Members of the Presidential Search Committee Are Announced

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

When President Bollinger announced that he was stepping down at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year, we wrote that details on the search for his replacement would be forthcoming. We are delighted to share important news on that front, namely the list of committee members who will undertake this vital task at a moment of monumental transition.

According to the University Statutes and the Trustees’ By-Laws, responsibility for selecting the President of the University, either directly or through a Presidential Search Committee, lies with the Board of Trustees of the University.

After months of careful planning, we decided to form a Presidential Search Committee to oversee the process of selecting the next president of the University.  The Search Committee will manage the recruitment and assessment of candidates, presenting finalists to the Board of Trustees. The Trustees will confer with the Executive Committee of the University Senate on a confidential basis to reach a common endorsement of the ultimate nominee.  Our goal is to make this process inclusive and collaborative, and to that end, we have already started soliciting input via email ([email protected]). We are also promoting an online survey to gather additional insights from the Columbia community for the position profile.

This Presidential Search Committee, whose members are listed below, will be led by Lisa Carnoy, whose term as Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees ends on September 5. It includes members of Columbia’s Board of Trustees, Trustees Emeriti, faculty, alumni, and the Chair of the University Senate. We are also establishing several Advisory Committees representing constituents across the University to seek broad input to support our efforts.

Members of the Presidential Search Committee

• Lisa Carnoy, Chair, Presidential Search Committee
• Jonathan Lavine, Co-Chair, Board of Trustees
• Rolando T. Acosta, Trustee
• Richard Axel, University Professor and Professor of Pathology and Biochemistry
• Jeanine D’Armiento, Chair, Executive Committee of the Columbia University Senate, Professor of Medicine in Anesthesiology
• Abigail Black Elbaum, Trustee
• Mark Gallogly, Trustee
• Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr., Trustee
• David J. Greenwald, Trustee
• Wanda Holland Greene, Trustee
• Farah Jasmine Griffin, William B. Ransford Professor of English and Comparative Literature and African American Studies
• X. Edward Guo, Stanley Dicker Professor of Biomedical Engineering
• Ronald D. Liebowitz, Alumnus, President, Brandeis University
• Claire Shipman, Trustee
• Esta Stecher, Trustee Emerita

Advisory Committees representing faculty, students, alumni, and staff of the University will convene to ensure broad input from stakeholders. The Advisory Committees will help the Presidential Search Committee describe opportunities and challenges for the University as well as the qualities that Columbia’s next president should demonstrate. Ann Thornton, Vice Provost and University Librarian, will facilitate the work of the Search Committee.

We anticipate that the coming months will be very busy as candidates are identified and interviewed. We will be as open and transparent as we can be, given the highly confidential nature of the work ahead. We welcome your input throughout this process, including your responses to our survey survey, plus candidate nominations and any suggestions to [email protected].

Please join us in thanking the members of the Search Committee and the Advisory Committees for their service. We look forward to sharing more with you as the process continues.

Sincerely,

Lisa Carnoy and Jonathan Lavine

Co-Chairs, on behalf of the Trustees of Columbia University