch of Columbia''. New York, New York: Columbia University Press.</ref>{{rp|65–70}}

For a period in the 1790s, with New York City as the federal and state capital and the country under successive Federalist governments, a revived Columbia operated under Federalists such as Hamilton and Jay. President George Washington and Vice President John Adams, in addition to both houses of Congress attended the college's commencement on May 6, 1789, as a tribute of honor to the alumni of the school who had been involved in the American Revolution.<ref name="Matthews 19042" />{{rp|74}}[[File:Columbia_law_madison.gif|thumb|The library and law school buildings, both constructed in a Gothic and Revival style, on the Madison Avenue campus]]

===19th century=== [[File:Detroit_Photographic_Company_(0671).jpg|thumb|Low Memorial Library, {{circa|1900}}]] [[File:Almamater.jpg|thumb|''Alma Mater'', by Daniel Chester French (1903)]] In 1813, the college incorporated its medical school with The College of Physicians and Surgeons, a new school created by the Regents of New York, forming Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons.<ref name="Moore-1846" />{{rp|53–60}} In 1857, the college moved from the King's College campus at Park Place to a primarily Gothic Revival campus on 49th Street and Madison Avenue, where it remained for the next forty years.

During the last half of the 19th century, under the presidency of Frederick A. P. Barnard, for whom Barnard College is named, the institution rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. Barnard College was created in 1889 as a response to the university's refusal to accept women.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barnard Hall at Barnard College (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/places/barnard-hall-at-barnard-college.htm |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}</ref>

In 1896, university president Seth Low moved the campus from 49th&nbsp;Street to its present location, a more spacious campus in the developing neighborhood of Morningside Heights.<ref name="Matthews 19042" /><ref name="hewitt18962">{{Cite book|last=Hewitt|first=Abram S|title=Selected writings, with Introduction by Nicholas Murray Butler|date=1965|publisher=Kennikat Press|editor-last=Nevins|editor-first=Allan|location=Port Washington, N.Y.|pages=315–337|language=en|chapter=Liberty, Learning, and Property : Dedication of the New Buildings of Columbia University, Morningside Heights, May 2, 1896|oclc=264897|quote=the time has come for a new and nobler civilization,"&nbsp;... when&nbsp;... "the wealth which has accumulated in this city by the joint association of its people, and to which every human being contributes by his industry, shall come to be regarded as a sacred trust to be administered in the public interest for works of beneficence to all.|author-link=Abram Hewitt|orig-year=First published 1937 by Columbia University Press|chapter-url=http://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood//Selected%20Writings%20of%20Abram%20S.%20Hewitt.pdf#page=328 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181025030640/http://www.digifind-it.com/njhistoricalportal/data/ringwood/Selected%20Writings%20of%20Abram%20S.%20Hewitt.pdf |archive-date=October 25, 2018 }}</ref>

===20th century=== {{See also|Columbia University protests of 1968|Student activism at Columbia University}}

In March 1917, as a result of America's entrance into World War 1, Columbia president Nicholas Murray Butler formed the Columbia Reserve Officers Training Corps.<ref>{{Cite web |title=In 1917, Columbia's Clampdown Remade the Antiwar Movement |url=https://jacobin.com/2024/07/columbia-university-antiwar-movement-world-war-i-palestine/ |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=jacobin.com |language=en-US}}</ref> All students over the age of 18 who passed a physical exam were entered into this program. Within 4 months, over 1,400 students were enrolled within the program. They were one of 12 universities designated by the War department to create a naval section for the Student Army Training Corps. As part of this new program, the US Army charged Columbia to create a "War Issues" course. In 1919, a similar course was created for Columbia students, a "peace issues" course that evolved into "Introduction to Contemporary Civilization in the West", part of the university's core curriculum for undergraduate students.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-10-16 |title=Ask Alma's Owl: Over Here, Columbia Mobilized for World War I |url=https://news.columbia.edu/news/ask-almas-owl-over-here-columbia-mobilized-world-war-i |access-date=2025-10-17 |website=Columbia News |language=en}}</ref>

In 1919, Columbia established a student application process characterized by ''The New York Times'' as "the first modern college application".<ref>{{cite news|author=Gross, Jessica|date=November 10, 2013|title=Who Made That College Application?|newspaper=The New York Times Magazine|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/who-made-that-college-application.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220101/https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/magazine/who-made-that-college-application.html |archive-date=January 1, 2022 |url-access=limited|access-date=August 31, 2018}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

In 1928, Seth Low Junior College was established by Columbia University in order to mitigate the number of Jewish applicants to Columbia College.<ref name="McCaughey20032" /><ref name="spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu2">{{cite web |title=Seth Low College Added to Columbia |date=April 3, 1928 |work=Columbia Spectator |url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19280403-01.2.7 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |via=Columbia Spectator Archive |archive-date=April 24, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424053505/http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/columbia?a=d&d=cs19280403-01.2.7 |url-status=live}}</ref> The college was closed in 1936 due to the adverse effects of the Great Depression and its students were subsequently taught at the Morningside Heights campus, although they did not belong to any college but to the university at large.<ref>Asimov, I. (1979) ''In Memory Yet Green'', Avon Books, pp. 156–157, 159–160, 240</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |title=Columbia for Jews? The Untold Story of Seth Low Junior College |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170620184233/http://www.columbia-current.org/seth_low_junior_college.html |archive-date=June 20, 2017 |first=Leeza |last=Hirt |work=The Current |date=Fall 2016 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1940s, faculty members, including John R. Dunning, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Enrico Fermi, and Polykarp Kusch, began what became the Manhattan Project, creating the first nuclear fission reactor in the Americas and researching gaseous diffusion.<ref name="Broad2">{{Cite news|last=Broad|first=William J.|date=October 30, 2007|title=Why They Called It the Manhattan Project|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/science/30manh.html|access-date=October 30, 2007|archive-date=July 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707172414/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/30/science/30manh.html|url-status=live|url-access=limited}}</ref>

In the aftermath of World War II, the discipline of international relations became a major scholarly focus of the university, and in response, the School of International and Public Affairs was founded in 1946, drawing upon the resources of the faculties of political science, economics, and history.<ref>{{cite web |title=Looking Out on a City and a World |url=https://www.columbia.edu/content/university-history |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Columbia University |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240408163625/https://www.columbia.edu/content/university-history |archive-date=April 8, 2024 |url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1947, University Extension, an evening school program open to all for a fee, was reorganized as an undergraduate college and designated the School of General Studies in response to the return of GIs after World War II.<ref>{{cite web |title=History |url=https://www.gs.columbia.edu/content/history |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240406201539/https://www.gs.columbia.edu/content/history |archive-date=April 6, 2024 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |website=Columbia University School of General Studies}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia University faces pressure to help impoverished students|url=https://www.ft.com/content/c8d22286-f7b2-4aa5-9395-841170fd2bc8 |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=www.ft.com}}</ref>

The Columbia University Bicentennial was celebrated in 1954.<ref>{{Cite news |date=August 19, 1953 |title=Columbia Removing 116th St. Pavement |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/08/19/83852003.html?pageNumber=31 |access-date=July 16, 2022 |archive-date=July 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220718131025/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1953/08/19/83852003.html?pageNumber=31 |url-status=live |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

During the 1960s, student activism reached a climax with protests in the spring of 1968, when hundreds of students occupied buildings on campus. The incident forced the resignation of Columbia's president, Grayson Kirk, and the establishment of the University Senate.<ref>{{cite book|last=Kurlansky|first=Mark|url=https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/194|title=1968: The Year That Rocked The World|publisher=Random House|year=2005|isbn=978-0-345-45582-6|location=New York, New York|pages=[https://archive.org/details/196800mark/page/194 194–199]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Bradley|first=Stefan|title=Harlem vs. Columbia University: Black Student Power in the Late 1960s|publisher=University of Illinois|year=2009|isbn=978-0-252-03452-7|location=New York, New York|pages=5–19, 164–191}}</ref>

Though several schools in the university had admitted women for years, Columbia College first admitted women in the fall of 1983,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fiske |first=Edward B. |date=January 23, 1982 |title=Columbia plans to take women beginning in '83 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/23/nyregion/columbia-plans-to-take-women-beginning-in-83.html |access-date=April 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331 |archive-date=April 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230428221812/https://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/23/nyregion/columbia-plans-to-take-women-beginning-in-83.html |url-status=live }}</ref> after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College, the all-female institution affiliated with the university, to merge the two schools.<ref>[http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/03/31/reception-honors-anniversary-cc-coeducation Reception honors anniversary of CC coeducation | Columbia Daily Spectator] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115064855/http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2009/03/31/reception-honors-anniversary-cc-coeducation |date=January 15, 2021 }}. Columbiaspectator.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2013.</ref> Barnard College still remains affiliated with Columbia, and all Barnard graduates are issued diplomas signed by the presidents of Columbia University and Barnard College.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Our Partnership with Columbia University |url=https://barnard.edu/boldly-barnard/columbia-university |access-date=April 23, 2024|website=Barnard College |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829011912/https://barnard.edu/boldly-barnard/columbia-university |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Belkin |first=Lisa |date=1983-08-30 |title=FIRST COED CLASS ENTERS COLUMBIA COLLEGE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/08/30/nyregion/first-coed-class-enters-columbia-college.html |access-date=2026-03-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

During the late 20th century, the university underwent significant academic, structural, and administrative changes as it developed into a major research university. For much of the 19th century, the university consisted of decentralized and separate faculties specializing in Political Science, Philosophy, and Pure Science. In 1979, these faculties were merged into the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.<ref>{{cite web|title=GSAS at a Glance – Columbia University – Graduate School of Arts and Sciences|url=http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/gsas-glance|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310122351/http://gsas.columbia.edu/content/gsas-glance|archive-date=March 10, 2014|access-date=November 24, 2016}}</ref> In 1991, the faculties of Columbia College, the School of General Studies, the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, the School of the Arts, and the School of Professional Studies were merged into the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, leading to the academic integration and centralized governance of these schools.

In 1995, the Division of Special Programs, later called the School of Continuing Education and now the School of Professional Studies, was established to reprise the former role of University Extension.<ref>{{cite web|title=University Senate|url=http://senate.columbia.edu/archives/resolutions_archives/resolutions/01-02/CEres.htm|access-date=November 24, 2016|website=Senate.columbia.edu|archive-date=February 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170213134229/http://senate.columbia.edu/archives/resolutions_archives/resolutions/01-02/CEres.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===21st century===

==== Bollinger presidency (2002–2023) ==== Lee C. Bollinger became Columbia's 19th president in June 2002,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 29 May 2002 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20020529-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=March 24, 2025 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> succeeding George Rupp.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia Daily Spectator 5 March 2001 — Columbia Spectator |url=https://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs20010305-01&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN------- |access-date=March 24, 2025 |website=spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu}}</ref> Bollinger was appointed in October 2001 after arriving from the presidency of the University of Michigan.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Presidents of the University of Michigan |url=https://bentley.umich.edu/legacy-support/um/umpresid.php |access-date=March 24, 2025 |website=bentley.umich.edu}}</ref> His presidency emphasized campus expansion, defense of affirmative action in college admissions, support for government funding of private sector media, and opposition to disinformation.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-24 |title=Lee Bollinger, Columbia University’s Invisible Man - Arts & Letters |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/lee-bollinger-columbia-invisible-man |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=Tablet Magazine |language=en}}</ref>

Under Bollinger's tenure, the university publicly launched a record $4 billion capital campaign in September 2006. Financial aid was improved, eliminating loans for undergraduates from families earning under $50,000, and additional funds were allocated to support Bollinger's efforts toward the Manhattanville campus expansion, which nearly doubled Columbia's physical footprint.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Candid insights {{!}} Showing 1146 results sorted by date |url=https://candid.org/blogs/ |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=Candid |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-01-24 |title=Lee Bollinger, Columbia University’s Invisible Man - Arts & Letters |url=https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/lee-bollinger-columbia-invisible-man |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=Tablet Magazine |language=en}}</ref> This expansion was supported by a major gift from trustee Gerry Lenfest.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gerry Lenfest Pledges $30 Million to Fund New Arts Center on Manhattanville Campus |url=https://giving.columbia.edu/gerry-lenfest-pledges-30-million-fund-new-arts-center-manhattanville-campus |access-date=August 9, 2025 |website=giving.columbia.edu |language=en}}</ref>

Globalization efforts continued with the World Leaders Forum and the creation of the Committee on Global Thought, chaired by Joseph Stiglitz.

The 2008 financial crisis impacted Columbia's endowment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Economic Crisis Might Affect Columbia; Bollinger Says Endowment Will Remain Stable |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/10/05/economic-crisis-might-affect-columbia-bollinger-says-endowment-will-remain-stable/ |access-date=August 9, 2025 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}</ref> The endowment recovered, hitting $8.2B in Oct 2013. Despite the downturn, the university pressed on with Manhattanville construction, receiving final state approval in June 2009.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Executive Summary |url=https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/applicants/env-review/manhattanville/00.pdf |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=NYC.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Kravis Donates $100 Million for Facilities in Manhattanville; Gift Is Largest Ever to Columbia Business School |url=https://giving.columbia.edu/kravis-donates-100-million-facilities-manhattanville-gift-largest-ever-columbia-business-school |access-date=August 9, 2025 |website=giving.columbia.edu |language=en}}</ref>

In May 2011, following the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the University Senate voted 51–17 to invite ROTC back after a 40-year absence, and Bollinger announced an agreement with the Navy.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2011-05-26 |title=Columbia University to Allow ROTC Program for 1st Time Since 1969 |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/navy-columbia-univ-to-ink-pact-for-rotcs-return/1919218/ |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=NBC New York |language=en-US}}</ref> Columbia has maintained its Global Centers network (Amman, Athens, Beijing, Mumbai, Paris, Nairobi, Istanbul, Santiago, Rio de Janeiro, Tunis, Tel Aviv), aiming to increase global engagement and international student enrollment.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia to Naval ROTC: Welcome Back |url=https://magazine.columbia.edu/article/columbia-naval-rotc-welcome-back |access-date=August 9, 2025 |website=Columbia Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Dirks |first=Nicholas B. |last2=Gilman |first2=Nils |date=December 2015 |title=BERKELEY'S NEW APPROACH TO GLOBAL ENGAGEMENT |url=https://cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/publications/rops.cshe_.12.15.dirksgilman.globalizationhed.12.14.2015.pdf |website=cshe.berkeley.edu}}</ref>

From 2014 to 2021, Columbia University pursued significant physical expansion, notably opening major facilities on the Manhattanville campus (ZMBBI, Lenfest Center, The Forum). Key strategic initiatives launched included the Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia World Projects, and the new Columbia Climate School (2020). A $5 billion university capital campaign was launched (with a $1.5B A&S target), major gifts like $50M for A&S's Uris Hall renovation were secured, and the endowment grew significantly ($14.35B by mid-2021).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Announcing the Columbia Climate School |url=https://president.columbia.edu/news/columbia-climate-school-announcement |access-date=August 9, 2025 |website=Office of the President }}</ref>

In February 2022, Columbia's mathematics professor Michael Thaddeus published a website and argued that data submitted by Columbia for U.S. News college rankings was "inaccurate, dubious or highly misleading".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |date=2022-03-17 |title=U.S. News Ranked Columbia No. 2, but a Math Professor Has His Doubts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/us/columbia-university-rank.html |access-date=2025-07-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-03-16 |title=Columbia Is Ranked No. 2 by 'U.S News.' A Professor Says Its Spot Is Based on False Data. |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/columbia-is-ranked-no-2-by-u-s-news-a-professor-says-its-spot-is-based-on-false-data |access-date=2025-07-25 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia and U.S. News |url=https://www.math.columbia.edu/~thaddeus/ranking/investigation.html |access-date=2025-07-25 |website=Math.columbia.edu}}</ref> In July 2022, ''U.S. News & World Report'' unranked Columbia citing failed verification.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hartocollis |first=Anemona |date=2022-07-08 |title=Columbia Loses Its No. 2 Spot in the U.S. News Rankings |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/08/us/us-news-rankings-columbia.html |access-date=2025-07-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> In September 2022, Columbia acknowledged the submission of incorrect data to U.S. News college rankings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moshtaghian |first=Artemis |date=2022-09-12 |title=Columbia University acknowledges submitting inaccurate data for consideration in college rankings |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/11/media/columbia-university-us-news-world-report-college-rankings |access-date=2025-10-21 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> In June 2023, Columbia announced its non-participation in the rankings.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mueller |first=Julia |date=June 7, 2023 |title=Columbia University no longer submitting data to US News college ranking |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4038410-columbia-university-no-longer-submitting-data-to-us-news-ranking/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607154527/https://thehill.com/homenews/education/4038410-columbia-university-no-longer-submitting-data-to-us-news-ranking/ |archive-date=June 7, 2023 |access-date=June 7, 2023 |website=The Hill |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Moshtaghian |first=Artemis |date=2022-09-12 |title=Columbia University acknowledges submitting inaccurate data for consideration in college rankings {{!}} CNN Business |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/11/media/columbia-university-us-news-world-report-college-rankings |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref> In July 2025, Columbia offered to pay US$9 million to settle a class-action lawsuit by its students in Manhattan federal court over the alleged submission of false data to boost its U.S. News college rankings.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-07-02 |title=Columbia to pay $9 million to settle lawsuit over US News college ranking |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/01/us/columbia-us-news-ranking-settlement |access-date=2025-07-25 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Otterman |first=Sharon |date=2025-07-01 |title=Columbia Will Pay $9 Million to Settle Lawsuit Over U.S. News Ranking |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/01/nyregion/columbia-university-us-news-ranking.html |access-date=2025-07-25 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

