News Archive

Continuing their family’s multigenerational connection to Columbia and support of its leadership in medicine, Philip (CC ‘71) and Cheryl Milstein (Barnard ‘82) have made a $20 million commitment to Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

Columbia University announced today that two acclaimed works will be awarded the 2013 Bancroft Prize: a gripping and eloquent history of the human impact on the ocean, and a persuasively argued history of the idea that conflict among nations can be regulated by law.

Every animal has its own specializations—hawks can spot their prey a mile away. Human beings, among other things, have the rare capacity to appreciate language and music.

That specialty was on display last month, when Sarah Woolley, a neuroscientist and associate professor of psychology, recruited her friend, singer/songwriter Jill Sobule, to join her for an evening of science and singing at Craft’s private dining room.

The idea was for the scientist to talk about her own work studying vocal communication and auditory perception—a question Woolley has pursued over her almost seven years…

In an ongoing strategy to broaden Columbia’s already extensive global presence and perspective, University President Lee C. Bollinger joins this week with faculty, alumni, Brazilian leaders and a delegation of international visitors to open a Columbia Global Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—the University’s second in South America. “The opening of our Rio center marks an important milestone in fulfilling Columbia’s distinctive vision of global engagement,” said Bollinger. “The driving principle of the Columbia Global Centers always has been to foster academic collaboration across…

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger today announced his appointment of two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Coll as the new Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism, effective July 1, 2013. 

When democracy comes to Cuba, there will be a monument to the digital memory stick, said Yoani Sánchez, holding up her own red thumb drive. Sánchez, a 37-year-old Cuban blogger, uses that thumb drive to send out her descriptions of life in Cuba on her blog, Generación Y, and on Twitter. She was at Columbia Journalism School on March 14 speaking about her work and the obstacles she faces—her first appearance in the U.S. since the Cuban government lifted restrictions on travel outside the country. “I have waited four long years to be here,” said Sánchez, who in 2009 was honored with…

New study finds yes for actors and no for politicians and ballplayers.

After a comprehensive review of the nation’s top universities and research institutions, the National Science Foundation has awarded $3.74 million to Columbia University, City University of New York, and New York University for a three-year research-to-startup initiative.

(Not April 1)—Columbia University officials today denied press reports claiming that campus dining halls were running rivers of nut-brown ink to the tune of $5,000 per week in allegedly pilfered Nutella. Columbia further denied that the Comp Lit department was joining with the University's Nobel Prize winning neuroscientists in an NSF-funded interdisciplinary study of the Proustian impact of Nutella on human memory. The Athletics Department denied that, instead of firing tee-shirts off into the stands during basketball timeouts, Roar-ee the Lion would henceforth hurl those little snack-packs…

Four accomplished alumni will be presented with 2013 John Jay Awards for distinguished professional achievement at the annual John Jay Awards Dinner on Wednesday, March 6, at Cipriani 42nd Street.

Activist Leymah Gbowee helped mobilize a large number of women to pray and protest for peace after years of Liberian civil war.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center’s CHALK/Just Move program is one of three programs selected by ChildObesity180, a national organization comprising public, nonprofit, academic, and private-sector leaders, for its Active Schools Acceleration Project (ASAP).

Rafael Yuste, a professor of biological sciences and neuroscience, is a leader of the Brain Activity Map Project, a massive effort to create a dynamic map of the mind. Its aim is to reconstruct a full record of neural activity, which could unlock fundamental and pathological brain processes.

As the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Americans have been increasingly recognized across society, a new program at Columbia University Medical Center has been established to improve the health and well-being of LGBT individuals.