News

First Exhibition of Frank Lloyd Wright Archive Opens
After a cross-country journey through the American heartland where many of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic houses still stand, the vast archives of the towering American architect have arrived in New York City. In the 18 months since Columbia’s Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library and the Museum of Modern Art jointly acquired the archives from the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation for their permanent collections, Avery has gained enough insight into the works to help mount the first exhibition, \"Frank Lloyd Wright and the City: Density vs. Dispersal.\" The exhibition opened at MoMA in February…
Law Professor and President Emeritus Michael Sovern Reflects on ‘Improbable Life’

With the exception of a two year stint as a law professor in Minnesota, Sovern has spent his entire adult life at Columbia, an illustrious career engagingly recounted in his new autobiography, "An Improbable Life: My Sixty Years at Columbia and Other Adventures."

Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation to Launch Studio-X Johannesburg

Launched in 2008 by the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Studio-X is a global network of laboratories for exploring the future of the built environment.

Freedom of Expression Around the World Is Focus of New Initiative at Columbia
Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger, a noted First Amendment scholar, has established the Columbia Global Freedom of Expression and Information Project, a new initiative joining international experts and activists with the University’s faculty and students to survey, document and strengthen free expression. He has named Agnès Callamard, a distinguished human rights advocate who was director of the organization ARTICLE 19, as executive director of the Project. “Looking around the world today and seeing the pervasiveness of censorship in so many forms and societies, none of us…
Climate Scientist Is First Woman to Win Geology’s Storied Wollaston Medal

A climate scientist who has suggested how mountain building can lower Earth’s thermostat and why ice ages sometimes wax and wane at different speeds has been awarded one of geology’s oldest and most coveted prizes: the British Wollaston Medal.

JENNIFER LEE'S ('05) 'FROZEN' TAKES HOME TWO OSCARS

Disney's Frozen, written and co-directed by Columbia Film alumna Jennifer Lee ('05), won two Academy Awards—Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song. Frozen has garnered widespread critical acclaim since its release in November 2013. It has received an overwhelming number of awards and nominations, including the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature and the Annie Award for Best Animated Feature. Lee's success at creating complex characters was also recognized by Variety, which named her one of the \"10 Screenwriters to Watch\" for 2013. In a recent interview with Popsugar, Lee…

Engineering an Earthquake to Buttress the National Cathedral

Two years ago when an earthquake struck the Washington, D.C. area, Robert Mark got a call from the master mason at the Washington National Cathedral. “The building is falling around me!” he said.

Prof. Brian Greene Launches Elegant Online Physics Course
Columbia University Announces Winner of 2014 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History

Columbia University and Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith are pleased to announce that Dominique Morisseau’s "Detroit ‘67" is the 2014 winner of the Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History.

Leading From the Lab: Zuckerman Institute’s Thomas Jessell
Saudi Arabian Camels Carry MERS Virus
Countrywide Survey Finds Virus in Humans and Camels Match, Establishes That Direct Camel-to-Human Transmission Is Possible and Likely An estimated three-quarters of camels recently surveyed in Saudi Arabia have evidence of infection with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the virus responsible for human cases of MERS. Results of the new study establish for the first time that direct camel-to-human transmission is possible and provide a pathway to control the spread of the disease. Results in the journal mBio are reported by scientists at the Center for Infection…
On Exhibit: Goddess, Heroine, Beast
A century ago, Anna Hyatt Huntington (1876-1973) was among the city’s most prominent sculptors, known for her naturalistic animal sculptures and heroic figures. Today, her work is displayed in many of the city’s leading institutions and outdoor spaces, including Columbia, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, Central Park and the Bronx Zoo, where she spent time studying animals up close. Her bronze sculpture Joan of Arc sitting astride a horse stands at West 93rd Street and Riverside Drive. When it was unveiled in 1915, it was the first sculpture of a woman,…
Three Faculty Members Named 2014 Sloan Research Fellows

Three Columbia faculty members have been named research fellows by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which awards two-year, $50,000 grants to support the work of exceptional early-career scientists and scholars whose achievements and potential identify them as rising stars. 

Former Journalism Dean Nicholas Lemann to Edit Newly Created "Columbia Global Reports"

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger has appointed Nicholas Lemann, professor of journalism and dean emeritus of Columbia Journalism School, to direct "Columbia Global Reports" — a new, University-based publication dedicated to the production of sustained, original reporting and analysis on under-reported global issues for audiences that extend beyond the academy.

International Diplomacy: Professor Stephen Sestanovich on American Foreign Policy from Truman to Obama

In his new book, "Maximalist: America in the World from Truman to Obama," Professor Stephen Sestanovich’s argues that since World War II, policy makers have repeatedly miscalculated, quarreled with allies and underestimated their foes.