The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York is the governing board of Columbia University in New York City. Founded in 1754, it is also referred to as the Columbia Corporation, as distinguished from affiliates of the university that are separate legal entities, such as Barnard College. The board of trustees was originally composed of ex officio members including officials from the New York colonial government, crown officials, and various Protestant ministers from the city. Following the college's resuscitation following the American Revolutionary War, it was placed under the control of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York, and the university would finally come under the control of a private board of trustees in 1787. The board is notable for having administered the Pulitzer Prize from the prize's establishment until 1975. It consists of 24 members and as of 2021 is co-chaired by Lisa Carnoy and Jonathan Lavine.
The board is governed by 24 trustees, including the president of the university, who serves ex officio. Six of the 24 candidates are nominated from a pool of candidates selected by the Columbia Alumni Association. Another six are nominated by the board in consultation with the University Senate. The remaining 12 are nominated by the trustees through an internal process. [1] The board elects its own chair; the first woman to serve as chair (and the first to chair the governing board of any Ivy League university) was Gertrude Michelson, elected in 1989. [2] The term of office for the trustees is six years and trustees serve for no more than two consecutive terms. [1]
The trustees have met in room dedicated to them in Low Memorial Library since 1897. [3] They select the President, oversee all faculty and senior administrative appointments, monitor the budget, supervise the endowment, and protect university property. [4] The board of trustees holds the exclusive power to grant degrees, including to the affiliated institutions of Barnard College and Teachers College. The trustees also oversaw the Pulitzer Prizes until 1975, when authority over the prizes was devolved to a separate board. [5]
The board of trustees was originally established in 1754 as the board of governors of King's College with 41 members, replacing the ten-member Lottery Commission appointed by the New York Assembly to oversee lottery funds allocated to the establishment of the college. [6] The board of governors originally included several ex officio members, including, crown officials, members of the colonial government, and ministers of various Protestant denominations: [7]
A further twenty-four individuals were named in the charter, serving without terms with their successors to be selected by subsequent governors. College faculty were not provided seats ex officio on the board of governors, at variance with contemporary practice at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, where the faculty was engaged in the governance of their colleges, but was very much in line with practice of other colonial colleges governed by external boards. [8]
The charter permitted Protestants to serve as governors but excluded Roman Catholics and Jews. Only three members would be Anglicans: the Archbishop of Canterbury, the rector of Trinity Church, and the President of Columbia University, and they were offset by four ex officio members selected from New York's Dutch Reformed Church, French Protestant church, Lutheran Church, and Presbyterian Church. [8] In practice, the board was dominated by Anglicans, members of the Trinity Church, and the Dutch Reformed Church. Of the fifty-nine men who served as governors, only three ex officio members were not from the Anglican or Dutch Reformed churches.
More than half of the fifty-nine New Yorkers who served as governor made their livings as merchants. The next most common occupation among the governors was law (20 percent), followed by ministers (16 percent), and there was only one doctor. [9] The governors met 102 times in 22 years and most meetings were attended by around fifteen governors. A quarter of the governors attended fewer than ten meetings, and another half were absent, leaving a core of sixteen governors. Academic matters such as faculty appointments, the curriculum, and admissions requirements were overseen by degree-bearing ministers, while governors drawing from the city's mercantile and legal ranks oversaw financial matters such as construction of collegiate buildings or the salary of the college steward. This informal division of duties survived the reorganization of the King's College into Columbia College and persisted into the 1960s. [10]
In terms of politics, the ratio of Loyalists to Patriots during the American Revolution among the governors was more than eight to one. [11] The college was severely affected by the revolutionary war, which forced the college to shut down for eight years and a number of governors fled to Canada and the West Indies.
In 1784, it became the Board of Regents of Columbia College after the former King's College was reinstated. The 1784 charter also stipulated that eight of the seats on the board should be held by ranking state officials ex officio, with the remaining 24 regents to be appointed, two each, from the state's 12 counties, with only three places reserved for New York City residents. The number of regents was subsequently expanded to 33 by the New York State Legislature, with 20 of them residents of New York City, including a mix of prominent politicians and clergymen such as John Jay, Samuel Provoost, Leonard Lispenard, Gershom Mendes Seixas, and John Daniel Gros. [6]
It was renamed in a new 1787 charter as the Trustees of Columbia College in the City of New York, and the college was relieved of its duties as a state institution, returning to earlier status as a privately governed college serving the city. None of the college's trustees were to be state officials, and all replacements were to be elected by incumbent board members. [6] Only until 1908 did the board start accepting alumni nominations.