In January 2023, Columbia University announced that Minouche Shafik would be the school's 20th president. Previously, Shafik served as president of the London School of Economics and Political Science. Shafik was inaugurated in October 2023.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hassan |first=Adeel |date=2024-04-26 |title=A Timeline of Nemat Shafik’s Tenure as President of Columbia University |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/26/us/minouche-shafik-columbia-university-president.html |access-date=2026-03-01 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

[[File:"Liberated Zone," Columbia University, April 17.jpg|thumb|A tent in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment (April 17-30, 2024), part of a broader protest movement at the university during the Gaza war and genocide, April 17, 2024.<ref>{{Cite report|title=Resistance and Repression at Columbia: Students in Struggle for Palestine|url=https://spectrejournal.com/resistance-and-repression-at-columbia/|publisher=Spectre|date=2024-05-23|doi=10.63478/2b83yx7p|first=Sam|last=Falcone|first2=Jannine|last2=Salman|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|title=Palestine is the Vanguard for Our Liberation: Insights from the Students’ Intifada at Columbia University|url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19436149.2024.2383827|journal=Middle East Critique|date=2024-07-02|issn=1943-6149|pages=487–516|volume=33|issue=3|doi=10.1080/19436149.2024.2383827|language=en|first=Dasha|last=M.|first2=Luma|last2=Qashou|first3=Parviz|last3=Behrangi|first4=Caroline|last4=Reynolds|first5=Amal|last5=Haddad|url-access=subscription}}</ref>]]

==== Acting presidents ==== Beginning in fall 2023, protests at Columbia University against the Gaza war and what student protesters described as Columbia's complicity in the Gaza genocide,<ref>::'''Participants'''

*{{Cite web |last=Khalil |first=Mahmoud |title=A Letter to Columbia |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2025/04/04/a-letter-to-columbia/ |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}

*{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVYd_CWiuv8 |title="The Encampments": New Film on Mahmoud Khalil & Columbia Students Who Sparked Gaza Campus Protests |date=2025-03-28 |last=Democracy Now! |access-date=2025-09-10 |via=YouTube}}

*{{Cite news |last1=Melnick |first1=Jeff |last2=Lamalle |first2=Juliette (pseudo.) |date=2025-09-02 |title=Columbia punished our kids for protesting against the genocide in Gaza. We condemn the university's cowardice |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/sep/02/columbia-university-punished-our-kids-gaza-protests |access-date=2025-09-10 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}

*{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9GCJki3pMg |title="They Want to Silence Me": Columbia Student Mohsen Mahdawi on ICE Jail, Palestine, Buddhism & More |date=2025-05-16 |last=Democracy Now! |access-date=2025-09-10 |via=YouTube}}

*{{Cite news |last=Mahdawi |first=Mohsen |date=2025-05-02 |title=Opinion: I Was Detained for My Beliefs. Who Will Be Next? |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/opinion/mohsen-mahdawi-ice-detention.html |access-date=2025-09-10 |language=en-US}}

*{{Cite web |last=Howley |first=Joseph A. |title=Campuses like ours are a second front in Israel's war on higher education and free expression |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2024/02/27/campuses-like-ours-are-a-second-front-in-israels-war-on-higher-education-and-free-expression/ |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}

*{{Cite web |last1=Ramirez |first1=Isabella |last2=Amira McKee, Rebecca Massel, Emily Forgash, Noah Bernstein, Sabrina Ticer-Wurr, and Apurva Chakravarthy |title=Our Campus. Our Crisis. |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/05/04/our-campus-our-crisis/ |access-date=2025-09-10 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}} </ref> resulted in police action, student disciplinary measures, and the appointment of Katrina Armstrong as interim president in August 2024 after the resignation of former university president Minouche Shafik.<ref name="actingpres">{{cite web |title=Here's what to know about Claire Shipman, Columbia's new acting president |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/03/29/heres-what-to-know-about-claire-shipman-columbias-new-acting-president/}}</ref> The federal government also launched an investigation into antisemitism and then withdrew funding, prompting the university to adopt new policies and adjust disciplinary processes.<ref name="NBCColumbia">{{cite news |last1=Lavietes |first1=Matt |last2=Butts |first2=Emma |date=July 3, 2025 |title=Columbia University disciplines at least 70 students who took part in campus protests |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/columbia-university-disciplines-students-campus-protests-rcna220283 |access-date=July 24, 2025 |work=NBC News}}</ref>

Claire Shipman was appointed acting president in March 2025.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davis |first=Spencer |title=Here’s what to know about Claire Shipman, Columbia’s new acting president |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2025/03/29/heres-what-to-know-about-claire-shipman-columbias-new-acting-president/ |access-date=2026-03-16 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}</ref> Columbia also closed its Morningside Heights campus to the general public, allowing access only to holders of Columbia ID cards and approved guests.<ref>{{cite web | last1=Kodé | first1=Anna | last2=Moran | first2=Karsten | title=Columbia University Locked Its Campus and Unleashed a Contentious Debate | website=The New York Times | date=March 27, 2025 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/realestate/columbia-university-public-access-lawsuit-protests.html | access-date=March 14, 2026}}</ref> In July 2025, Columbia finalized a $220 million settlement to resume federal funding, agreeing to implement a set of reforms to address anti-semitism. The university also adopted the IHRA definition of antisemitism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aaron |first=Katersky |title=Columbia University to pay $200M in settlement with Trump administration |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/columbia-university-pay-200m-settlement-trump-administration/story?id=124019078 |access-date=July 24, 2025 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia University formally adopts controversial antisemitism definition {{!}} Higher Ed Dive |url=https://www.highereddive.com/news/columbia-adopts-controversial-antisemitism-definition/753389/ |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=www.highereddive.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

In January 2026, the university announced that it had chosen Jennifer Mnookin, the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as the next president of Columbia, effective July 1, 2026.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia University Names Jennifer Mnookin President-Designate {{!}} Office of the Secretary |url=https://secretary.columbia.edu/content/columbia-university-names-jennifer-mnookin-president-designate |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=secretary.columbia.edu}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Hess |first=Corrinne |date=2026-01-29 |title=UW-Madison Chancellor says her role prepared her for Columbia University job |url=https://www.wpr.org/news/uw-madison-chancellor-jennifer-mnookin-columbia-university |access-date=2026-02-09 |website=WPR |language=en-US}}</ref>

In March 2026, a $481 million ruling that Columbia University had won against software company Gen Digital for infringing patents related to cybersecurity technology was overturned. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit stated that Columbia's patents may be invalid and sent the case back to Virginia federal court.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gen Digital overturns $481 million patent award in Columbia University lawsuit |url=https://www.channelnewsasia.com/business/gen-digital-overturns-481-million-patent-award-in-columbia-university-lawsuit-5987291 |access-date=2026-03-12 |website=CNA |language=en}}</ref>

==Campus==

===Morningside Heights=== thumb|College Walk The majority of Columbia's graduate and undergraduate studies are conducted in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Morningside Heights on Seth Low's late-19th century vision of a university campus where all disciplines could be taught at one location. The campus was designed along Beaux-Arts planning principles by the architects McKim, Mead & White. Columbia's main campus occupies more than six city blocks, or {{convert|32|acres|abbr=on}}, in Morningside Heights, New York City, a neighborhood that contains a number of academic institutions.

The university owns over 7,800 apartments in Morningside Heights, housing faculty, graduate students, and staff. Almost two dozen undergraduate dormitories (purpose-built or converted) are located on campus or in Morningside Heights. Columbia University has an extensive tunnel system, more than a century old, with the oldest portions predating the present campus. Some of these remain accessible to the public, while others have been cordoned off.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Unearthing the Underground|url=http://features.columbiaspectator.com/eye/2016/04/13/unearthing-the-underground/|access-date=May 5, 2021|website=Columbia Spectator|language=en-US|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505231254/http://features.columbiaspectator.com/eye/2016/04/13/unearthing-the-underground/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Butler_Library_-_1000px_-_AC.jpg|thumb|Butler Library]] Butler Library is the largest in the Columbia University Libraries system and one of the largest buildings on the campus. It was completed in 1934 and renamed to Butler Library in 1946.<ref>{{cite web|title=Butler Library: Self-Guided Tour|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/img/assets/5295/SelfGuided.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060922032835/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/img/assets/5295/SelfGuided.pdf |archive-date=September 22, 2006 |url-status=live|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> {{As of|2020}}, Columbia's library system includes over 15.0 million volumes, making it the eighth largest library system and fifth largest collegiate library system in the United States.<ref name="Mian-2020">{{Cite book |last1=Mian |first1=Anam |url=https://publications.arl.org/ARL-Statistics-2018-2019/ |title=ARL Statistics 2018–2019 |last2=Roebuck |first2=Gary |publisher=Association of Research Libraries |year=2020 |location=Washington, DC |pages=45 |access-date=July 30, 2021 |archive-date=July 29, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210729235011/https://publications.arl.org/ARL-Statistics-2018-2019/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several buildings on the Morningside Heights campus are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Low Memorial Library, a National Historic Landmark and the centerpiece of the campus, is listed for its architectural significance. Philosophy Hall is listed as the site of the invention of FM radio.<ref>Robert D. Colburn (July 2002) {{NHLS url|id=03001046|title=National Historic Landmark Nomination: Philosophy Hall}}, National Park Service and {{NHLS url|id=03001046|title=''Accompanying 13 photos, exterior and interior, from c.1922–2001''|photos=y}}</ref> Also listed is Pupin Hall, another National Historic Landmark, which houses the physics and astronomy departments. Here the first experiments on the fission of uranium were conducted by Enrico Fermi. The uranium atom was split there ten days after the world's first atom-splitting in Copenhagen, Denmark.<ref>{{cite web|author=Carolyn Pitts|year=1987|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Low Memorial Library, Columbia|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/87002599_text|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=March 4, 2016|archive-date=December 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225232646/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/87002599_text|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|year=1983|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Pupin Physics Laboratories, Columbia University—Accompanying photos|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000550_photos|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=March 4, 2016|archive-date=December 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225232651/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NHLS/66000550_photos|url-status=live}}</ref> Other buildings listed include Casa Italiana, the Delta Psi, Alpha Chapter building of St. Anthony Hall, Earl Hall, and the buildings of the affiliated Union Theological Seminary.<ref name="nycland">{{cite nycland|page=195}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|work=Department of the Interior. National Park Service. (3/2/1934–)|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319443|title=New York SP Delta Psi, Alpha Chapter|date=1996|series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York, 1964 – 2013|access-date=May 5, 2021|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505231252/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75319443|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Earl Hall at Columbia University Listed on National Register of Historic Places|url=https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/2018/03/14/earl-hall-at-columbia-university-listed-on-national-register-of-historic-places/|access-date=May 5, 2021|website=NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project|language=en-US|archive-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505194741/https://www.nyclgbtsites.org/2018/03/14/earl-hall-at-columbia-university-listed-on-national-register-of-historic-places/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|work=Department of the Interior. National Park Service.|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320012|title=New York SP Union Theological Seminary|date=1980|series=File Unit: National Register of Historic Places and National Historic Landmarks Program Records: New York, 1964 – 2013|access-date=June 11, 2021|archive-date=June 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611054131/https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320012|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Union_Theological_Seminary_NYC_001_002_combined.jpg|thumb|Union Theological Seminary]] A statue by sculptor Daniel Chester French called ''Alma Mater'' is centered on the front steps of Low Memorial Library. The statue represents a personification of the traditional image of the university as an ''alma mater'', or "nourishing mother", draped in an academic gown and seated on a throne. She wears a laurel wreath on her head and holds in her right hand a scepter capped by a King's Crown, a traditional symbol of the university. A book, representing learning, rests on her lap. The arms of her throne end in lamps, representing "Sapientia et Doctrina", or "Wisdom and Learning"; on the back of the throne is embossed an image of the seal of the university.<ref name="Durante-2007">{{Cite book |last=Durante |first=Dianne L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QcwVCgAAQBAJ&q=alma+mater+statue+columbia |title=Outdoor Monuments of Manhattan: A Historical Guide |date=February 2007 |publisher=NYU Press |isbn=978-0-8147-1987-9 |language=en |access-date=September 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210928170910/https://books.google.com/books?id=QcwVCgAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&dq=alma+mater+statue+columbia&hl=en |archive-date=September 28, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture|title=Alma Mater (sculpture)|url=http://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!20526~!0#focus|access-date=April 14, 2011|publisher=The Smithsonian Institution|archive-date=November 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181122051823/https://siris-artinventories.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?profile=all&source=~!siartinventories&uri=full=3100001~!20526~!0#focus|url-status=live}}</ref>

The small hidden owl on the sculpture is also the subject of many Columbia legends, the main legend being that the first student in the freshmen class to find the hidden owl on the statue will be valedictorian, and that any subsequent Columbia male who finds it will marry a Barnard student, given that Barnard is a women's college.<ref>{{cite web|author=Meredith Foster|date=February 11, 2011|title=The Myth of the College Sweetheart|url=http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2011/02/10/myth-college-sweetheart|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110307091227/http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2011/02/10/myth-college-sweetheart|archive-date=March 7, 2011|access-date=April 14, 2011|work=The Eye|publisher=Columbia Spectator}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=May 19, 1999|title=What Is the Mace? A Guide to Columbia's Icons|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/newrec/2423/tmpl/story.4.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University Record|archive-date=December 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201216021347/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/newrec/2423/tmpl/story.4.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

"The Steps", alternatively known as "Low Steps" or the "Urban Beach", are a popular meeting area for Columbia students. The term refers to the long series of granite steps leading from the lower part of campus (South Field) to its upper terrace.<ref>{{cite web|author=Richard P. Dober|title=The Steps at Low Library|url=http://dlmplanners.org/notes/pdf/The%20Steps%20at%20Low%20Library.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814190951/http://dlmplanners.org/notes/pdf/The%20Steps%20at%20Low%20Library.pdf|archive-date=August 14, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Dober, Lidsky, Craig and Associates, Inc.}}</ref> {{wide image|Columbia pano.jpg|1200px|A panoramic view of the Morningside Heights campus as seen from Butler Library and facing Low Memorial Library}}

===Other campuses=== [[File:LDEO_Entrance.jpg|thumb|Lamont Campus entrance in Palisades, New York]] [[File:Columbia_University_College_of_Physicians_and_Surgeons_entrance.jpg|thumb|The entrance to the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Washington Heights]] In April 2007, the university purchased more than two-thirds of a {{convert|17|acre}} site for a new campus in Manhattanville, an industrial neighborhood to the north of the Morningside Heights campus. Stretching from 125th Street to 133rd Street, Columbia Manhattanville houses buildings for Columbia's Business School, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia School of the Arts, and the Jerome L. Greene Center for Mind, Brain, and Behavior, where research will occur on neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Manhattanville Columbia|url=https://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|access-date=June 23, 2020|archive-date=June 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200625081336/https://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Manhattanville in West Harlem|url=http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|access-date=April 1, 2007|archive-date=December 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141212014956/http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The $7&nbsp;billion expansion plan included demolishing all buildings, except three that are historically significant (the Studebaker Building, Prentis Hall, and the Nash Building), eliminating the existing light industry and storage warehouses, and relocating tenants in 132&nbsp;apartments. Replacing these buildings created {{convert|6.8|e6sqft|m2}} of space for the university. Community activist groups in West Harlem fought the expansion for reasons ranging from property protection and fair exchange for land, to residents' rights.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Timothy|date=November 20, 2006|title=In West Harlem Land Dispute, It's Columbia vs. Residents|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/nyregion/20columbia.html|access-date=February 6, 2017|archive-date=February 18, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218103051/http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/20/nyregion/20columbia.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Timothy|date=September 21, 2008|title=2 Gas Stations, and a Family's Resolve, Confront Columbia Expansion Plan|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21gas.html|access-date=March 28, 2010|archive-date=May 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516153347/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/21/nyregion/21gas.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Subsequent public hearings drew neighborhood opposition. {{As of|2008|12}}, the State of New York's Empire State Development Corporation approved use of eminent domain, which, through declaration of Manhattanville's "blighted" status, gives governmental bodies the right to appropriate private property for public use.<ref>{{Cite news|author1=Maggie Astor |author2=Kim Kirschenbaum|date=December 18, 2008|title=M'ville Expansion Clears Last Major Hurdle, State Approves Eminent Domain|work=Columbia Spectator|url=http://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/12/18/mville-expansion-clears-last-major-hurdle-state-approves-eminent-domain|access-date=August 12, 2009|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115071425/https://www.columbiaspectator.com/2008/12/18/mville-expansion-clears-last-major-hurdle-state-approves-eminent-domain/|url-status=live}}</ref> On May 20, 2009, the New York State Public Authorities Control Board approved the Manhanttanville expansion plan.<ref>{{Cite news|date=May 20, 2009|title=Columbia Manhattanville Project|work=Press Release|url=http://www.empire.state.ny.us/columbia/|url-status=dead|access-date=August 12, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100506034150/http://www.empire.state.ny.us/columbia|archive-date=May 6, 2010}}</ref>

