Two Decades of World Leaders Visiting Columbia University
Columbia News looks back on the forum created by President Lee C. Bollinger in 2003 to bring to campus those in positions of authority and responsibility to discuss the issues facing our world.
The World Leaders Forum is a year-round event series at Columbia University that has hosted more than 300 heads of state and world leaders from over 85 countries since it was first established in 2003 by President Lee C. Bollinger.
As we embark on a new academic year and with guests in positions of authority and responsibility joining us next week to discuss the critical issues facing world, Columbia News looks back on some of the speakers who have visited our campus during the last 20 years.
Then President Hamid Karzai of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan visited Columbia in September 2003.
President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation spoke to Columbia students in the first year of the World Leaders Forum.
President Paul Kagame of the Republic of Rwanda has participated in Columbia's World Leaders Forum three times, in 2005, 2015, and 2019.
In September 2006, Mary Robinson, the former president of Ireland, spoke about security in the 21st century during the "Women Leaders and Global Challenges" program at the Columbia World Leaders Forum.
As president of the Republic of Bolivia, Evo Morales Ayma spoke to Columbia students in 2006 and 2008.
The Republic of Chile's then President Michelle Bachelet visited campus twice for a World Leaders event in 2007 and 2015.
In 2009, then President Václav Klaus of the Czech Republic appeared at Columbia World Leaders Forum.
When he was president of France, Nicolas Sarkozy came to speak at a Columbia World Leaders Forum in March 2010.
Shinzo Abe, who was assassinated in July 2022, was the longest serving prime minister of Japan. He spoke to Columbia students in September 2014.
Jacinda Ardern, who has served as the 40th prime minister of New Zealand since 2017, spoke at a Columbia World Leaders Forum as part of the International Conference on Sustainable Development, four years ago.
At a March 6, 2020, World Leaders Forum event, Sanna Marin, prime minister of the Republic of Finland, discussed "The Climate Sustainable Welfare Society" and whether it was the model for the future.