Columbia University (other)

Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, 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.

Columbia was established as a colonial college by royal charter under George II of Great Britain. It 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 in Morningside Heights and renamed Columbia University.

Columbia is organized into twenty schools, including four undergraduate schools and 16 graduate schools. 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. 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. The university also administers and annually awards the Pulitzer Prize.

Columbia scientists and scholars have played a pivotal role in scientific breakthroughs including brain–computer interface; the laser and maser; nuclear magnetic resonance; the first nuclear pile; the first nuclear fission reaction in the Americas; the first evidence for plate tectonics and continental drift; and much of the initial research and planning for the Manhattan Project during World War II.

, its alumni, faculty, and staff have included 7 of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America; 4 U.S. presidents; 34 foreign heads of state or government; 2 secretaries-general of the United Nations; 10 justices of the United States Supreme Court; 103 Nobel laureates; 125 National Academy of Sciences members; 53 living billionaires; 23 Olympic medalists; 33 Academy Award winners; and 125 Pulitzer Prize recipients.

History

18th century

Discussions regarding the founding of a college in the Province of New York began as early as 1704.

Classes were initially held in July 1754 and were presided over by the college's first president, Samuel Johnson who was an Anglican Priest. The college was officially founded on October 31, 1754, as King's College by royal charter of George II, making it the oldest institution of higher learning in the State of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States.

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. 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.

The American Revolutionary War broke out in 1776, and was catastrophic for the operation of King's College, which suspended instruction for eight years beginning in 1776 with the arrival of the Continental Army. The suspension continued through the military occupation of New York City by British troops until their departure in 1783. The college's library was looted and its sole building requisitioned for use as a military hospital first by American and then British forces.

The legislature agreed to assist the college, and on May 1, 1784, it passed "an Act for granting certain privileges to the College heretofore called King's College". The Act created a board of regents to oversee the resuscitation of King's College, and, 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", a reference to Columbia, an alternative name for America which in turn comes from the name of Christopher Columbus. The Regents finally became aware of the college's defective constitution in February 1787 and 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.Moore, Nathanal Fischer (1846). ''A Historical Sketch of Columbia''. New York, New York: Columbia University Press.

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 thrived under the auspices of 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 many alumni of the school who had been involved in the American Revolution.

19th century

In November 1813, the college agreed to incorporate 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. 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.

In 1896, university president Seth Low moved the campus from 49th Street to its present location, a more spacious campus in the developing neighborhood of Morningside Heights. Under the leadership of Low's successor, Nicholas Murray Butler, who served for over four decades, Columbia rapidly became the nation's major institution for research, setting the multiversity model that later universities would adopt. Prior to becoming the president of Columbia University, Butler founded Teachers College, as a school to prepare home economists and manual art teachers for the children of the poor, with philanthropist Grace Hoadley Dodge. Teachers College is currently affiliated as the university's Graduate School of Education.

20th century

In the 1940s, faculty members, including John R. Dunning, I. I. 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.

In 1928, Seth Low Junior College was established by Columbia University in order to mitigate the number of Jewish applicants to Columbia College. The college was closed in 1936 due to the adverse effects of the Great Depression and its students were subsequently taught at Morningside Heights, although they did not belong to any college but to the university at large. There was an evening school called University Extension, which taught night classes, for a fee, to anyone willing to attend.

In 1947, the program was reorganized as an undergraduate college and designated the School of General Studies in response to the return of GIs after World War II. In 1995, the School of General Studies was again reorganized as a full-fledged liberal arts college for non-traditional students (those who have had an academic break of one year or more, or are pursuing dual-degrees) and was fully integrated into Columbia's traditional undergraduate curriculum. The same year, 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. While the School of Professional Studies only offered non-degree programs for lifelong learners and high school students in its earliest stages, it now offers degree programs in a diverse range of professional and inter-disciplinary fields.

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. The Columbia University Bicentennial was celebrated in 1954.

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.

Though several schools in the university had admitted women for years, Columbia College first admitted women in the fall of 1983, after a decade of failed negotiations with Barnard College, the all-female institution affiliated with the university, to merge the two schools. Barnard College still remains affiliated with Columbia, and all Barnard graduates are issued diplomas signed by the presidents of Columbia University and Barnard College.

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. 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.

21st century

Bollinger presidency (2002–2023): Expansion, campaign, and globalization

Lee C. Bollinger became Columbia's 19th president in June 2002, succeeding George Rupp. Appointed in October 2001 after arriving from the University of Michigan, his presidency emphasized campus expansion, globalization, and science, while navigating national debates.

Key initiatives included the ambitious Manhattanville campus expansion into West Harlem, addressing critical space needs and aiming to build new academic facilities, especially for sciences. Bollinger prioritized globalization, launching the World Leaders Forum and aiming to increase international student numbers. He appointed key leaders like Jeffrey Sachs ( Earth Institute), Alan Brinkley (Provost), Nicholas Lemann (Journalism), David Hirsch (Research), and Nicholas Dirks (Arts & Sciences), and planned a Neuroscience Institute.

Bollinger was the defendant in the Supreme Court's 2003 affirmative action cases (''Gratz'' and ''Grutter''), resulting in a split decision. He consistently defended free speech principles during campus controversies involving faculty and students.

The Manhattanville expansion plan progressed, entering environmental review and the city's land-use review process. Concerns about eminent domain grew [with Bollinger calling its potential use necessary to secure land for projects like the Greene Science Center, funded by a landmark $200 million gift.

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, supported by a major gift from trustee Gerry Lenfest.

Globalization efforts continued with the World Leaders Forum and the creation of the Committee on Global Thought, chaired by Joseph Stiglitz. Columbia faculty received multiple Nobel Prizes: Richard Axel and Linda Buck (Medicine, 2004), Edmund Phelps (Economics, 2006), and Orhan Pamuk (Literature, 2006). Václav Havel joined the faculty.

Controversy erupted over a planned 2006 invitation to Iranian President Ahmadinejad, which was ultimately canceled due to logistical and security issues. Later that year, a campus event featuring Minuteman Project speakers was disrupted by protesters. Bollinger strongly condemned the disruption, reaffirming free speech principles while stating protesters do not have the right to silence speakers. Several students faced disciplinary action, and non-affiliated individuals involved were banned from campus.

The 2008 financial crisis impacted Columbia's endowment, but less than peers as only 13% of the operating budget reliant on the endowment (compared to higher percentages at peers like Harvard). The endowment recovered, hitting $8.2B in Oct 2013. Despite the downturn, Columbia pressed on with Manhattanville construction, receiving final state approval in June 2009. Major gifts fueled progress, including $400M from John Kluge upon his death, $50M from the Vagelos family for the Medical Center, $100M from Henry Kravis

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