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is affiliated with the medical schools of both Columbia University and Cornell University. According to ''U.S. News & World Report''{{'}}s "2020–21 Best Hospitals Honor Roll and Medical Specialties Rankings", it is ranked fourth overall and second among university hospitals.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harder|first=Ben|date=July 28, 2020|title=2020–21 Best Hospitals Honor Roll and Medical Specialties Rankings|url=https://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=health.usnews.com|archive-date=July 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180710190628/https://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/best-hospitals-honor-roll-and-overview|url-status=live}}</ref> Columbia's medical school has a strategic partnership with New York State Psychiatric Institute, and is affiliated with 19 other hospitals in the U.S. and four hospitals in other countries.<ref name="A Brief History of Columbia2" />

Health-related schools are located at the Columbia University Medical Center, a {{convert|20|acre|adj=on}} campus located in the neighborhood of Washington Heights, fifty blocks uptown. Other teaching hospitals affiliated with Columbia through the NewYork-Presbyterian network include the Payne Whitney Clinic in Manhattan, and the Payne Whitney Westchester, a psychiatric institute located in White Plains, New York.<ref>{{cite web|title=NYP: Weschster|url=http://www.cornellpsychiatry.org/about/westchester.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111004044827/http://www.cornellpsychiatry.org/about/westchester.html|archive-date=October 4, 2011|access-date=April 18, 2011|publisher=NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital}}</ref>

On the northern tip of Manhattan island (in the neighborhood of Inwood), Columbia owns the {{convert|26|acre|adj=on}} Baker Field, which includes the Lawrence A. Wien Stadium as well as facilities for field sports, outdoor track, and tennis. There is a third campus on the west bank of the Hudson River, the {{convert|157|acre|adj=on}} Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory and Earth Institute in Palisades, New York. A fourth is the {{convert|60|acre|adj=on}} Nevis Laboratories in Irvington, New York, for the study of particle and motion physics. A satellite site in Paris holds classes at Reid Hall.<ref name="A Brief History of Columbia2" />

===Sustainability=== In 2006, the university established the Office of Environmental Stewardship to initiate, coordinate and implement programs to reduce the university's environmental footprint. The U.S. Green Building Council selected the university's Manhattanville plan for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighborhood Design pilot program.<ref>{{cite web|title=Manhattanville in West Harlem|url=http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/design-goals|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141212021255/http://manhattanville.columbia.edu/design-goals|archive-date=December 12, 2014|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Projects: Green Buildings|url=http://environment.columbia.edu/green-buildings|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508230555/http://www.environment.columbia.edu/green-buildings|archive-date=May 8, 2014|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia Environmental Stewardship}}</ref>

<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia Greenmarket|date=September 30, 2007|url=http://www.grownyc.org/columbiagreenmarket|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=GrowNYC|archive-date=October 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121025211657/http://www.grownyc.org/columbiagreenmarket|url-status=live}}</ref> Columbia has been rated "B+" by the 2011 College Sustainability Report Card for its environmental and sustainability initiatives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Columbia University Green Report Card |url=http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/columbia-university |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312213441/http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/columbia-university |archive-date=March 12, 2014 |access-date=April 11, 2011 |publisher=The College Sustainability Report Card}}</ref>[[File:116th_Street_Columbia_University_Station.JPG|thumb|Access to Columbia is enhanced by the 116th Street–Columbia University subway station ({{NYCS trains|Broadway-Seventh north}}) on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.]] According to the A. W. Kuchler U.S. potential natural vegetation types, Columbia University would have a dominant vegetation type of Appalachian Oak (''104'') with a dominant vegetation form of Eastern Hardwood Forest (''25'').<ref name="Conservation Biology Institute2">{{cite web|title=U.S. Potential Natural Vegetation, Original Kuchler Types, v2.0 (Spatially Adjusted to Correct Geometric Distortions)|url=https://databasin.org/datasets/1c7a301c8e6843f2b4fe63fdb3a9fe39|access-date=August 14, 2019|archive-date=July 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190703145441/https://databasin.org/datasets/1c7a301c8e6843f2b4fe63fdb3a9fe39|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Transportation === Columbia Transportation is the bus service of the university, operated by Academy Bus Lines. The buses are open to all Columbia faculty, students, Dodge Fitness Center members, and anyone else who holds a Columbia ID card. In addition, all TSC students can ride the buses.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Columbia Transportation|url=https://transportation.columbia.edu/|access-date=May 6, 2021|website=transportation.columbia.edu|archive-date=May 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506022708/https://transportation.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the New York City Subway, the {{NYCS Broadway-Seventh north|time=bullets}} train serves the university at 116th Street-Columbia University. The {{NYC bus link|M4|M104|M60|prose=y}} buses stop on Broadway while the {{NYC bus link|M11}} stops on Amsterdam Avenue.

The main campus is primarily boxed off by the streets of Amsterdam Avenue, Broadway, 114th street, and 120th street, with some buildings, including Barnard College, located just outside the area. The nearest major highway is the Henry Hudson Parkway (NY 9A) to the west of the campus. It is located {{convert|3.4|mi|km}} south of the George Washington Bridge.

==Academics== === Undergraduate admissions and financial aid === [[File:Vanamquad.JPEG|left|thumb|Van Amringe Quadrangle and Memorial]] {{Infobox U.S. college admissions|year=2021|ref=<ref>{{cite web |url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/class-2025-profile |title=Class of 2025 Profile |publisher=Columbia University |access-date=March 18, 2022 |archive-date=March 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319072358/https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/class-2025-profile |url-status=live }}</ref>|change ref=<ref> {{cite web |url=http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/classprofile/2020 |title=Common Data Set 2015–2016 |publisher=Columbia University |access-date=March 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170604152232/http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/classprofile/2020 |archive-date=June 4, 2017 |url-status=dead}} </ref>|admit rate=3.9%|admit rate change=-2.1|yield rate=66.5%|yield rate change=+1.4|SAT Total=1510–1560|SAT Total change=-10|float=right}} Columbia is a racially diverse school, with approximately 52% of all students identifying themselves as persons of color. Additionally, around 50% of all undergraduates received grants from Columbia.<ref name="stat2">{{cite web|title=Financial Aid Statistics|url=http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|publisher=Columbia University|access-date=May 10, 2016|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065212/https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|url-status=live}}</ref> The college is need-blind for domestic applicants.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/how/aid/works|title=How Aid Works – Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing|publisher=|access-date=November 18, 2015|archive-date=November 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151118173614/http://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/how/aid/works|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 2007, Columbia University announced a $400 million donation from media billionaire alumnus John Kluge to be used exclusively for undergraduate financial aid. The donation is among the largest single gifts to higher education.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Lewin|first=Tamar|date=April 11, 2007|title=Columbia to Receive $400 Million for Student Aid|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/nyregion/11columbia.html|access-date=May 15, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=May 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515050000/https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/11/nyregion/11columbia.html|url-status=live}}</ref> However, this did not apply to international students, transfer students, visiting students, or students in the School of General Studies.<ref>{{Cite news|date=March 11, 2008|title=Columbia University to Offer Financial Aid to More Students|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/education/11columbia.html|access-date=March 28, 2010|archive-date=April 10, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410212905/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/11/education/11columbia.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the fall of 2010, admission to Columbia's undergraduate colleges Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science (also known as SEAS or Columbia Engineering) began accepting the Common Application. The policy change made Columbia one of the last major academic institutions and the last Ivy League university to switch to the Common Application.<ref>{{cite news|last=Steinberg|first=Jacques|date=March 23, 2010|title=Columbia, Michigan and Connecticut Among 25 Colleges to Add Common Application|newspaper=The New York Times|url=http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/common-2/|access-date=April 11, 2011|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106065427/https://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/common-2/|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Organization === {| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin-left:1em; font-size:90%; line-height:1.4em; width:300px" ! colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |Columbia Graduate/Professional Schools<ref name="Columbia U-2024">{{Cite web|title=Structure: Faculty Handbook|url=https://facultyhandbook.columbia.edu/content/structure|access-date=April 25, 2024|website=Columbia University|archive-date=April 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240425200127/https://facultyhandbook.columbia.edu/content/structure|url-status=live}}</ref> |- |'''College/school''' |'''Year founded''' |- |College of Physicians and Surgeons |1767 |- |College of Dental Medicine |1916 |- |Columbia Law School |1858 |- |Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science |1864 |- |Graduate School of Arts and Sciences |1880 |- |Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation |1881 |- |Teachers College, Columbia University {{small|(affiliate)}} |1887 |- |School of Nursing |1892 |- |School of Social Work |1898 |- |Graduate School of Journalism |1912 |- |Columbia Business School |1916 |- |School of Public Health |1922 |- |Union Theological Seminary {{small|(affiliate)}} |1836, affiliate since 1928 |- |School of International and Public Affairs |1946 |- |School of the Arts |1965 |- |School of Professional Studies |1995 |- |Columbia Climate School |2020 |} {| class="toccolours" style="float:right; margin-left:1em; font-size:90%; line-height:1.4em; width:300px" ! colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" |Columbia Undergraduate Schools<ref name="Columbia U-2024" /> |- |'''College/school''' |'''Year founded''' |- |Columbia College |1754 |- |Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science |1864 |- |Barnard College {{small|(affiliate)}} |1889 |- |School of General Studies |1947 |}

Columbia University is an independent, privately supported, nonsectarian and not-for-profit institution of higher education.<ref>[https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135598093 "Columbia University In The City Of New York"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240228202119/https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135598093 |date=February 28, 2024 }} ''ProPublica''. Retrieved February 28, 2024.</ref> Its official corporate name is Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Data |url=https://data.cms.gov/tools/medicare-revalidation-list/provider/O20070604000623 |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=data.cms.gov}}</ref>

Joint degree programs are available through Union Theological Seminary, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America,<ref>{{cite web|title=JTS Joint Program|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/jts-joint-program|access-date=January 19, 2018|website=Gs.columbia.edu|language=en|archive-date=December 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223065810/https://gs.columbia.edu/jts-joint-program|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the Juilliard School.<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia-Juilliard Program|url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-program|access-date=January 19, 2018|website=Columbia Undergraduate Admissions|language=en|archive-date=January 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114204843/http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-program|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last1=Patti|first2=Jill|last2=Pasternak|first1=Joe|title=Crossing Boundaries from Past to Future: Pianist Conrad Tao on Crossover|language=en|url=http://wrti.org/post/crossing-boundaries-past-future-pianist-conrad-tao-crossover|access-date=January 19, 2018|archive-date=January 19, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119235632/http://wrti.org/post/crossing-boundaries-past-future-pianist-conrad-tao-crossover|url-status=live}}</ref> Teachers College and Barnard College are official faculties of the university; both colleges' presidents are deans under the university governance structure.<ref name="columbia.edu2">{{cite web|title=Charters and Statutes|url=http://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|website=Office of the Secretary - Columbia University|access-date=March 22, 2018|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929001737/https://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The Columbia University Senate includes faculty and student representatives from Teachers College and Barnard College who serve two-year terms; all senators are accorded full voting privileges regarding matters impacting the entire university. Teachers College is an affiliated, financially independent graduate school with their own board of trustees.<ref name="senate.columbia.edu2">{{cite web |date=2017 |title=Election packet |url=http://senate.columbia.edu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150809223936/http://senate.columbia.edu/ |archive-date=August 9, 2015 |access-date=August 5, 2015 |format=PDF}}</ref><ref name="ReferenceB2">{{cite web |title=Elections |url=http://senate.columbia.edu/topbar_pages/elections.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180227162639/http://senate.columbia.edu/topbar_pages/elections.html |archive-date=February 27, 2018 |access-date=September 7, 2017 |website=Senate.columbia.edu}}</ref>

Pursuant to an affiliation agreement, Columbia is given the authority to confer "degrees and diplomas" to the graduates of Teachers College. The degrees are signed by presidents of Teachers College and Columbia University in a manner analogous to the university's other graduate schools.<ref name="secretary.columbia.edu2">{{cite web|date=2017|title=Charters and Statutes|url=http://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|page=97|access-date=March 22, 2018|archive-date=September 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200929001737/https://secretary.columbia.edu/files/secretary/university_charters_and_statutes/University%20Charters%20and%20Statutes_June2017.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fact Sheet – Barnard College|url=https://barnard.edu/pressroom/fact-sheet|website=Barnard.edu|access-date=September 17, 2018|archive-date=September 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917215323/https://barnard.edu/pressroom/fact-sheet|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="columbia.edu2" /> Columbia's General Studies school also has joint undergraduate programs available through University College London,<ref>{{cite web|title=Joint LLB/Juris Doctor (JD) with Columbia University, New York|url=http://www.laws.ucl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/llb-degrees/joint-llb-jd/|access-date=July 29, 2016|publisher=University College London|archive-date=July 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160719105700/http://www.laws.ucl.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/llb-degrees/joint-llb-jd/|url-status=live}}</ref> Sciences Po,<ref>{{cite web|title=Dual BA Program Between Columbia University and Sciences Po|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/sciences-po/|access-date=August 3, 2015|website=Gs.columbia.edu|archive-date=June 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190621190820/https://gs.columbia.edu/sciences-po/|url-status=live}}</ref> City University of Hong Kong,<ref>{{cite web|title=Joint Bachelor's Degree Program between City University of Hong Kong and Columbia University|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/cityu-hk|access-date=August 12, 2016|website=Gs.columbia.edu|archive-date=August 14, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814025003/http://gs.columbia.edu/cityu-hk/|url-status=live}}</ref> Trinity College Dublin,<ref>{{cite web|title=Dual BA Program: Trinity College Dublin|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/tcd/dual-ba-program|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211183902/http://gs.columbia.edu/tcd/dual-ba-program|archive-date=December 11, 2017|access-date=January 6, 2018|website=Gs.columbia.edu|language=en}}</ref> and the Juilliard School.<ref name="college.columbia2">{{cite web|title=Columbia-Juilliard Exchange|url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-exchange|website=Undergrad.asmissions.columbia.edu|access-date=August 5, 2015|archive-date=August 10, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810220516/http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/apply/first-year/juilliard-exchange|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The university also has several Columbia Global Centers, in Amman, Beijing, Istanbul, Mumbai, Nairobi, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, and Tunis.<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia University Global Centers|url=http://globalcenters.columbia.edu/content/columbia-global-centers|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111028002315/http://globalcenters.columbia.edu/content/columbia-global-centers|archive-date=October 28, 2011|access-date=May 4, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref>

=== International partnerships === Columbia students can study abroad for a semester or a year at partner institutions such as Sciences Po,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Redden|first=Elizabeth|date=April 4, 2018|title=Columbia, Trinity College Dublin start new dual B.A. program|url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/04/columbia-trinity-college-dublin-start-new-dual-ba-program|access-date=September 21, 2020|website=Inside Higher Ed|language=en|archive-date=April 28, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210428234257/https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/04/columbia-trinity-college-dublin-start-new-dual-ba-program|url-status=live}}</ref> {{Lang|fr|École des hautes études en sciences sociales|italic=no}} (EHESS), {{Lang|fr|École normale supérieure|italic=no}} (ENS), Panthéon-Sorbonne University, King's College London, London School of Economics, University College London and the University of Warwick. Select students can study at either the University of Oxford or the University of Cambridge for a year if approved by both Columbia and either Oxford or Cambridge.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://global.undergrad.columbia.edu/program/oxfordcambridge-scholars-program-academic-year|title=Oxford/Cambridge Scholars Program: Academic Year &#124; Undergraduate Global Engagement|access-date=October 28, 2020|archive-date=October 31, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201031134310/https://global.undergrad.columbia.edu/program/oxfordcambridge-scholars-program-academic-year|url-status=live}}</ref> Columbia also has a dual MA program with the Aga Khan University in London.