The board arrived at its final name of The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York by an order from the Supreme Court of New York in 1912, 16 years after Columbia College was renamed as Columbia University. [3] [12]
Although the trustees usually approve faculty recommendations for hiring and dismissal of Columbia faculty, in some cases they have taken a more direct role. Notably, in 1917 they fired psychologist James McKeen Cattell for his anti-war and anti-conscription views, a case with ongoing significance for academic freedom. [13] [14]
The trustees' oversight of the Pulitzer Prizes, which ended in 1975, was not without controversy. An early example of this occurred in 1921, when the trustees overruled the jury recommendation and awarded the fiction prize to Edith Wharton for The Age of Innocence instead of the recommendation of Sinclair Lewis for Main Street . [15] A similar controversy ensued in 1962, when the trustees overruled the jury's choice of a biography of William Randolph Hearst by W. A. Swanberg, Citizen Hearst, instead choosing to give no award in that category. [16] [17]
The trustees have been blamed for the violent suppression of protestors in the Columbia University protests of 1968, after they instructed the university administration to call in the police against the protestors and later lauded the police for their efforts. [18]
In 2001, the trustees were accused of pressuring the university to water down its sexual misconduct policy, and the director of the Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Education resigned in protest, claiming that the trustees had directed her not to discuss the policy changes. [19]
As with most governing boards of private universities, the deliberations of the trustees are confidential, and despite any internal disagreements the trustees generally present a unified front to the public on the decisions they have taken. A notable exception to this occurred in 2012, when trustee José A. Cabranes published a dissenting opinion on the status of Columbia College and its core curriculum within the university, in a column in Columbia's student newspaper, the Columbia Daily Spectator . [20]
The board consists of the following members as of September 2021, according to Columbia University's official website and the biographies of the trustees: [4]
Name | Degree | Occupation |
---|---|---|
Lisa Carnoy (Co-chair) | B.A. 1986, M.I.A. 1994 [21] | CFO of AlixPartners |
Jonathan Lavine (Co-chair) | B.A. 1988 | co-managing partner of Bain Capital |
Abigail Black Elbaum (Vice Chair) | B.A. 1992, M.B.A. 1994 | co-founder and principal of Ogden CAP Properties |
David Greenwald (Vice Chair) | J.D. 1983 | chairman of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson |
Wanda M. Holland Greene | B.A. 1989, M.A. 1991 | Head of School at the Hamlin School |
Claire Shipman (Vice Chair) | B.A. 1986, M.I.A. 1994 | senior national correspondent for Good Morning America |
Rolando Acosta | B.A. 1979, J.D. 1982 | presiding justice of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, First Judicial Department |
Andrew F. Barth | B.A. 1983, M.B.A. 1985 | former chairman of Capital Guardian Trust Company |
Lee Bollinger | J.D. 1971 | President of Columbia University |
Dean Dakolias | B.S. 1989 | co-CIO of the credit funds group at Fortress Investment Group |
Duchesne Drew | B.A. 1989 | President of Minnesota Public Radio |
Joseph A. Greenaway Jr. | B.A. 1978 | Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit |
Jeh Johnson | J.D. 1982 | partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison, United States Secretary of Homeland Security from 2013 to 2017 |
Li Lu | B.A., J.D., M.B.A. 1996 | founder and chairman of Himalaya Capital Management |
Victor Mendelson | B.A. 1989 | co-president and director of HEICO |
Julie Menin | B.A. 1989 | former chair of Manhattan Community Board 1, commissioner of New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection |
Adam Pritzker | B.A. 2008 | co-founder and chairman of General Assembly |
Jonathan Rosand | B.A. 1989, M.D. 1994 | Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School |
Kathy Surace-Smith | J.D. 1984 | Senior Vice President at NanoString Technologies |
Fermi Wang | M.S. 1989, Ph.D. 1991 | CEO and co-founder of Ambarella Inc. |
Shirley Wang | M.B.A. 1993 | founder and CEO of Plastpro Inc |
Sheena Wright | B.A. 1990, J.D. 1994 | deputy mayor of New York City [22] |
According to the university website and Columbia Daily Spectator archives, the following people have served as trustees in the past: [23]
Columbia University, officially titled as Columbia University in the City of New York, is a private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College 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 City University of New York is the public university system of New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven senior colleges, seven community colleges, and seven professional institutions. While its constituent colleges date as far back as 1847, CUNY was established in 1961. The university enrolls more than 275,000 students and counts thirteen Nobel Prize winners and twenty-four MacArthur Fellows among its alumni.