===Rankings=== {{col-begin}} {{col-break}} {{Infobox US university ranking <!-- U.S. rankings -->| Forbes = 2 | USNWR_NU = 15 (tie) | Wamo_NU = 6 | THE_WSJ = 8 | QS_W = 38 (tie) | THES_W = 18 (tie) | USNWR_W = 10 | ARWU_W = 8 (tie) }} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="float:right; text-align:center" |+ style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Columbia Lions|color=black}}" |National Program Rankings<ref name="USNWR Grad School Rankings">{{cite magazine|title=Columbia University – U.S. News Best Grad School Rankings|magazine=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=April 28, 2025|url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|archive-date=September 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210907204033/https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|url-status=live}}</ref> ! scope="col" | Program ! scope="col" | Ranking |- ! scope="row" | Biological Sciences | 11 |- ! scope="row" | Biostatistics | 7 |- ! scope="row" | Business | 9 |- ! scope="row" | Chemistry | 11 |- ! scope="row" | Computer Science | 13 |- ! scope="row" | Earth Sciences | 4 |- ! scope="row" | Economics | 9 |- ! scope="row" | Engineering | 18 |- ! scope="row" | English | 8 |- ! scope="row" | Fine Arts | 10 |- ! scope="row" | Health Care Management | 14 |- ! scope="row" | History | 6 |- ! scope="row" | Law | 10 |- ! scope="row" | Mathematics | 11 |- ! scope="row" | Nursing–Anesthesia | 41 |- ! scope="row" | Nursing–Midwifery | 15 |- ! scope="row" | Occupational Therapy | 9 |- ! scope="row" | Physical Therapy | 22 |- ! scope="row" | Physics | 9 |- ! scope="row" | Political Science | 8 |- ! scope="row" | Psychology | 14 |- ! scope="row" | Public Affairs | 21 |- ! scope="row" | Public Health | 6 |- ! scope="row" | Social Work | 4 |- ! scope="row" | Sociology | 11 |- ! scope="row" | Statistics | 5 |} {{col-break}} {| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="float:right; text-align:center" |+ style="{{CollegePrimaryStyle|Columbia Lions|color=black}}" |Global Program Rankings<ref name="USNWR Global Univ Rankings">{{cite magazine|title=Columbia University – U.S. News Best Global University Rankings|magazine=U.S. News & World Report|access-date=April 28, 2025|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|archive-date=October 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009072505/https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/columbia-university-190150/overall-rankings|url-status=live}}</ref> ! scope="col" | Program ! scope="col" | Ranking |- ! scope="row" | Arts & Humanities | 17 |- ! scope="row" | Artificial Intelligence | 112 |- ! scope="row" | Biology & Biochemistry | 18 |- ! scope="row" | Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | 67 |- ! scope="row" | Cardiac & Cardiovascular Systems | 5 |- ! scope="row" | Cell Biology | 13 |- ! scope="row" | Chemistry | 58 |- ! scope="row" | Clinical Medicine | 12 |- ! scope="row" | Computer Science | 68 |- ! scope="row" | Ecology | 78 |- ! scope="row" | Economics & Business | 6 |- ! scope="row" | Education & Educational Research | 45 |- ! scope="row" | Electrical & Electronic Engineering | 189 |- ! scope="row" | Engineering | 168 |- ! scope="row" | Endocrinology & Metabolism | 41 |- ! scope="row" | Energy & Fuels | 258 |- ! scope="row" | Environment/Ecology | 47 |- ! scope="row" | Food Science & Technology | 243 |- ! scope="row" | Gastroenterology & Hepatology | 31 |- ! scope="row" | Geosciences | 6 |- ! scope="row" | Immunology | 34 |- ! scope="row" | Infectious Diseases | 67 |- ! scope="row" | Materials Science | 86 |- ! scope="row" | Mathematics | 13 |- ! scope="row" | Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences | 1 |- ! scope="row" | Microbiology | 41 |- ! scope="row" | Molecular Biology & Genetics | 14 |- ! scope="row" | Nanoscience & Nanotechnology | 91 |- ! scope="row" | Neuroscience & Behavior | 7 |- ! scope="row" | Oncology | 32 |- ! scope="row" | Optics | 25 |- ! scope="row" | Pharmacology & Toxicology | 101 |- ! scope="row" | Physics | 10 |- ! scope="row" | Plant & Animal Science | 303 |- ! scope="row" | Psychiatry/Psychology | 8 |- ! scope="row" | Public, Environmental & Occupational Health | 9 |- ! scope="row" | Radiology, Nuclear Medicine & Medical Imaging | 37 |- ! scope="row" | Social Sciences & Public Health | 8 |- ! scope="row" | Space Science | 34 |- ! scope="row" | Surgery | 26 |} {{col-end}} Columbia University was ranked 12th in the United States and tenth globally for 2023–2024 by ''U.S. News & World Report''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia University |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-global-universities/columbia-university-190150 |website=US News & World Report}}</ref>

In 2021, Columbia was ranked seventh in the world (sixth in the United States) by ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'', sixth in the world by ''U.S. News & World Report'', 19th in the world by ''QS World University Rankings'', and 11th globally by ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings''. It was ranked in the first tier of American research universities, along with Harvard, MIT, and Stanford, in the 2019 report from the Center for Measuring University Performance.

In 2025, Columbia was ranked 250 out of 257 top colleges in "Free Speech Rankings" by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and "College Pulse", after ranking 214 of 248 in 2024 and at the bottom of 203 in 2022/2023.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Free Speech Rankings |url=https://rankings.thefire.org/rank/school/columbia-university-in-the-city-of-new-york |access-date=February 16, 2025 |website=rankings.thefire.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=2024 College Free Speech Rankings |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2024-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=February 16, 2025 |website= The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=2022-2023 College Free Speech Rankings |url=https://www.thefire.org/research-learn/2022-2023-college-free-speech-rankings |access-date=February 16, 2025 |website= The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression|language=en}}</ref> In 2024 and 2025, Columbia received a D on the "Campus Antisemitism Report Card" of the Anti-Defamation League, which the advocacy organization first launched in spring 2024, in the lead-up to and in the context of campus conflict over the 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Columbia University |url=https://www.adl.org/campus-antisemitism-report-card/columbia-university |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=ADL}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Watson |first=Michelle |date=March 4, 2025 |title=Columbia University: Federal government threatens to pull more than $50 million in contracts over 'harassment of Jewish students' |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/us/columbia-university-federal-contracts-threatened/index.html |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Towfighi |first=John |date=March 3, 2025 |title=US colleges are making substantial progress on campus antisemitism, but work remains, ADL says |url=https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/03/business/antisemitism-grades-colleges/index.html |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Lapin |first=Andrew |date=April 12, 2024 |title=The ADL's new 'report card' for campus antisemitism gets an F from Hillel and some Jewish students |url=https://www.jta.org/2024/04/12/united-states/the-adls-new-report-card-for-campus-antisemitism-gets-an-f-from-hillel-and-some-jewish-students |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Bernstein |first=Noah |title=Live updates: Shafik testifies before Congress on Columbia's handling of antisemitism on campus |url=https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/04/17/live-updates-shafik-testifies-before-congress-on-columbias-handling-of-antisemitism-on-campus/ |access-date=March 23, 2025 |website=Columbia Daily Spectator}}</ref>

===Research=== [[File:HavemeyerFront.jpg|thumb|Havemeyer Hall, a National Historic Chemical Landmark, where deuterium was discovered in 1931. Research conducted in Havemeyer has been recognized with seven Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.<ref>{{Cite web|date=October 9, 1998|title=Havemeyer Hall|url=https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/havemeyerhall/havemeyer-hall-at-columbia-university-commemorative-booklet.pdf|website=American Chemical Society|access-date=July 6, 2021|archive-date=March 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305072634/https://www.acs.org/content/dam/acsorg/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/havemeyerhall/havemeyer-hall-at-columbia-university-commemorative-booklet.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>]] Columbia University has been the site of many scientific milestones, including the first nuclear fission in North America, the invention of FM radio and the laser,<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia To Go|url=http://studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/pdf/Columbia_To_Go.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070605140310/http://studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/pdf/Columbia_To_Go.pdf|archive-date=June 5, 2007|access-date=April 29, 2007|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> and key contributions to neuroscience.<ref>{{cite book|last=Guenther|first=Katja|title=Localization and Its Discontents: A Genealogy of Psychoanalysis and the Neuro Disciplines |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0tkpCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA155 |publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2015|isbn=978-0-226-28820-8|location=Chicago|page=155}}</ref> Researchers at Columbia have also advanced efforts in technology, such as digital media,<ref name=":0">{{cite news|last=Herper|first=Matthew|date=July 26, 2001|title=Biotech's Glowing Breakthrough|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/2001/07/26/0726gfp_print.html|access-date=February 27, 2008|archive-date=February 25, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080225131356/http://www.forbes.com/2001/07/26/0726gfp_print.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="inventions_nind2">{{cite web|title=New Inventions / New Discoveries|url=http://stv.columbia.edu/assets/STV's%20Success%20Stories.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070613170734/http://stv.columbia.edu/assets/STV%27s%20Success%20Stories.pdf|archive-date=June 13, 2007|access-date=April 29, 2007|publisher=Columbia University Science and Technology Ventures}}</ref> cellular imaging,<ref name=":0" /> and brain-computer interfaces.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Paez|first=Danny|title=Incredible New Brain-Computer Interface Can Translate Thoughts Into Speech|url=https://www.inverse.com/article/52812-brain-computer-interface-translates-thoughts-to-speech|access-date=January 30, 2019|website=Inverse|date=January 29, 2019|language=en|archive-date=January 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131145247/https://www.inverse.com/article/52812-brain-computer-interface-translates-thoughts-to-speech|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|date=January 29, 2019|title=Artificial intelligence translates thoughts directly into speech in scientific first|language=en|newspaper=The Independent|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/brain-computer-interface-ai-translates-thoughts-speech-artificial-intelligence-columbia-university-a8753031.html|access-date=January 30, 2019|archive-date=January 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131101958/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/brain-computer-interface-ai-translates-thoughts-speech-artificial-intelligence-columbia-university-a8753031.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Columbia Researchers Developed Technology That Can Translate Brain Activity Into Words|url=http://fortune.com/2019/01/30/columbia-ai-speech-synthesizer-translate-thoughts/|access-date=January 30, 2019|website=Fortune.com|language=en|archive-date=January 31, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190131012003/http://fortune.com/2019/01/30/columbia-ai-speech-synthesizer-translate-thoughts/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Columbia is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity".<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia University in the City of New York |url=https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=190150|access-date=July 18, 2020|website=Carnegie Classifications Institution Lookup |publisher=Center for Postsecondary Education|archive-date=July 18, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200718061353/https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/lookup/view_institution.php?unit_id=190150|url-status=dead}}</ref> Columbia scientists have been credited with about 175 new inventions in the health sciences each year.<ref name="inventions_nind2" /> Columbia is affiliated with many research facilities, such as the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information dedicated to telecommunications and the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which is an astronomical observatory affiliated with NASA.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NASA, Columbia U. Enact Collaborative Space Act Agreement - NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/nasa-cu-enact-collaborative-space-act-agreement/ |access-date=2026-03-01 |language=en-US}}</ref>

===Military and veteran enrollment=== Columbia is a long-standing participant of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Yellow Ribbon Program, allowing eligible veterans and their dependents to pursue a Columbia undergraduate degree regardless of socioeconomic status for over 70 years.<ref>{{cite web|title=U.S. Military Veterans|url=https://gs.columbia.edu/military-veterans|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Gs.columbia.edu|archive-date=December 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181222204052/https://gs.columbia.edu/military-veterans|url-status=live}}</ref> As a part of the Eisenhower Leader Development Program (ELDP) in partnership with the United States Military Academy at West Point, Columbia is the only school in the Ivy League to offer a graduate degree program in organizational psychology to aid military officers in tactical decision making and strategic management.<ref>{{cite web|title=About – Teachers College, Columbia University|url=https://www.tc.columbia.edu/resiliencecenter/about/|access-date=March 23, 2019|website=Tc.columbia.edu|archive-date=March 27, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327064445/https://www.tc.columbia.edu/resiliencecenter/about/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Become a Tactical Officer {{!}} U.S. Military Academy West Point |url=https://www.westpoint.edu/join-the-team/opportunities-for-non-commissioned-officers/become-tactical-officer |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=www.westpoint.edu |language=en}}</ref>

=== Awards === [[File:Lee C. Bollinger awarding the 2003 Pulitzer Prize to Jeffrey Eugenides (cropped).jpg|thumb|President Lee Bollinger presents the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction to Jeffrey Eugenides]] Several prestigious awards are administered by Columbia University, most notably the Pulitzer Prize and the Bancroft Prize in history.<ref name="history">{{cite web|last=Topping|first=Seymour|author-link=Seymour Topping|year=2008|title=History of The Pulitzer Prizes|url=https://www.pulitzer.org/historyofprizes|access-date=September 13, 2011|work=The Pulitzer Prizes|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=July 23, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723153951/https://www.pulitzer.org/historyofprizes|url-status=live}} Updated 2013 by Sig Gissler.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=The Bancroft Prizes |url=https://library.columbia.edu/about/awards/bancroft.html|access-date=May 9, 2021|website=Columbia University Libraries |archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509152809/https://library.columbia.edu/about/awards/bancroft.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Other prizes, which are awarded by the Graduate School of Journalism, include the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award, the National Magazine Awards, the Maria Moors Cabot Prizes, the John Chancellor Award, and the Lukas Prizes, which include the J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize and Mark Lynton History Prize.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Prizes|url=https://journalism.columbia.edu/prizes|website=Columbia Journalism School|access-date=May 9, 2021|archive-date=October 29, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029051113/https://journalism.columbia.edu/prizes|url-status=live}}</ref>

The university also administers the Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize, which is considered an important precursor to the Nobel Prize, 55 of its 117 recipients having gone on to win either a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine or Nobel Prize in Chemistry as of October 2024;<ref>{{Cite web|date=June 14, 2018|title=The Louisa Gross Horwitz Prize|url=https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/research/louisa-gross-horwitz-prize|access-date=May 9, 2021|website=Columbia University Irving Medical Center|language=en|archive-date=October 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016205105/http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/horwitz/|url-status=live}}</ref> the W. Alden Spencer Award;<ref>{{Cite web|date=August 1, 2018|title=40th Annual W. Alden Spencer Lecture and Award|url=https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/40th-annual-w-alden-spencer-lecture-and-award|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu|archive-date=August 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816143057/https://zuckermaninstitute.columbia.edu/40th-annual-w-alden-spencer-lecture-and-award|url-status=live}}</ref> the Vetlesen Prize, which is known as the Nobel Prize of geology;<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Vetlesen Prize |work= Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory|url=https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/the-vetlesen-prize |access-date=April 24, 2024 |archive-date=April 9, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200409044857/https://www.ldeo.columbia.edu/the-vetlesen-prize |url-status=live}}</ref> the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission Prize for the Translation of Japanese Literature, the oldest such award;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture|url=http://www.keenecenter.org/translation_JPUS%20prize.html|access-date=April 24, 2024|website=Donald Keene Center of Japanese Culture |archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509070238/http://www.keenecenter.org/translation_prize.html|url-status=live}}</ref> the Edwin Howard Armstrong award;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Edwin Howard Armstrong Memorial Award. Columbia University Electrical Engineering Department. |url=https://scholars.duke.edu/display/awdrec38466|access-date=May 9, 2021|website=Scholars@Duke|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509070238/https://scholars.duke.edu/display/awdrec38466|url-status=live}}</ref> the Calderone Prize in public health;<ref>{{Cite web|title=Columbia Calling for Nominees: The Frank A. Calderone Prize in Public Health — Deadline June 30|url=https://www.aspph.org/columbia-calling-for-nominees-the-frank-a-calderone-prize-in-public-health-deadline-june-30th/|access-date=June 11, 2021|website=ASPPH |archive-date=June 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611074400/https://www.aspph.org/columbia-calling-for-nominees-the-frank-a-calderone-prize-in-public-health-deadline-june-30th/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and the Ditson Conductor's Award.<ref>{{cite news|date=May 16, 1940|title=Columbia Receives Trust to Aid Music|page=31|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/16/archives/columbia-receives-trust-to-aid-music-mrs-charles-h-ditson-widow-of.html|url-access=limited|access-date=February 20, 2021|archive-date=May 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210509070455/https://www.nytimes.com/1940/05/16/archives/columbia-receives-trust-to-aid-music-mrs-charles-h-ditson-widow-of.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Student life== {| class="wikitable floatright sortable collapsible"; text-align:right; font-size:80%;" |+ style="font-size:90%" |Student body composition as of May 2, 2022 |- ! Race and ethnicity<ref>{{cite web|title=College Scorecard: Columbia University|url=https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?190150-Columbia-University-in-the-City-of-New-York|publisher=United States Department of Education|access-date=May 8, 2022|archive-date=August 12, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220812053511/https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/school/?190150-Columbia-University-in-the-City-of-New-York|url-status=live}}</ref> ! colspan="2" data-sort-type=number |Total |- | White |align=right| {{bartable|33|%|2||background:gray}} |- | Foreign national |align=right| {{bartable|18|%|2||background:orange}} |- | Asian |align=right| {{bartable|17|%|2||background:purple}} |- | Hispanic |align=right| {{bartable|15|%|2||background:green}} |- | Other{{efn|Other consists of Multiracial Americans and those who prefer not to say.}} |align=right| {{bartable|10|%|2||background:brown}} |- | Black |align=right| {{bartable|7|%|2||background:mediumblue}} |- ! colspan="4" data-sort-type=number |Economic diversity |- | Low-income{{efn|The percentage of students who received an income-based federal Pell grant intended for low-income students.}} |align=right| {{bartable|19|%|2||background:red}} |- | Affluent{{efn|The percentage of students who are a part of the American middle class at the bare minimum.}} |align=right| {{bartable|81|%|2||background:black}} |} In 2020, Columbia University's student population was 31,455 (8,842 students in undergraduate programs and 22,613 in postgraduate programs), with 45% of the student population identifying themselves as a minority.<ref name="Columbia U-2021a">{{Cite web|work=Columbia University|date=January 12, 2021|title=Headcount Enrollment by School, Race/Ethnicity, and Citizenship, Fall 2020|url=https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_enrollment_ethnicity.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200519193542/https://opir.columbia.edu/sites/default/files/content/Statistical%20Abstract/opir_enrollment_ethnicity.pdf |archive-date=May 19, 2020 |url-status=live|access-date=June 8, 2021}}</ref> Twenty-six percent of students at Columbia have family incomes below $60,000. 16% of students at Columbia receive Federal Pell Grants,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Facts and Figures|url=https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|access-date=January 28, 2019|website=Columbia Financial Aid and Educational Financing|language=en|archive-date=December 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221224207/https://cc-seas.financialaid.columbia.edu/eligibility/facts|url-status=live}}</ref> which mostly go to students whose family incomes are below $40,000. Seventeen percent of students are the first member of their family to attend a four-year college.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Quick Fact: First Generation |url=https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/explore/fact/quick-fact-first-generation|access-date=April 1, 2019|website=Columbia Undergraduate Admissions|archive-date=April 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401160100/https://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/explore/fact/quick-fact-first-generation|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Columbia University is home to many fraternities, sororities, and co-educational Greek organizations. Approximately 10–15% of undergraduate students are associated with Greek life.<ref>[http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/faq/campus.php#4 Office of Undergraduate Admissions site about Campus Life] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419140748/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/faq/campus.php#4 |date=April 19, 2012 }}. Retrieved September 12, 2007.</ref> Many Barnard women also join Columbia sororities. There has been a Greek presence on campus since the establishment in 1836 of the Delta chapter of Alpha Delta Phi.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Alpha Delta Phi Society: About Us|url=http://www.adpscolumbia.org/home.php|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110207180508/http://www.adpscolumbia.org/home.php|archive-date=February 7, 2011|access-date=April 11, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Fraternity and Sorority Life at Columbia|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/resprograms/fraternity_sorority/council/|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=June 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623115419/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/resprograms/fraternity_sorority/council|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Publications=== [[File:Spec1962.jpg|thumb|Copies of the ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' being sold during the 1962–1963 New York City newspaper strike]] [[File:JesterCoverGWBridge.jpg|thumb|The Art Deco cover of the November 1931 edition of the ''Jester'', celebrating the opening of the George Washington Bridge]] The ''Columbia Daily Spectator'' is the nation's second-oldest continuously operating daily student newspaper.<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia Daily Spectator|url=http://www.columbiaspectator.com/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065620/https://www.columbiaspectator.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''The Blue and White''<ref>{{cite web|title=Blue & White|url=http://www.theblueandwhite.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210109163518/http://www.theblueandwhite.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> is a monthly literary magazine established in 1890 that discusses campus life and local politics. ''Bwog'',<ref>{{cite web|title=Bwog|url=https://bwog.com/|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=May 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220501132933/https://bwog.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> originally an offshoot of ''The Blue and White'' but now fully independent, is an online campus news and entertainment source. ''The Morningside Post'' is a student-run multimedia news publication.

Political publications include ''The Current'', a journal of politics, culture and Jewish Affairs;<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Current: a journal of contemporary politics, culture, and Jewish affairs at Columbia University|url=http://www.columbia-current.org/|website=The Current|access-date=November 2, 2020|archive-date=October 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029000400/http://www.columbia-current.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> the ''Columbia Political Review'', the multi-partisan political magazine of the Columbia Political Union;<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia Political Review|url=http://www.cpreview.org/|access-date=December 26, 2008|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065703/http://www.cpreview.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> and ''AdHoc'', which denotes itself as the "progressive" campus magazine and deals largely with local political issues and arts events.<ref>{{cite web|title=AdHoc|url=http://www.adhocmag.com/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=December 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213062434/http://www.adhocmag.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

''Columbia Magazine'' is the alumni magazine of Columbia, serving all 340,000+ of the university's alumni. Arts and literary publications include ''The Columbia Review'', the nation's oldest college literary magazine;<ref>{{cite web|title=The Columbia Review|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/review|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060804021747/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/review/|archive-date=August 4, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}}</ref> ''Surgam'', the literary magazine of The Philolexian Society;<ref>{{cite web|title=About|date=October 8, 2014|url=https://surgammag.wordpress.com/about/|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=April 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428225601/https://surgammag.wordpress.com/about/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Quarto'', Columbia University's official undergraduate literary magazine;<ref>{{cite web|title=About Quarto|url=http://quartomagazine.com/about|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=June 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220607205508/http://quartomagazine.com/about|url-status=live}}</ref> ''4x4'', a student-run alternative to ''Quarto'';<ref>{{cite web|title=4x4 About|url=https://www.fourxfourmag.com/|access-date=April 28, 2022|archive-date=February 6, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206014456/https://www.fourxfourmag.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Columbia'', a nationally regarded literary journal; the ''Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism'';<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia Journal of Literary Criticism|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/english/cjlc/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061009182446/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/english/cjlc/|archive-date=October 9, 2006|access-date=December 7, 2006}}</ref> and ''The Mobius Strip'', an online arts and literary magazine.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Mobius Strip|url=http://www.mobiusmag.com/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 6, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106065831/http://www.mobiusmag.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Inside New York'' is an annual guidebook to New York City, written, edited, and published by Columbia undergraduates. Through a distribution agreement with Columbia University Press, the book is sold at major retailers and independent bookstores.<ref>{{cite web|title=Inside New York|url=http://www.insidenewyork.com/about|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110703021020/http://insidenewyork.com/about/|archive-date=July 3, 2011|access-date=October 26, 2009}}</ref>

Columbia is home to numerous undergraduate academic publications. The ''Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal'' prints original science research in its two annual publications.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://cusj.columbia.edu/|title=Columbia Undergraduate Science Journal|website=cusj.columbia.edu|access-date=January 7, 2022|archive-date=January 7, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107194410/https://cusj.columbia.edu/|url-status=live}}</ref> The ''Journal of Politics & Society'' is a journal of undergraduate research in the social sciences;<ref>{{cite web|title=Journal of Politics & Society|url=http://www.helvidius.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=August 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815125915/http://www.helvidius.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Publius'' is an undergraduate journal of politics established in 2008 and published biannually;<ref>{{cite web|title=Publius: About|url=http://www.publiuscu.org/about-publius/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727191716/http://www.publiuscu.org/about-publius/|archive-date=July 27, 2011|access-date=April 17, 2011}}</ref> the ''Columbia East Asia Review'' allows undergraduates throughout the world to publish original work on China, Japan, Korea, Tibet, and Vietnam and is supported by the Weatherhead East Asian Institute;<ref>{{cite web|title=East Asia Review: About Us|url=http://www.eastasiareview.org/about/index.shtml|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110420091255/http://www.eastasiareview.org/about/index.shtml|archive-date=April 20, 2011|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=East Asia Review}}</ref> ''The Birch'' is an undergraduate journal of Eastern European and Eurasian culture that is the first national student-run journal of its kind;<ref>{{cite web|title=The Birch|url=http://www.thebirchonline.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065759/http://www.thebirchonline.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> the ''Columbia Economics Review'' is the undergraduate economic journal on research and policy supported by the Columbia Economics Department; and the ''Columbia Science Review'' is a science magazine that prints general interest articles and faculty profiles.<ref>{{cite web|title=History and Vision|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csr/about.html|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia Science Review|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065756/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/csr/about.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Humor publications on Columbia's campus include ''The Fed'', a triweekly satire and investigative newspaper, and the ''Jester of Columbia.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Fed|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/thefed|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060804020230/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/thefed/|archive-date=August 4, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}}</ref>''<ref>{{cite web|title=Jester of Columbia|url=http://www.jesterofcolumbia.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110713103115/http://www.jesterofcolumbia.com/|archive-date=July 13, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2006}}</ref> Other publications include ''The Columbian'', the undergraduate colleges' annually published yearbook;<ref>{{cite web|title=The Columbian|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/gradzone/guests/gifts|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=February 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150215101618/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/gradzone/guests/gifts|url-status=live}}</ref> the ''Gadfly'', a biannual journal of popular philosophy produced by undergraduates;<ref>{{cite web|title=The Gadfly: About|url=http://www.gadflymagazine.com/about/|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110509035515/http://www.gadflymagazine.com/about/|archive-date=May 9, 2011|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=The Gadlfy}}</ref> and ''Rhapsody in Blue'', an undergraduate urban studies magazine.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Rhapsody|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/rhapsody/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100624020241/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/rhapsody/|archive-date=June 24, 2010|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> Professional journals published by academic departments at Columbia University include ''Current Musicology'' and ''The Journal of Philosophy''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Current Musicology|url=http://music.columbia.edu/%7Ecurmus/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=June 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624015311/http://www.music.columbia.edu/~curmus/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Journal of Philosophy|url=http://www.journalofphilosophy.org/|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065845/http://www.journalofphilosophy.org/|url-status=live}}</ref> During the spring semester, graduate students in the Journalism School publish ''The Bronx Beat'', a bi-weekly newspaper covering the South Bronx.

Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism, the ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (CJR) examines day-to-day press performance as well as the forces that affect that performance. The magazine is published six times a year.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=About Us: Mission Statement|url=https://www.cjr.org/index.php|magazine=Columbia Journalism Review|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=May 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514055343/http://www.cjr.org/index.php|url-status=live}}</ref>

Former publications include the ''Columbia University Forum'', a review of literature and cultural affairs distributed for free to alumni.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Miller |title=Pure and Simple Pleasure |journal=The American Scholar |volume=37 |issue=4 |pages=698–702 |date=1968 |issn=0003-0937 |jstor=41209618 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Coleman |first1=Alexander |title=Rev. of The Columbia University Forum Anthology |work=The New York Times |page=87 |date=June 30, 1968 |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/06/30/79941800.html?zoom=15.99 |language=en }}</ref>

===Broadcasting=== Columbia is home to two pioneers in undergraduate campus radio broadcasting, WKCR-FM and CTV. Many undergraduates are also involved with Barnard's radio station, WBAR. WKCR, the student run radio station that broadcasts to the Tri-state area, claims to be the oldest FM radio station in the world, owing to the university's affiliation with Edwin Howard Armstrong.<ref>{{cite web|year=2009|title="The Original FM": The Columbia University Radio Club|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/history|access-date=January 12, 2013|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=February 26, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150226180937/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/wkcr/history|url-status=live}}</ref> The station has its studios on the second floor of Alfred Lerner Hall on the Morningside campus with its main transmitter tower at 4 Times Square in Midtown Manhattan. Columbia Television (CTV) is the nation's second oldest student television station and the home of CTV News, a weekly live news program produced by undergraduate students.<ref>{{cite web|title=CTV News|url=http://www.ctvnewsonline.com|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061104113018/http://www.ctvnewsonline.com/|archive-date=November 4, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=CTV|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ctv|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060820181902/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ctv/|archive-date=August 20, 2006|access-date=August 10, 2006}}</ref>

===Debate and Model UN=== The Philolexian Society is a literary and debating club founded in 1802, making it the oldest student group at Columbia, as well as the third oldest collegiate literary society in the country.<ref>{{cite web|date=February 1, 2010|title=History|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/philo/history/|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Philolexian Society|archive-date=February 5, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205032007/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/philo/History/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The society annually administers the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Bad Poetry Contest.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jaynes, Gregory|date=December 5, 1987|title=No, Not a Curse But a Jersey Prize For Worst Verse|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/05/nyregion/about-new-york-no-not-a-curse-but-a-jersey-prize-for-worst-verse.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=November 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121103222446/http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/05/nyregion/about-new-york-no-not-a-curse-but-a-jersey-prize-for-worst-verse.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Columbia Parliamentary Debate Team competes in tournaments around the country as part of the American Parliamentary Debate Association, and hosts both high school and college tournaments on Columbia's campus, as well as public debates on issues affecting the university.<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia Parliamentary Debate Team|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/debate|access-date=August 10, 2006|archive-date=January 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115065955/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/debate/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Columbia International Relations Council and Association (CIRCA), oversees Columbia's Model United Nations activities. CIRCA hosts college and high school Model UN conferences, hosts speakers influential in international politics to speak on campus, and trains students from underprivileged schools in New York in Model UN.<ref>{{cite web|title=CIRCA – About|url=http://circa.cmunce.org/drupal/node/7|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110725182951/http://circa.cmunce.org/drupal/node/7|archive-date=July 25, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2006}}</ref>

===Technology and entrepreneurship=== [[File:Columbia_University_-_Department_of_Physics_(48170362276).jpg|alt=|thumb|Pupin Hall, the physics building, showing the rooftop Rutherfurd Observatory]] Many engineering entrepreneurs in New York City have attended Columbia. Since 1990, graduates of Columbia have established more than 100 technology companies.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kathleen|first=Mary|date=June 7, 2010|title=Mecca on the Hudson?|work=The Deal|url=http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/2010/june-7-2010/vc-mecca-on-the-hudson.php#bottom|url-status=dead|access-date=October 30, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100908162123/http://www.thedeal.com/newsweekly/2010/june-7-2010/vc-mecca-on-the-hudson.php|archive-date=September 8, 2010}}</ref>

The student-run group Columbia University Organization of Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE) was founded in 1999 with an aim to foster entrepreneurship on campus. Each year CORE hosts events, including #StartupColumbia, a conference and venture competition for $250,000, and Ignite@CU, a weekend for undergrads interested in design, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Notable speakers include Peter Thiel, Jack Dorsey,<ref>{{cite web|author=Jon Swartz|date=September 17, 2013|title=Square's Jack Dorsey goes recruiting in NYC|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/17/jack-dorsey-square-twitter-paypal-intuit/2777621/|access-date=August 3, 2015|work=USA Today|archive-date=September 3, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903214725/http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/09/17/jack-dorsey-square-twitter-paypal-intuit/2777621/|url-status=live}}</ref> Alexis Ohanian, Drew Houston, and Mark Cuban.

CampusNetwork, an on-campus social networking site called Campus Network that preceded Facebook, was created and popularized by Columbia engineering student Adam Goldberg in 2003. Mark Zuckerberg later asked Goldberg to join him in Palo Alto to work on Facebook, but Goldberg declined the offer.<ref>{{cite web|author=Cormier, Amanda|date=October 7, 2010|title=Columbia's Web 3.0|url=http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2010/10/07/columbias-web-30|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101102155611/http://eye.columbiaspectator.com/article/2010/10/07/columbias-web-30|archive-date=November 2, 2010|access-date=October 30, 2010|publisher=The Eye}}</ref> The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science offers a minor in Technical Entrepreneurship through its Center for Technology, Innovation, and Community Engagement. SEAS' entrepreneurship activities focus on community building initiatives in New York and worldwide, made possible through partners such as Microsoft Corporation.<ref>{{cite web|title=Engaged Entrepreneurship|url=http://ctice.columbia.edu/content/engaged-entrepreneurship|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101210084331/http://ctice.columbia.edu/content/engaged-entrepreneurship|archive-date=December 10, 2010|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref>

On June 14, 2010, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg launched the NYC Media Lab to promote innovations in New York's media industry. Situated at the New York University Tandon School of Engineering, the lab is a consortium of Columbia University, New York University, and New York City Economic Development Corporation acting to connect companies with universities in new technology research. The Lab is modeled after similar ones at MIT and Stanford, and was established with a $250,000 grant from the New York City Economic Development Corporation.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Kuchment|first=Anna|date=June 28, 2010|title=Columbia Joins NYC Media Lab|work=The Record|url=http://curecordarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cr20100628-01.2.22&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------|access-date=May 15, 2021|archive-date=May 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515050001/http://curecordarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cr20100628-01.2.22&e=-------en-20--1--txt-txIN-------|url-status=live}}</ref>

===World Leaders Forum=== [[File:Uniwersytet_Columbia.jpg|thumb|The World Leaders Forum at Low Memorial Library]] Established in 2003 by university president Lee C. Bollinger, the World Leaders Forum at Columbia University provides the opportunity for students and faculty to listen to world leaders in government, religion, industry, finance, and academia.<ref>{{cite web|title=About|url=https://worldleaders.columbia.edu/content/about|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150828133419/http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/president-lee-c-bollingers-statement-about-world-leaders-forum|archive-date=August 28, 2015|access-date=April 26, 2024|website=Columbia University World Leaders Forum}}</ref>

Past forum speakers include former president of the United States Bill Clinton, former prime minister of India Atal Bihari Vajpayee, former president of Ghana John Agyekum Kufuor, president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, prime minister of Russia Vladimir Putin, president of the Republic of Mozambique Joaquim Alberto Chissano, president of the Republic of Bolivia Carlos Diego Mesa Gisbert, president of the Republic of Romania Ion Iliescu, president of the Republic of Latvia Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, and the first female president of Finland Tarja Halonen.<ref>{{cite web|title=Participants|url=http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/participants|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917111318/http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/participants|archive-date=September 17, 2010|access-date=October 30, 2010|publisher=Columbia University World Leaders Forum}}</ref>

Other speakers include President Yudhoyono of Indonesia, President Pervez Musharraf of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Iraq President Jalal Talabani, the 14th Dalai Lama, president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, financier George Soros, Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg, President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic, President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina, former Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, and Al Gore.<ref>{{cite web|title=Participants|url=http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/participants|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100917111318/http://www.worldleaders.columbia.edu/participants|archive-date=September 17, 2010|access-date=October 30, 2010|publisher=Columbia University World Leaders Forum}}</ref>

===Other=== [[File:2014 Columbia University Earl Hall from north.jpg|thumb|Earl Hall was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its role in serving as a venue for meetings and dances of the Columbia Queer Alliance.]] The Columbia University Orchestra was founded by composer Edward MacDowell in 1896, and is the oldest continually operating university orchestra in the United States. Undergraduate student composers at Columbia may choose to become involved with Columbia New Music, which sponsors concerts of music written by undergraduate students from all of Columbia's schools.<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia University Orchestra|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cuo/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624152440/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cuo/|archive-date=June 24, 2015|access-date=August 3, 2015}}</ref> The Notes and Keys, the oldest a cappella group at Columbia, was founded in 1909.<ref>{{Cite news|date=February 26, 1909|title=Notes and Keys Launched|work=Columbia Daily Spectator|url=http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19090226-01.2.9&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22notes+and+keys%22------|access-date=July 12, 2021|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713062904/http://spectatorarchive.library.columbia.edu/?a=d&d=cs19090226-01.2.9&srpos=1&e=-------en-20--1-byDA-txt-txIN-%22notes+and+keys%22------|url-status=live}}</ref>