The Pulitzer Prize is an award administered by Columbia University for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fortune as a newspaper publisher. As of 2023, prizes are awarded annually in twenty-three categories. In twenty-two of the categories, each winner receives a certificate and a US$15,000 cash award. The winner in the public service category is awarded a gold medal.
The University of South Carolina System is a state university system collection of campuses established in 1957 to expand the educational opportunities of the citizens of South Carolina as well as extend the reach of the University of South Carolina (USC) throughout the state. With over 52,000 students at the eight campuses, the system is the largest institution of higher learning in the state of South Carolina.
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college of Columbia University, a private Ivy League research university in New York City. Situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan, it was founded by the Church of England in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of King George II of Great Britain. It is Columbia University's traditional undergraduate program, offering BA degrees, and is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States.
The Trustees of Princeton University is a 40-member board responsible for managing Princeton University's $37.6 Billion endowment (2021), real estate, instructional programs, and admission. The Trustees include at least 13 members elected by alumni classes, and the Governor of New Jersey and the President of the university as ex officio members.
An ex officio member is a member of a body who is part of it by virtue of holding another office. The term ex officio is Latin, meaning literally 'from the office', and the sense intended is 'by right of office'; its use dates back to the Roman Republic.
Karin Elisabeth Svantesson is a Swedish politician of the Moderate Party. She has served as Minister for Finance in the cabinet of Ulf Kristersson since October 2022 and has served as first deputy leader of the party since 2019.
The president of Columbia University is the chief officer of Columbia University in New York City. The position was first created in 1754 by the original royal charter for the university, issued by George II, and the power to appoint the president was given to an autonomous board of trustees. The university suspended operations upon the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, during which no individual served as president. When it was resuscitated by the New York State Legislature, the university was placed directly under the control of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York; its chancellor, George Clinton, served as the de facto president of Columbia University. Through the efforts of Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, control of the university was returned to a private board of trustees in 1787, which has to this day maintained the right to appoint or remove the president, who also serves on the board ex officio. The university's first president was Samuel Johnson, who held the office from 1754 to 1763, and its 20th and current president is Minouche Shafik, whose tenure began on July 1, 2023.
The history of Columbia University began before it was founded in 1754 in New York City as King's College, by royal charter of King George II of Great Britain. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, and the fifth oldest in the United States.
Koen Geens is a Belgian jurist and politician of the Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V) who served as the Minister of Justice and as Deputy Prime Minister in the governments of Prime Ministers Charles Michel and Sophie Wilmès.
Magnus Brunner is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP) who has been serving as Austria's finance minister since 6 December 2021 in the government of Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
The Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York is responsible for the general supervision of all educational activities within New York State, presiding over University of the State of New York and the New York State Education Department.
Annette Widmann-Mauz is a German politician of the Christian Democrats who has been serving as a member of the German Bundestag since 1998, representing the electoral district of Tübingen. In addition to her work in parliament, she served as Parliamentary State Secretary in Chancellor Angela Merkel's second and third cabinet from 2009 until 2021.
Gernot Blümel is an Austrian politician of the Austrian People's Party (ÖVP). He served as Austria's finance minister from 2020 to 2021, having announced his resignation shortly after Alexander Schallenberg's resignation on December 2, 2021. Since 2015, he has been the chairman of the Vienna branch of the ÖVP. Prior, he was Chancellery minister for European Affairs, Art, Culture, and Media from 2017 to 2019; he was also General Secretary of the ÖVP from 2013 to 2015.
Eduard Müller is an Austrian politician and author. He served as Minister of Finance in 2019. He also managed the Ministry of Civil Service and Sports.
Bettina Stark-Watzinger is a German economist and politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who has been serving as Minister of Education and Research in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's cabinet since 2021. She has been a member of the Bundestag from the state of Hesse since 2017.
João Rodrigo Reis Carvalho Leão is a Portuguese economist, university professor, and politician. He served as Minister of Finance in the government of Prime Minister António Costa of Portugal, sworn in on 15 June 2020.
Wolfgang Schmidt is a German politician and jurist who has been serving as Federal Minister for Special Affairs, Head of the Chancellery and Commissioner for the Federal Intelligence Services since 2021. He was previously State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Finance under Minister Olaf Scholz in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2018 to 2021.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link){{cite web}}
: |first=
has generic name (help){{cite press release}}
: |last=
has generic name (help)