There are a number of performing arts groups at Columbia dedicated to producing student theater, including the Columbia Players, King's Crown Shakespeare Troupe (KCST), Columbia Musical Theater Society (CMTS), NOMADS (New and Original Material Authored and Directed by Students), LateNite Theatre, Columbia University Performing Arts League (CUPAL), Black Theatre Ensemble (BTE), sketch comedy group Chowdah, and improvisational troupes Alfred and Fruit Paunch.<ref>{{cite web|title=CUPAL: Member Organizations|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cupal/#members|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University of Performing Arts|archive-date=December 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101228114347/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cupal/#members|url-status=live}}</ref>

The Columbia Queer Alliance is the central Columbia student organization that represents the bisexual, lesbian, gay, transgender, and questioning student population. It is the oldest gay student organization in the world, founded as the Student Homophile League in 1967 by students including lifelong activist Stephen Donaldson.<ref>{{cite web|title=About Us|url=http://www.cqanyc.com/|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia Queer Alliance|archive-date=January 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110129035232/http://cqanyc.com/|url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Queer Man on Campus: A History of Non-heterosexual College Men, 1945–2000|publisher=Psychology Press|year=2002|isbn=978-0-415-93336-0|page=167}}<!--| access-date= April 16, 2011--></ref>

Columbia University campus military groups include the U.S. Military Veterans of Columbia University and Advocates for Columbia ROTC. In the 2005–06 academic year, the Columbia Military Society, Columbia's student group for ROTC cadets and Marine officer candidates, was renamed the Hamilton Society for "students who aspire to serve their nation through the military in the tradition of Alexander Hamilton".<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia University Hamilton Society: About|url=http://www.advocatesforrotc.org/columbia/hamilton.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|archive-date=January 14, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114002745/https://www.advocatesforrotc.org/columbia/hamilton.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Columbia has several secret societies, including St. Anthony Hall, which was founded at the university in 1847, and two senior societies, the Nacoms and Sachems.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Sedgwick|first=John|date=October 9, 2015|title=Inside the Legal Intrigue at Columbia's Elite, Secret Campus Society|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/10/saint-anthony-hall-columbia-secret-society|access-date=July 13, 2021|website=Vanity Fair|language=en-US|archive-date=May 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210513214904/https://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2015/10/saint-anthony-hall-columbia-secret-society|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="NYT-1984">{{Cite news|date=April 29, 1984|title=Quiet Columbia Groups 'Tap' Seniors|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/29/nyregion/quiet-columbia-groups-tap-seniors.html|access-date=June 13, 2021|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=July 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210713081602/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/29/nyregion/quiet-columbia-groups-tap-seniors.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Athletics== {{Main|Columbia Lions}}

[[File:Bigredmarchingband.jpg|thumb|Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium in Manhattan, home field of Columbia Lions football]] [[File:GehrigCU.jpg|thumb|Lou Gehrig, who attended Columbia University in 1922 and 1923]] A member institution of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in Division I FCS, Columbia fields varsity teams in 29 sports and is a member of the Ivy League.<ref>{{Cite web |title=NCAA Directory - Directory - Member Listing |url=https://web3.ncaa.org/directory/memberList?type=1 |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=web3.ncaa.org}}</ref> The football Lions play home games at the 17,000-seat Robert K. Kraft Field at Lawrence A. Wien Stadium. The Baker Athletics Complex also includes facilities for baseball, softball, soccer, lacrosse, field hockey, tennis, track, and rowing, as well as the new Campbell Sports Center, which opened in January 2013. The basketball, fencing, swimming & diving, volleyball, and wrestling programs are based at the Dodge Physical Fitness Center on the main campus.<ref>{{cite web|title=Athletics|url=http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/campus/athletics.php|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=June 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120623112705/http://www.studentaffairs.columbia.edu/admissions/university/campus/athletics.php|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Former students include Baseball Hall of Famers Lou Gehrig and Eddie Collins, football Hall of Famer Sid Luckman, Marcellus Wiley, and world champion women's weightlifter Karyn Marshall.<ref name="tws02oct012">{{Cite news|author=Carft, Julie|date=July 29, 1989|title=Image is Heavy Burden – Weightlifter Karyn Marshall Feels Pressure to Project 'Femininity, Intelligence'|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1989-07-29-sp-145-story.html|access-date=October 2, 2009|archive-date=March 8, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110308235715/http://articles.latimes.com/1989-07-29/sports/sp-145_1_karyn-marshall|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="SI2">{{Cite magazine|last=Lidz|first=Franz|date=March 21, 1988|title=A Lift For Wall Street|magazine=Sports Illustrated|url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067134/index.htm|url-status=dead|access-date=June 28, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011090230/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1067134/index.htm|archive-date=October 11, 2011}}</ref> On May 17, 1939, fledgling NBC broadcast a doubleheader between the Columbia Lions and the Princeton Tigers at Columbia's Baker Field, making it the first televised regular athletic event in history.<ref>[http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/spr99/34a.html Baker Field: Birthplace of Sports Television] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081007095924/http://www.college.columbia.edu/cct/spr99/34a.html|date=October 7, 2008}}. Columbia University.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=20th-Century Greats|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletes_bios.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629150629/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletes_bios.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Columbia University participated in multiple firsts within collegiate athletics.<ref>{{cite web|year=2004|title=Columbia Athletics Highlight|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletics_timeline.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=May 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525021443/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/athletics/athletics_timeline.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The football program is best known for its record of futility set during the 1980s: between 1983 and 1988, the team lost 44 games in a row, which is still the record for the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. The streak was broken on October 8, 1988, with a 16–13 victory over arch-rival Princeton University. That was the Lions' first victory at Wien Stadium, which had been opened during the losing streak and was already four years old.<ref>[http://www.wikicu.com/Losing_streak Losing streak] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115070433/http://www.wikicu.com/Losing_streak |date=January 15, 2021 }}. Wikicu.com. Retrieved on September 7, 2013.</ref> A new tradition has developed with the Liberty Cup. The Liberty Cup is awarded annually to the winner of the football game between Fordham and Columbia Universities, two of the only three NCAA Division I football teams in New York City.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Football Hosts Columbia in Liberty Cup Game on Saturday|url=https://fordhamsports.com/news/2015/9/17/FB_0917155020.aspx|access-date=May 15, 2021|website=Fordham University Athletics|date=September 17, 2015|language=en|archive-date=May 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515050001/https://fordhamsports.com/news/2015/9/17/FB_0917155020.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Traditions== {{Main|Columbia University traditions}}

[[File:Fly_With_Me_poster.jpg|thumb|The program for ''Fly With Me'' (1920), one of the only collaborations between Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, and Lorenz Hart]] === The Varsity Show === {{Main|Varsity Show}}

The Varsity Show is one of the oldest traditions at Columbia. Founded in 1893 as a fundraiser for the university's fledgling athletic teams, the Varsity Show now draws together the entire Columbia undergraduate community for a series of performances every April. Dedicated to producing a unique full-length musical that skewers and satirizes many dubious aspects of life at Columbia, the Varsity Show is written and performed exclusively by university undergraduates. Various renowned playwrights, composers, authors, directors, and actors have contributed to the Varsity Show, either as writers or performers, while students at Columbia, including Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein II, Lorenz Hart, Herman J. Mankiewicz, I. A. L. Diamond, Herman Wouk, Greta Gerwig, and Kate McKinnon.<ref name="Vinciguerra-2021">{{Cite web |last=Vinciguerra |first=Thomas J. |title=Sing a Song of Morningside |url=https://www.thevarsityshow.com/about-sing-a-song-of-morningside |access-date=August 28, 2021 |website=thevarsityshow.com |language=en-US |archive-date=June 6, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210606201025/https://www.thevarsityshow.com/about-sing-a-song-of-morningside |url-status=live }}</ref>

Notable past shows include ''Fly With Me'' (1920), ''The'' ''Streets of New York'' (1948), ''The Sky's the Limit'' (1954), and ''Angels at Columbia'' (1994). In particular, ''Streets of New York'', after having been revived three times, opened off-Broadway in 1963 and was awarded a 1964 Drama Desk Award. ''The Mischief Maker'' (1903), written by Edgar Allan Woolf and Cassius Freeborn, premiered at Madison Square Garden in 1906 as ''Mam'zelle Champagne''.<ref name="Vinciguerra-2021" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dietz |first=Dan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7TdwEAAAQBAJ |title=The Complete Book of 1900s Broadway Musicals |date=July 15, 2022 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-6894-3 |pages=365 |language=en |access-date=July 1, 2023 |archive-date=September 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230908003828/https://books.google.com/books?id=7TdwEAAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Tree Lighting and Yule Log ceremonies=== {{Multiple image | image1 = College Walk night jeh.JPG | image2 = Yule Log Ceremony 1910.png | caption1 = Tree Lighting at College Walk | caption2 = The first modern Yule Log ceremony in John Jay Hall, 1910 }} The campus Tree Lighting ceremony was inaugurated in 1998. It celebrates the illumination of the medium-sized trees lining College Walk in front of Kent Hall and Hamilton Hall on the east end and Dodge Hall and Pulitzer Hall on the west, just before finals week in early December. The lights remain on until February 28. Students meet at the sundial for free hot chocolate, performances by ''a cappella'' groups, and speeches by the university president and a guest.<ref name="Hollander2010">{{cite web|author=Jason Hollander|title=Holiday Season Ushered In With Tree-Lighting Ceremony|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/99/12/treeLighting.html|access-date=April 15, 2011|publisher=Columbia University News|archive-date=June 26, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100626093727/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/99/12/treeLighting.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Immediately following the College Walk festivities is one of Columbia's older holiday traditions, the lighting of the Yule Log. The Christmas ceremony dates to a period prior to the American Revolutionary War, but lapsed before being revived by President Nicholas Murray Butler in 1910. A troop of students dressed as Continental Army soldiers carry the eponymous log from the sundial to the lounge of John Jay Hall, where it is lit amid the singing of seasonal carols. The Christmas ceremony is accompanied by a reading of ''A Visit From St. Nicholas'' by Clement Clarke Moore and ''Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus'' by Francis Pharcellus Church.<ref name="Hollander2010"/>

==Notable people== {{Main|List of Columbia University people}}

=== Alumni === {{Cleanup gallery|date=January 2024}} {{Excessive examples|section|date=April 2025}}

{{see also|List of Columbia University alumni and attendees|List of Columbia University people in politics, military and law|List of Nobel laureates affiliated with Columbia University as alumni or faculty}}

The university has graduated many notable alumni, including five Founding Fathers of the United States, an author of the United States Constitution and a member of the Committee of Five. Three United States presidents have attended Columbia,<ref name="parks2">{{cite web|title=The Presidents of the United States – Biographical Sketches|url=http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/presidents/bio.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070630010841/http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/Presidents/bio.htm|archive-date=June 30, 2007|access-date=April 13, 2011|publisher=US National Park Service}}</ref> as well as ten justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, including three chief justices. {{As of|2011}}, 125 Pulitzer Prize winners and 39 Oscar winners have attended Columbia.<ref name="Columbia Arts Alumni2">{{cite web|title=Columbia Arts Alumni|url=http://www.cuarts.com/alumni/basicsearch|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110123215722/http://cuarts.com/alumni/basicsearch|archive-date=January 23, 2011|access-date=June 28, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref>

Columbia faculty received multiple Nobel Prizes, including Joseph Stiglitz (Economics, 2001), Richard Axel and Linda Buck (Medicine, 2004), Edmund Phelps (Economics, 2006), and Orhan Pamuk (Literature, 2006), among others.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Joseph E. Stiglitz – AAPSS |url=https://www.aapss.org/fellows/fellow/joseph-e-stiglitz/ |access-date=2026-03-15 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Buck |first=Linda |title=The Science of Scent Wins a Nobel Prize |url=https://www.washington.edu/innovation/the-science-of-scent-wins-a-nobel-prize/ |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=University of Washington}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=David Martin |date=2023-05-04 |title=Nobel Prize laureate Edmund Phelps' journey in economics |url=https://www.tpr.org/podcast/the-source/2023-05-04/nobel-prize-laureate-edmund-phelps-journey-in-economics |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=Texas Public Radio}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ulaby |first=Neda |date=2006-10-12 |title=Turkish Writer Wins 2006 Nobel Literature Prize |url=https://www.npr.org/2006/10/12/6252463/turkish-writer-wins-2006-nobel-literature-prize |access-date=2026-03-15 |website=NPR}}</ref>

In a 2016 ranking of universities worldwide with respect to living graduates who are billionaires, Columbia ranked second, after Harvard.<ref>{{cite news|date=November 29, 2016|title=The Universities Churning Out The Most Billionaires|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/11/29/the-universities-churning-out-the-most-billionaires-infographic/#6ca1ff5d6613|access-date=November 19, 2017|archive-date=December 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201044334/https://www.forbes.com/sites/niallmccarthy/2016/11/29/the-universities-churning-out-the-most-billionaires-infographic/#6ca1ff5d6613|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Marie Thibault2">{{cite news|author=Marie Thibault|title=In Pictures: Billionaire University|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/11/harvard-stanford-columbia-business-billionaires-universities_slide_4.html|access-date=April 12, 2011|archive-date=August 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170801075748/https://www.forbes.com/2010/08/11/harvard-stanford-columbia-business-billionaires-universities_slide_4.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

Former U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Delano Roosevelt attended the law school. Other political figures educated at Columbia include former U.S. President Barack Obama,<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia News Announcement|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/08/11/obama.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia.edu|archive-date=May 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502135302/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/08/11/obama.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Ruth Bader Ginsburg,<ref>{{cite web|date=March 7, 2006|title=Tribute: The Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and WRP Staff|url=https://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/tribute-legacy-ruth-bader-ginsburg-and-wrp-staff|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=American Civil Liberties Union|archive-date=March 19, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319024236/http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/tribute-legacy-ruth-bader-ginsburg-and-wrp-staff|url-status=live}}</ref>, William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice and former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright,<ref>{{cite book|last=Albright|first=Madeleine|url=https://archive.org/details/madamsecretary00albr_0|title=Madam Secretary: A Memoir|publisher=Miramax|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7868-6843-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/madamsecretary00albr_0/page/71 71]|url-access=registration}}<!--| access-date=April 16, 2011--></ref> former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank Alan Greenspan,<ref>{{cite book|last=Martin|first=Justin|title=Greenspan: The Man behind Money|date=October 15, 2009|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7382-0275-4|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|pages=27–31}}<!--| access-date= April 16, 2011--></ref> U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and U.S. Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr.<ref>{{cite news|author1=Tucker-Hamilton, Racine|author2=Hickey, Matthew|date=December 17, 2004|title=Interview with Eric H. Holder, Jr.|work=Oral history project|publisher=The History Makers|format=Interview|url=http://www.thehistorymakers.com/programs/dvl/files/Holder_Ericf.html|url-status=dead|access-date=November 18, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221232555/http://www.thehistorymakers.com/programs/dvl/files/Holder_Ericf.html|archive-date=December 21, 2008}}</ref> The university has also educated 29 foreign heads of state, including president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, president of East Timor José Ramos-Horta, president of Estonia Toomas Hendrik Ilves and other historical figures such as Wellington Koo, Radovan Karadžić, Gaston Eyskens, and T. V. Soong. One of the founding fathers of modern India and the prime architect of the Constitution of India, B. R. Ambedkar, was an alumnus.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Alumnus, Author of Indian Constitution Honored|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol21/vol21_iss9/record2109.21.html|website=Columbia University|access-date=November 9, 2011|archive-date=August 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200825141748/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/record/archives/vol21/vol21_iss9/record2109.21.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/bhimrao_ambedkar.html | title=Bhimrao Ambedkar }}</ref>

Alumni of Columbia have occupied top positions in Wall Street and the rest of the business world. Notable members of the Astor family<ref>{{cite news|date=August 24, 1890|title=Letters To The Editor; The Interesting Career Of John Jacob Astor Ii. A Man Of Broad And Generous Sympathies Who Appreciated The Responsibilities Of Wealth|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1890/08/24/archives/letters-to-the-editor-the-interesting-career-of-john-jacob-astor-ii.html|access-date=April 14, 2011|archive-date=June 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180617065754/https://www.nytimes.com/1890/08/24/archives/letters-to-the-editor-the-interesting-career-of-john-jacob-astor-ii.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Reynolds|first=Cuyler|url=https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn|title=Genealogical and family history of southern New York and the Hudson River Valley|publisher=Lewis Historical Pub. Co.|year=1914|page=[https://archive.org/details/genealogicalfami00reyn/page/1263 1263]|quote=William Waldorf Astor columbia law school.|access-date=April 16, 2011}}</ref> attended Columbia, while other business graduates include investor Warren Buffett,<ref>{{cite news|date=March 1, 2011|title=World's Billionaires: Warren Buffett|work=Forbes|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett|access-date=April 12, 2011|archive-date=January 5, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105085138/https://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/|url-status=live}}</ref> former CEO of PBS and NBC Lawrence K. Grossman,<ref>{{cite book|last=Murray|first=Michael|title=Encyclopedia of Television News|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=1999|isbn=978-1-57356-108-2}}<!--| access-date= April 16, 2011--></ref> chairman of Walmart S. Robson Walton,<ref>{{cite news|last=Serwer|first=Andy|date=November 15, 2004|title=The Waltons: Inside America's Richest Family|website=Fortune.com|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/11/15/8191093/index.htm|access-date=April 12, 2011|archive-date=March 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110316084204/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2004/11/15/8191093/index.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> Bain Capital Co-Managing Partner, Jonathan Lavine,<ref>{{Cite news|date=December 15, 2017|title=Bain to Manage Harvard Endowment's $3.4 Billion of Real Estate|language=en|website=Bloomberg.com|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-15/bain-to-manage-harvard-endowment-s-3-4-billion-of-real-estate|access-date=January 26, 2018|archive-date=January 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180127084105/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-12-15/bain-to-manage-harvard-endowment-s-3-4-billion-of-real-estate|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia College awards highest honor to Jonathan S. Lavine, CC '88 – Columbia Daily Spectator|url=http://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2017/11/17/columbia-college-awards-highest-honor-to-jonathan-s-lavine-cc-88/|access-date=January 26, 2018|website=Columbiaspectator.com|archive-date=January 18, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180118012826/http://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2017/11/17/columbia-college-awards-highest-honor-to-jonathan-s-lavine-cc-88/|url-status=live}}</ref> Thomson Reuters CEO Tom Glocer,<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 22, 2010|title=Tom Glocer – Thomson Reuters|url=http://thomsonreuters.com/content/corporate/biographies/Tom_Glocer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100722163219/http://thomsonreuters.com/content/corporate/biographies/Tom_Glocer|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 22, 2010|access-date=June 29, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Lee|first=Edmund|date=December 2, 2011|title=Thomson Reuters CEO Glocer Steps Down as Smith Takes Over|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-12-02/thomson-reuters-says-chief-executive-glocer-to-be-succeeded-by-james-smith|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Bloomberg|archive-date=August 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817092215/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-12-02/thomson-reuters-says-chief-executive-glocer-to-be-succeeded-by-james-smith|url-status=live}}</ref> New York Stock Exchange president Lynn Martin,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kramer |first=Farrell |date=December 6, 2021 |title=New NYSE President Lynn Martin Brings Tech Background to the Big Board |url=https://www.nyse.com/taking-stock/lynn-martin-brings-tech-background-to-the-big-board |access-date=June 8, 2022 |website=New York Stock Exchange |language=en |archive-date=June 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608201018/https://www.nyse.com/taking-stock/lynn-martin-brings-tech-background-to-the-big-board |url-status=live }}</ref> and AllianceBernstein Chairman and CEO Lewis A. Sanders.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 9, 2009|title=Executive outflow may hit AllianceBernstein|url=https://www.pionline.com/article/20090309/PRINT/303099978/executive-outflow-may-hit-alliancebernstein|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Pensions & Investments|language=en|archive-date=February 23, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223195359/https://www.pionline.com/article/20090309/PRINT/303099978/executive-outflow-may-hit-alliancebernstein|url-status=live}}</ref> CEOs of top Fortune 500 companies include James P. Gorman of Morgan Stanley,<ref>The Age (2009). [http://www.theage.com.au/business/melbourneraised-gorman-new-chief-of-morgan-stanley-20090911-fkw8.html Melbourne-raised Gorman new chief of Morgan Stanley] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210115070650/http://www.theage.com.au/business/melbourneraised-gorman-new-chief-of-morgan-stanley-20090911-fkw8.html |date=January 15, 2021 }}. Retrieved September 13, 2009.</ref> Robert J. Stevens of Lockheed Martin,<ref>{{cite web|title=Robert J. Stevens|url=http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/leadership/bios/stevens.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110503062237/http://www.lockheedmartin.com/aboutus/leadership/bios/stevens.html|archive-date=May 3, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Lockheed Martin}}</ref> Philippe Dauman of Viacom,<ref>{{cite web|title=Business Profile: Philippe P. Dauman|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=312188&ticker=VIA:US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011210225/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/people/person.asp?personId=312188&ticker=VIA:US|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 11, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Bloomberg Business}}</ref> Robert Bakish of Paramount Global,<ref>{{Cite web|title=At CES, Viacom CEO Bob Bakish Highlights Transformation and Opportunities|url=https://www.viacomcbs.com/news/company-news/viacom-bob-bakish-ces|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=ViacomCBS|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709184450/https://www.viacomcbs.com/news/company-news/viacom-bob-bakish-ces|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=ViacomCBS: 2021 Fortune 500|url=https://fortune.com/company/cbs/fortune500/|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=Fortune|language=en|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709183806/https://fortune.com/company/cbs/fortune500/|url-status=live}}</ref> Ursula Burns of Xerox,<ref>{{cite magazine|date=May 22, 2009|title=Xerox's next CEO: Ursula Burns|url=http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/22/xeroxs-next-ceo-ursula-burns/|url-status=dead|magazine=Fortune|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708172221/http://postcards.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2009/05/22/xeroxs-next-ceo-ursula-burns/|archive-date=July 8, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011}}</ref> Devin Wenig of EBay,<ref>{{Cite web|date=May 11, 2019|title=Secrets of their success: Fortune 500 CEOs discuss Union, influences and dealing with setbacks|url=https://www.union.edu/news/stories/201905/Secrets-of-their-success-Fortune-500-CEOs-discuss-Union-influences-and-dealing-with-setbacks|access-date=July 7, 2021|website=Union College|language=en|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190237/https://www.union.edu/news/stories/201905/Secrets-of-their-success-Fortune-500-CEOs-discuss-Union-influences-and-dealing-with-setbacks|url-status=live}}</ref> Vikram Pandit of Citigroup,<ref>{{cite web|title=Office of the Secretary of The University|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/secretary/bios/pandit/index.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029053249/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/secretary/bios/pandit/index.html|archive-date=October 29, 2010|access-date=April 15, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> Ralph Izzo of Public Service Enterprise Group,<ref>{{Cite web|title=New Jersey Companies, Education & Workforce Profile|url=https://www.choosenj.com/new-jerseys-assets/stats-and-facts/new-jersey-profile/|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Choose New Jersey, Inc.|language=en-US|archive-date=July 26, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726123214/https://www.choosenj.com/new-jerseys-assets/stats-and-facts/new-jersey-profile/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Ralph Izzo, chairman of the board, President & CEO|url=https://corporate.pseg.com/aboutpseg/leadershipandgovernance/executiveofficers/psegcompanyexecutive|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=corporate.pseg.com|archive-date=July 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724110313/https://corporate.pseg.com/aboutpseg/leadershipandgovernance/executiveofficers/psegcompanyexecutive|url-status=live}}</ref> Gail Koziara Boudreaux of Anthem,{{cn|date=February 2026}} and Frank Blake of The Home Depot.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Wacker|first=Menachem|date=June 26, 2012|title=Where the Fortune 500 CEOs Went to Law School|url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2012/06/26/where-the-fortune-500-ceos-went-to-law-school|access-date=July 6, 2021|website=U.S. News & World Report|archive-date=July 9, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709185721/https://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/top-law-schools/articles/2012/06/26/where-the-fortune-500-ceos-went-to-law-school|url-status=live}}</ref> Labor organizer and women's educator Louise Leonard McLaren received her degree of Master of Arts from Columbia.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Sicherman|first1=Barbara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CfGHM9KU7aEC&q=%22louise%20leonard%20mclaren%22%20colombia&pg=PA453|title=Notable American women: the modern period; a biographical dictionary|last2=Green|first2=Carol Hurd|date=1993|publisher=Belknap Press of Harvard Univ. Press|isbn=978-0-674-62733-8|edition=6th pring.|location=Cambridge, Mass [u.a.]|page=453|access-date=March 17, 2015|archive-date=October 30, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231030011829/https://books.google.com/books?id=CfGHM9KU7aEC&q=%22louise%20leonard%20mclaren%22%20colombia&pg=PA453#v=snippet&q=%22louise%20leonard%20mclaren%22%20colombia&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref>

In science and technology, Columbia alumni include: founder of IBM Herman Hollerith;<ref>{{cite web|title=Herman Hollerith|url=http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html|access-date=April 11, 2011|publisher=IBM|archive-date=November 1, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181101131919/http://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/builders/builders_hollerith.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> inventor of FM radio Edwin Armstrong;<ref>{{cite web|author=Tsividis, Yannis|date=Spring 2002|title=Edwin Armstrong: Pioneer of the Airwaves|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Spring2002/Armstrong.html|access-date=April 15, 2011|work=Columbia Magazine|archive-date=November 6, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181106173317/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/alumni/Magazine/Spring2002/Armstrong.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Francis Mechner; integral in development of the nuclear submarine Hyman Rickover;<ref>{{cite book|last=Allen|first=Thomas|title=Rickover: Father of the Nuclear Navy|publisher=Brassey's|year=2007|isbn=978-1-57488-704-4|page=12}}<!--| access-date= April 16, 2011--></ref> founder of Google China Kai-Fu Lee;<ref>{{cite web|author=Richmond Ezer Escolar|date=June 11, 2008|title=Google Conquers China: An Interview with Kai-Fu Lee|url=http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/chazen/journal/article/137235/Google+Conquers+China%3A+An+Interview+with+Kai-Fu+Lee|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120404162252/http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/chazen/journal/article/137235/Google%2BConquers%2BChina%3A%2BAn%2BInterview%2Bwith%2BKai-Fu%2BLee|archive-date=April 4, 2012|access-date=April 12, 2012|publisher=Columbia Business School Chazen Web Journal}}</ref> scientists Stephen Jay Gould,<ref>Green, Michelle (1986). [http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/green_sjgould.html "Stephen Jay Gould: driven by a hunger to learn and to write".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181003060040/http://www.stephenjaygould.org/library/green_sjgould.html |date=October 3, 2018 }} ''People'' '''25''' (June 2): 109–114.</ref> Robert Millikan,<ref>{{cite journal|author=David Goodstein|title=In the Case of Robert Andrews Millikan|url=http://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/MillikanII.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010603113008/http://www.its.caltech.edu/~dg/MillikanII.pdf |archive-date=June 3, 2001 |url-status=live|journal=American Scientist|pages=54–60}}</ref> Helium–neon laser inventor Ali Javan and Mihajlo Pupin;<ref>{{cite web|title=Michael Pupin|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/physics/about/main/one/michaelpupin.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109042332/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/physics/about/main/one/michaelpupin.html|archive-date=January 9, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University: Department of Physics}}</ref> chief-engineer of the New York City Subway, William Barclay Parsons;<ref>{{cite web|title=William Barclay Parsons|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/william_barclay_parsons.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=March 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110325081007/http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/william_barclay_parsons.html|url-status=live}}</ref> philosophers Irwin Edman<ref name="Edman2011">{{cite web|title=Irwin Edman|url=http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/irwin_edman.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=May 25, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525020504/http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/irwin_edman.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and Robert Nozick;<ref name="Edman2011"/> economist Milton Friedman;<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia University 250: Milton Friedman|url=http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/milton_friedman.html|access-date=April 16, 2011|archive-date=December 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201223100942/http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/milton_friedman.html|url-status=live}}</ref> psychologist Harriet Babcock;<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict02ogil|title=The biographical dictionary of women in science : pioneering lives from ancient times to the mid-20th century.|date=2000|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-92039-1|editor1-last=Ogilvie|editor1-first=Marilyn|editor-link=Marilyn Bailey Ogilvie|location=New York, NY [u.a.]|page=65|editor2-last=Harvey|editor2-first=Joy|editor2-link=Joy Harvey|url-access=registration}}</ref> archaeologist Josephine Platner Shear;<ref name="Princeton-1936">{{Cite web|title=Local Express 10 December 1936 — Princeton Periodicals|url=https://theprince.princeton.edu/princetonperiodicals/cgi-bin/princetonperiodicals?a=d&d=LocalExpress19361210-01.2.24&srpos=23&e=-------en-20--21-byDA-txt-txIN-------|access-date=August 26, 2021|website=theprince.princeton.edu}}</ref> biologist and medical researcher Leona Zacharias,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Goldstein |first=Jack S. |url=http://archive.org/details/differentsortoft0000gold |title=A different sort of time : the life of Jerrold R. Zacharias, scientist, engineer, educator |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-262-07138-3}}</ref> and sociologists Lewis A. Coser and Rose Laub Coser.<ref>{{cite news|last=Saxon|first=Wolfgang|title=Rose L. Coser, 78; Taught Sociology At Stony Brook|newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 24, 1994 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/24/obituaries/rose-l-coser-78-taught-sociology-at-stony-brook.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Vromen|first=Suzanne|title=Rose Laub Coser|url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/coser-rose-laub|website=Jwa.org}}</ref>

Many Columbia alumni have gone on to renowned careers in the arts, including composers Richard Rodgers,<ref>Rodgers, Richard. ''Musical Stages: An Autobiography'' (2002 Reissue), pp. 12, 20–21, 44. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press. {{ISBN|0-306-81134-0}}</ref> Oscar Hammerstein II,<ref>{{cite book|last=Hischak|first=Thomas|title=The Rodgers and Hammerstein Encyclopedia|publisher=Greenwood Publishing|year=2007|isbn=978-0-313-34140-3|location=Westport, CT|page=9}}</ref> Lorenz Hart,<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/hart_l.html Hughson Mooney, "Lorenz Hart"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120901102124/http://www.pbs.org/wnet/broadway/stars/hart_l.html|date=September 1, 2012}}, PBS, Excerpted from the ''DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY, SUPPLEMENT 3'': 1941–1945. American Council of Learned Societies, 1973. Reprinted by permission of the American Council of Learned Societies, retrieved April 18, 2011</ref> and Art Garfunkel;<ref>Herman, Jan (February 6, 1977). [http://www.artgarfunkel.com/articles/gannett.html "TV Makes You Famous; Rock 'n Roll Makes You Rich"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106070834/http://www.artgarfunkel.com/articles/gannett.html |date=January 6, 2021 }}. ''Gannett News Service''.</ref> and painter Georgia O'Keeffe.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Georgia O'Keeffe|url=https://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/georgia_okeeffe.html|access-date=July 4, 2021|website=c250.columbia.edu}}</ref> Five United States Poet Laureates received their degrees from Columbia. Columbia alumni have made an indelible mark in the field of American poetry and literature, with such people as Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, pioneers of the Beat Generation;<ref>''Literature Resource Center'': [http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CH1410002462&v=2.1&u=iuclassb&it=r&p=LitRC&sw=w&asid=468444b0b09aacc2b7192350d1606bb6 "The Beat Generation"]. Retrieved November 13, 2013.</ref> and Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, seminal figures in the Harlem Renaissance,<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia University 250: Langston Hughes|url=http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/langston_hughes.html|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Zora Neale Hurston|url=https://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/zora_hurston.html|access-date=July 4, 2021|website=c250}}</ref> all having attended the university. Other notable writers who attended Columbia include authors Isaac Asimov,<ref>{{cite web|title=Columbia University 250: Isaac Asimov|url=http://www.c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/isaac_asimov.html|access-date=April 17, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> J.D. Salinger,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Alexander|first=Paul|url=https://archive.org/details/salingerbiograph00alex|title=Salinger: A Biography|publisher=Renaissance|year=1999|isbn=978-1-58063-080-1|location=Los Angeles}}</ref> Upton Sinclair,<ref>''Encyclopædia Britannica'': [https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/545642/Upton-Sinclair "Upton Sinclair"]. Retrieved April 15, 2011.</ref> Ursula K. Le Guin,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ursula K. Le Guin — Biography|url=https://www.ursulakleguin.com/biography|access-date=July 4, 2021|website=Ursula K. Le Guin|language=en-US}}</ref> Danielle Valore Evans,<ref>{{cite web|title=Award winning writer Danielle Evans featured in Southeastern's 'Common Read' program|url=http://www.southeastern.edu/news_media/news_releases/2017/march/common_read_evans.html|access-date=March 23, 2017|publisher=Southeastern Louisiana University|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20170324174414/http://www.southeastern.edu/news_media/news_releases/2017/march/common_read_evans.html|archive-date=2017-03-24}}</ref> and Hunter S. Thompson.<ref>{{cite book|last=Thompson|first=Hunter|title=The Proud Highway: Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman|publisher=Ballantine Books|year=1998|isbn=978-0-345-37796-8|editor=Douglas Brinkley|edition=1st|page=139|author-link=Hunter Thompson}}</ref> In architecture, William Lee Stoddart, a prolific architect of U.S. East Coast hotels, is an alumnus.<ref name="NYT-Obituary">{{cite news | first= Brooks| last= Barnes| title=William L. Stoddart, A Hotel Architect (Obituary) | date=October 3, 1940 | url =https://www.nytimes.com | work =The New York Times | page =25 | accessdate = October 25, 2008 }}</ref>

University alumni have also been very prominent in the film industry, with 33 alumni and former students winning a combined 43 Academy Awards ({{as of|2011|lc=yes}}).<ref name="Columbia Arts Alumni2" /> Some notable Columbia alumni that have gone on to work in film include directors Sidney Lumet (''12 Angry Men'')<ref>{{cite news|date=April 9, 2011|title=Film Obituaries; Sidney Lumet|work=The Daily Telegraph|location=London|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/8440445/Sidney-Lumet.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/8440445/Sidney-Lumet.html |archive-date=January 10, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=April 16, 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and Kathryn Bigelow (''The Hurt Locker''),<ref>{{cite web|date=February 22, 2010|title=School of the Arts Alumna Kathryn Bigelow Wins Major British Film Award|url=http://news.columbia.edu/oncampus/1932|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724084931/http://news.columbia.edu/oncampus/1932|archive-date=July 24, 2011|access-date=April 16, 2011|publisher=Columbia University}}</ref> screenwriters Howard Koch (''Casablanca'')<ref>{{cite news|author=Gussow, Mel|date=August 18, 1995|title=Howard Koch, a Screenwriter For 'Casablanca,' Dies at 93|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/08/18/obituaries/howard-koch-a-screenwriter-for-casablanca-dies-at-93.html|access-date=April 11, 2011}}</ref> and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (''All About Eve''),<ref>{{cite news|last=Flint|first=Peter|date=February 6, 1993|title=Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Literate Skeptic of the Cinema, Dies at 83.|newspaper=The New York Times|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE5D9113AF935A35751C0A965958260|access-date=April 11, 2011}}</ref> and actors James Cagney,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Flint |first=Peter |date=March 31, 1986 |title=JAMES CAGNEY IS DEAD AT 86; MASTER OF PUGNACIOUS GRACE |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/03/31/obituaries/james-cagney-is-dead-at-86-master-of-pugnacious-grace.html |access-date=August 28, 2023 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> Ed Harris and Timothée Chalamet.<ref>{{cite web|author=Sandra Brennan|date=2012|title=Ed Harris: Full Biography|url=https://movies.nytimes.com/person/30614/Ed-Harris/biography|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217022013/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/30614/Ed-Harris/biography|archive-date=February 17, 2012|access-date=April 17, 2011|work=The New York Times|department=Movies & TV Dept.}}</ref><gallery class="center" mode="packed" widths="140" heights="140" caption="Notable Columbia University alumni include:"> File:Alexander Hamilton portrait by John Trumbull 1806.jpg|Alexander Hamilton: Founding Father of the United States; author of ''The Federalist Papers''; first United States Secretary of the Treasury — King's College File:John Jay (Gilbert Stuart portrait).jpg|John Jay: Founding Father of the United States; author of ''The Federalist Papers''; first chief justice of the United States; second governor of New York — King's College File:Robert R Livingston, attributed to Gilbert Stuart (1755-1828).jpg|Robert R. Livingston: Founding Father of the United States; drafter of the Declaration of Independence; first United States Secretary of Foreign Affairs — King's College File:Gouverneur Morris.jpg|Gouverneur Morris: Founding Father of the United States; author of the United States Constitution; United States senator from New York — King's College File:DeWitt Clinton by Rembrandt Peale.jpg|DeWitt Clinton: United States senator from New York; sixth governor of New York; responsible for construction of Erie Canal — Columbia College File:President Barack Obama.jpg|Barack Obama: 44th president of the United States; United States senator from Illinois; Nobel laureate — Columbia College File:FDR in 1933.jpg|Franklin D. Roosevelt: 32nd president of the United States; 44th governor of New York — Columbia Law School File:President Theodore Roosevelt, 1904.jpg|Theodore Roosevelt: 26th president of the United States; 25th vice president of the United States; 33rd governor of New York; Nobel laureate – Columbia Law School File:Wellington Koo 1945.jpg|Wellington Koo: acting president of the Republic of China; judge of the International Court of Justice — Columbia College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences File:Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.jpg|B. R. Ambedkar: architect of the Constitution of India; 1st Minister of Law and Justice — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences File:Ruth Bader Ginsburg official SCOTUS portrait.jpg|Ruth Bader Ginsburg: associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States — Columbia Law School File:Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch Official Portrait.jpg|Neil Gorsuch: associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States — Columbia College File:Charles Evans Hughes cph.3b15401.jpg|Charles Evans Hughes: 11th chief justice of the United States; 44th United States secretary of state; 35th governor of New York — Columbia Law School File:Chief Justice Harlan Fiske Stone photograph circa 1927-1932 (cropped).jpg|Harlan Fiske Stone: 12th chief justice of the United States; 52nd United States attorney general — Columbia Law School File:Hamilton Fish Brady Edited.jpg|Hamilton Fish: 26th United States secretary of state; United States senator from New York; 16th governor of New York — Columbia College File:Portrait of Milton Friedman.jpg|Milton Friedman: Nobel laureate, leading member of the Chicago school of economics — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences File:Simon Kuznets 1971b.jpg|Simon Kuznets: Nobel laureate; invented concept of GDP; Milton Friedman's doctoral advisor — School of General Studies, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences File:Alan Greenspan color photo portrait.jpg|Alan Greenspan: 13th chair of the Federal Reserve — Graduate School of Arts and Sciences File:Warren Buffett KU Visit.jpg|Warren Buffett: CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; one of the world's wealthiest people — Columbia Business School File:LangstonHughes crop.jpg|Langston Hughes: Harlem Renaissance poet, novelist, and playwright — School of Engineering and Applied Science File:Zora Neale Hurston.jpg|Zora Neale Hurston: Harlem Renaissance author, anthropologist, and filmmaker — Barnard College, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences File:J. D. Salinger (Catcher in the Rye portrait).jpg|J. D. Salinger: novelist, ''The Catcher in the Rye'' — School of General Studies File:Amelia Earhart 1935.jpg|Amelia Earhart: first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean — School of General Studies File:Jake Gyllenhaal (22373266462) (cropped 2).jpg|Jake Gyllenhaal: actor and film producer — Columbia College </gallery>

=== Faculty === Columbia University's faculty has included many notable names in the role of university president, including 34th President of the United States Dwight D. Eisenhower, 4th Vice President of the United States George Clinton, Founding Father and U.S. Senator from Connecticut William Samuel Johnson, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Nicholas Murray Butler, and First Amendment scholar Lee Bollinger.<ref name="Columbia U-2021b">{{Cite web|title=Columbia University President Profiles |url=https://library.columbia.edu/libraries/cuarchives/presidents.html|access-date=June 18, 2021|website=Columbia University Libraries }}</ref>

Other notable Columbia University faculty include Zbigniew Brzezinski, Sonia Sotomayor, Kimberlé Crenshaw, Lee Bollinger, Franz Boas, Margaret Mead, Edward Sapir, John Dewey, Charles A. Beard, Max Horkheimer, Herbert Marcuse, Edward Said, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Orhan Pamuk, Edwin Howard Armstrong, Enrico Fermi, Chien-Shiung Wu, Tsung-Dao Lee, Jack Steinberger, Joachim Frank, Joseph Stiglitz, Jeffrey Sachs, Robert Mundell, Thomas Hunt Morgan, Eric Kandel, Richard Axel, Andrei Okounkov, Minky Worden, and William York Tindall.<ref>{{Cite web |last=DigitalDefynd |first=Team |date=2026-01-10 |title=100 Famous Columbia University Professors [2026] |url=https://digitaldefynd.com/IQ/famous-columbia-university-professors/ |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=DigitalDefynd Education |language=en-US}}</ref>

As of 2021, Columbia employs 4,381 faculty, including 70 members of the National Academy of Sciences,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Search Results - Columbia University |url=http://www.nasonline.org/member-directory/search.jsp?query=Columbia+University&includeSubfolders=true&folderID=362872209&typeID=934380820&page=1 |access-date=June 29, 2021 |website=National Academy of Sciences}}</ref> 178 members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Member Directory - Columbia University |url=https://www.amacad.org/directory?field_affiliation=Columbia%20University&field_class_section=All&field_class_section_1=All&field_deceased=1&sort_bef_combine=field_election_year_DESC&sort_by=field_election_year&sort_order=DESC|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=American Academy of Arts and Sciences }}</ref> and 65 members of the National Academy of Medicine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Directory |url=https://nam.edu/directory/ |access-date=June 29, 2021 |website=National Academy of Medicine |language=en-US}}</ref> In total, the Columbia faculty has included 52 Nobel laureates, 12 National Medal of Science recipients,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The President's National Medal of Science: Recipient Search Results |url=https://www.nsf.gov/od/nms/results.jsp |access-date=July 2, 2021 |website=National Science Foundation}}</ref> and 32 National Academy of Engineering members.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Members Directory |url=https://nae.edu/20412/MemberDirectory |access-date=July 2, 2021 |website=NAE Website}}</ref>

Columbia University faculty played particularly important roles during World War II and the creation of the New Deal under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who attended Columbia Law School. The three core members of Roosevelt's Brain Trust: Adolf A. Berle, Raymond Moley, and Rexford Tugwell, were law professors at Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Brain Trust |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Brain-Trust|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> Former United States Secretary of Labor, Francis Perkins was the principle architect of the New Deal and also earned her Master's from Columbia University.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Frances Perkins - FDR Presidential Library & Museum |url=https://www.fdrlibrary.org/perkins |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=www.fdrlibrary.org |language=en-US}}</ref> The Statistical Research Group, which used statistics to analyze military problems during World War II, was composed of Columbia researchers and faculty including George Stigler and Milton Friedman.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Savage |first1=Sam L. |last2=Markowitz |first2=Harry M. |title=CHAPTER 35 – The Statistical Research Group of World War II – The Flaw of Averages: Why We Underestimate Risk in the Face of Uncertainty [Book]|url=https://www.oreilly.com/library/view/the-flaw-of/9780470488126/sava_9780470488126_oeb_c35_r1.html|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=O'Reilly|date=June 3, 2009 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-0-470-48812-6 |language=en}}</ref> Columbia faculty and researchers, including Enrico Fermi, Leo Szilard, Eugene T. Booth, John R. Dunning, George B. Pegram, Walter Zinn, Chien-Shiung Wu, Francis G. Slack, Harold Urey, Herbert L. Anderson, and Isidor Isaac Rabi, also played a significant role during the early phases of the Manhattan Project.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Columbia University|url=https://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/location/columbia-university|access-date=June 29, 2021|website=Manhattan Project Voices|language=en}}</ref>

Following the rise of Nazi Germany, the exiled Institute for Social Research at Goethe University Frankfurt would affiliate itself with Columbia from 1934 to 1950.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Frankfurt School |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Frankfurt-School|access-date=July 10, 2021|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> It was during this period that thinkers including Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, and Herbert Marcuse wrote and published some of the most seminal works of the Frankfurt School, including ''Reason and Revolution'', ''Dialectic of Enlightenment'', and ''Eclipse of Reason''.<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia|last=Corradetti|first=Claudio|title=Frankfurt School and Critical Theory |encyclopedia=Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy|url=https://iep.utm.edu/frankfur/|access-date=July 10, 2021|language=en-US}}</ref> Professors Edward Said, author of ''Orientalism'', and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak are generally considered as founders of the field of postcolonialism;<ref>Robert Young, ''White Mythologies: Writing History and the West'', New York & London: Routledge, 1990.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Paulson|first=Steve|date=July 29, 2016|title=Critical Intimacy: An Interview with Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/critical-intimacy-interview-gayatri-chakravorty-spivak/|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=Los Angeles Review of Books|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026174334/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/critical-intimacy-interview-gayatri-chakravorty-spivak/ |archive-date=October 26, 2016 }}</ref> other professors that have significantly contributed to the field include Hamid Dabashi, Rashid Khalidi, and Joseph Massad.<ref>{{Cite web|date=September 28, 2018|title=Hamid Dabashi|url=https://mesaas.columbia.edu/faculty-directory/hamid-dabashi/|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=MESAAS|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-09-02 |title=Khalidi, Rashid |url=https://history.columbia.edu/person/khalidi-rashid/ |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=Department of History - Columbia University |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=September 28, 2018|title=Joseph Massad|url=https://mesaas.columbia.edu/faculty-directory/joseph-massad/|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=MESAAS|language=en-US}}</ref> The works of professors Kimberlé Crenshaw, Patricia J. Williams, and Kendall Thomas were foundational to the field of critical race theory.<ref>{{Cite web|date=July 1, 2021|title=What Is Critical Race Theory, and Why Is Everyone Talking About It?|url=https://news.columbia.edu/news/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-everyone-talking-about-it-0|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=Columbia News|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210701142314/https://news.columbia.edu/news/what-critical-race-theory-and-why-everyone-talking-about-it-0 |archive-date=July 1, 2021 }}</ref>

Columbia and its affiliated faculty have also made significant contributions to the study of religion. The affiliated Union Theological Seminary is a center of liberal Christianity in the United States, having served as the birthplace of Black theology through the efforts of faculty including James H. Cone and Cornel West,<ref>{{Cite web |date=April 28, 2018 |title=In Memoriam: Dr. James Hal Cone |url=https://utsnyc.edu/james-cone/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Cornel West |url=https://utsnyc.edu/faculty/cornel-west/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}}</ref> and Womanist theology, through the works of Katie Cannon, Emilie Townes, and Delores S. Williams.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 15, 2018 |title=In Memoriam: The Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon |url=https://utsnyc.edu/memoriam-cannon/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Emilie Townes named dean of Vanderbilt Divinity School |url=https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/12/28/emilie-townes-named-dean-of-vanderbilt-divinity-school/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Vanderbilt University |language=en-US|archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20170313124956/https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2012/12/28/emilie-townes-named-dean-of-vanderbilt-divinity-school/|archive-date=2017-03-13}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Faculty Emeriti/ae |url=https://utsnyc.edu/academics/faculty/emeritus/ |access-date=August 13, 2022 |website=Union Theological Seminary |language=en-US}}</ref> Likewise, the Jewish Theological Seminary of America was the birthplace of Conservative Judaism movement in the United States, which was founded and led by faculty members including Solomon Schechter, Alexander Kohut, and Louis Ginzberg in the early 20th century, and is a major center for Jewish studies in general.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Elazar |first1=Daniel J. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Lg6BmMTZGIC |title=The Conservative Movement in Judaism: Dilemmas and Opportunities |last2=Geffen |first2=Rela Mintz |date=February 1, 2012 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-9202-4 |pages=29 |language=en}}</ref>

Other schools of thought in the humanities to which Columbia professors made significant contributions include the Dunning School, founded by William Archibald Dunning;<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/how-radical-change-occurs-interview-historian-eric-foner/ |title="How Radical Change Occurs: An Interview With Historian Eric Foner" by Mike Konczal, February 3, 2015 |access-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-date=December 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222004741/https://www.thenation.com/article/how-radical-change-occurs-interview-historian-eric-foner/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="SmithLoweryxi2">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ZL5fjiAqSgC&q=Jim+Crow+system&pg=PT11|title=The Dunning School: Historians, Race, and the Meaning of Reconstruction|date=October 18, 2013|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=978-0-8131-4225-8|editor1-last=Smith|editor1-first=John David|editor1-link=John David Smith (historian)|location=Lexington, KY|page=xi|access-date=August 3, 2017|editor2-last=Lowery|editor2-first=J. Vincent|editor2-link=J. Vincent Lowery}}</ref> the anthropological schools of historical particularism and cultural relativism, founded by Franz Boas;<ref>{{Cite web|last=Tax|first=Sol|date=December 18, 2021|title=Franz Boas|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Franz-Boas|url-status=live|access-date=January 13, 2022|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150617095732/https://www.britannica.com:80/biography/Franz-Boas |archive-date=June 17, 2015 }}</ref> and functional psychology, whose founders and proponents include John Dewey, James McKeen Cattell, Edward L. Thorndike, and Robert S. Woodworth.<ref>Leahey, Thomas Hardy (2004). ''A History of Psychology: Main Currents in psychological thought''. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-111447-6}}.</ref>

==See also== {{Portal bar|New York City|Education}}{{Div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' * Columbia Glacier, a glacier in Alaska, U.S., named for Columbia University * Columbia MM, a text-based mail client developed at Columbia University * Columbia Non-neutral Torus, a small stellarator at the Columbia University Plasma Physics Laboratory * ''Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center'', an album of electronic music released in 1961 * ''Columbia Revolt'', a black-and-white 1968 documentary film * Columbia Scholastic Press Association * Columbia School of Linguistics * Columbia Spelling Board, a historic etymological organization * Columbia Unbecoming controversy * Columbia University in popular culture * Mount Columbia, a mountain in Colorado, U.S., named for Columbia University * Nutellagate, a controversy surrounding high Nutella consumption at Columbia University * ''The Strawberry Statement'', a non-fiction account of the 1968 protests * 2024 Columbia University pro-Palestinian campus occupations {{div col end}}

==Notes== {{Notelist}}

==References== {{Reflist}} {{reflist|group=n}}

==Sources== * {{cite web|title=about us|url=http://communityimpactatcu.org/about-usl|access-date=December 29, 2010|publisher=Columbia University|archive-date=February 28, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228045854/http://communityimpactatcu.org/about-us|url-status=live}} * {{cite book |last=Groce |first=C. G. |title=William Samuel Johnson: A Maker of the Constitution |publisher=Columbia University Press |year=1937 |location=New York, New York}} * {{cite web |title=Columbia University Senate |url=http://senate.columbia.edu/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014113501/http://senate.columbia.edu/ |archive-date=October 14, 2012 |access-date=April 17, 2011 |publisher=Columbia University}} * {{cite web |title=Board of Trustees, Office of the Secretary |url=https://secretary.columbia.edu/directory |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240419220642/https://secretary.columbia.edu/directory |archive-date=April 19, 2024 |access-date=April 25, 2024 |work=Columbia University}}

==Further reading== * Carriere, Micheal. "Fighting the war against blight: Columbia University, Morningside Heights, Inc., and counterinsurgent urban renewal." ''Journal of Planning History'' 10.1 (2011): 5-29. * De Bary, Wm Theodore ed. ''Living Legacies at Columbia'' (Columbia University Press, 2006), {{ISBN|0-231-13884-9}}. * McCaughey, Robert A. ''Stand, Columbia: A History of Columbia University in the City of New York, 1754–2004'', Columbia University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|0-231-13008-2}}. * Pettit, Marilyn H. "Slavery, abolition, and Columbia University." ''Journal of Archival Organization'' 1.4 (2002): 77–89.

==External links== {{Commons category|Columbia University}} {{Scholia|organization}} * {{Official website}} * [https://gocolumbialions.com/ Athletics website]

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