Dear TC Community Members,

As we head into the weekend, I want to acknowledge the news that Columbia University President Minouche Shafik, who also serves on the TC Board of Trustees, has resigned. Dr. Katrina Armstrong, the Chief Executive Officer of Columbia University Irving Medical Center, was named as Interim President.  

At TC, we are hard at work to prepare for the new academic year, and I look forward to sharing more detailed information about our plans over the coming week. In the meantime, I am sharing below messages sent by Dr. Shafik, Dr. Armstrong, and the Columbia Trustees to the community.  

With best wishes for the weekend,    

Thomas Bailey
President
Teachers College, Columbia University

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Dear members of the Columbia community,

I write with sadness to tell you that I am stepping down as president of Columbia University effective August 14, 2024. I have had the honor and privilege to lead this incredible institution, and I believe that—working together—we have made progress in a number of important areas. However, it has also been a period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community. This period has taken a considerable toll on my family, as it has for others in our community. Over the summer, I have been able to reflect and have decided that my moving on at this point would best enable Columbia to traverse the challenges ahead. I am making this announcement now so that new leadership can be in place before the new term begins.

My whole professional life has been devoted to public service and my time at Columbia has been an important part of that commitment. In terms of next steps, I am honored to have been asked by the UK’s Foreign Secretary to chair a review of the government’s approach to international development and how to improve capability. I am very pleased and appreciative that this will afford me the opportunity to return to work on fighting global poverty and promoting sustainable development, areas of lifelong interest to me. It also enables me to return to the House of Lords to reengage with the important legislative agenda put forth by the new UK government.

I have informed the Board of Trustees, and I would like to express my immense appreciation to them for their support. I am committed to working with the Interim President to ensure an orderly transition. I also want to pay tribute to the deans, the University Leadership Team, and the staff of the President’s Office with whom I have worked so closely this last year; they have and will continue to do an extraordinary job for our students, faculty, researchers, staff, and community.

During my inauguration, I spoke of Columbia as an exemplar of a great 21st century university committed to educating leaders and citizens, generating knowledge and ideas to solve problems, and engaging at the local and global level to deliver real impact in improving people’s lives. As president, I have been proud to witness Columbia making so many contributions to delivering that vital mission. I also spoke about the values and principles which are dear to me and, I know, to the Columbia community as well: academic freedom and free speech; openness to ideas; and zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind—including gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or ethnicity. This mission, and the values and principles underpinning it, constitute our North Star. Even as tension, division, and politicization have disrupted our campus over the last year, our core mission and values endure and will continue to guide us in meeting the challenges ahead.

I have tried to navigate a path that upholds academic principles and treats everyone with fairness and compassion. It has been distressing—for the community, for me as president and on a personal level—to find myself, colleagues, and students the subject of threats and abuse. As President Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand”—we must do all we can to resist the forces of polarization in our community. I remain optimistic that differences can be overcome through the honest exchange of views, truly listening, and—always—by treating each other with dignity and respect. Again, Columbia’s core mission to create and acquire knowledge, with our values as foundation, will lead us there.

That is what we owe each other.

I want to conclude by thanking the entire Columbia community for their support and understanding. This is truly one of the world’s great institutions with a proud history and legacy of achievement. Having come to know and work with the amazing people here—passionate, intelligent, committed—I have no doubt that Columbia’s future will be even more illustrious.

My profound thanks for the privilege of serving you.

Sincerely,

Minouche Shafik

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To the members of the Columbia community:

The Board of Trustees regretfully accepts Minouche Shafik’s decision to step down as president of the University. Minouche has contributed so much to the Columbia community in an extraordinarily challenging time and has been a wonderful colleague and friend. While we are disappointed to see her leave us, we understand and respect her decision.

In this difficult year, Minouche has worked, inspired, and led tirelessly. Her wisdom, empathy, and deep commitment to our community have guided us through challenges that are both unique in scale and unique to this moment. She achieved significant accomplishments for the University, including a set of strategic initiatives on academic excellence, operational efficiency, and community designed to help our institution flourish. She has recruited outstanding talent to Columbia: our new provost, new chief operating officer, deans of the schools of Law and the Arts, and our director of the Data Science Institute. Minouche also appointed the University’s first ever chief climate officer, embedding a commitment to sustainability and climate action into all aspects of Columbia’s work. We are grateful for all she has done and thankful for the support she has pledged during the transition to a new president. On behalf of the Columbia community, we wish Minouche the very best in her future endeavors.

At this critical time for Columbia, we are taking all necessary steps to ensure a smooth leadership transition. Most importantly, we are very pleased to announce that Dr. Katrina Armstrong has agreed to serve as our interim president.

Katrina is well-known to the Columbia community. Since arriving as chief executive officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, executive vice president for Health and Biomedical Sciences, and dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, she has transformed the health sciences at Columbia. As you may know, CUIMC is comprised of four schools: Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mailman School of Public Health, School of Nursing, and the College of Dental Medicine. Already, the recently launched Vagelos Institute for Biomedical Research Education has created an academic model and research environment that demonstrates a dedication to bold experimentation and a focus on solving long-standing medical problems. During her career at Harvard University, the Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Pennsylvania, and now here at Columbia, Katrina has distinguished herself as a physician, investigator, teacher, and leader with a unique ability to listen actively to all voices, incorporate lessons from across disciplines, advance innovative teaching that positions learners of all backgrounds for success, and bring together teams from across communities to work together toward a common purpose. Authentic and direct, she has exhibited exemplary, values-driven leadership while managing the largest and most complex division of our University.

Katrina brings a truly exceptional skillset to our University and our current challenges. She is a medical leader who cares deeply about community and society–a scientist and a humanist. She has spent decades involved in rigorous and innovative research to transform our understanding of cancer, genomics, and health care disparities. She has analyzed the roles that segregation, discrimination, and distrust play in the health of marginalized populations. Katrina’s most recent investigations have looked at health disparities in rural areas and include partnerships with Lakota tribal communities and organizations in western South Dakota. And, most recently at Columbia, she has turned her focus to the nation’s mental health challenge. She is committed to the evolution of ever-deepening knowledge related to human health, the human condition, and society at large.

We believe that Katrina is the right leader for this moment. We are grateful to her for stepping in, and we call on our community to support her. As we look ahead to the new term and beyond, let’s all recommit to the core mission of Columbia, as one of the world’s premier educational and research institutions: teaching the next generation of leaders, and pushing the boundaries of knowledge to have the greatest impact on the world around us.

Sincerely,

David Greenwald and Claire Shipman
Co-Chairs, on behalf of the Trustees of Columbia University

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Dear members of the Columbia community,

I am deeply honored to be called to serve as Interim President of our beloved institution. This role comes at a pivotal moment for Columbia, and I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to contribute to our collective journey. With profound respect for Columbia’s storied history and an unwavering commitment to its future, I look forward to working with you to achieve our shared goals.

Challenging times present both the opportunity and the responsibility for serious leadership to emerge from every group and individual within a community. This is such a time at Columbia. As I step into this role, I am acutely aware of the trials the University has faced over the past year. We should neither understate their significance, nor allow them to define who we are and what we will become. The familiar excitement and promise of a new academic year are informed this year by the presence of change and continuing concerns, but also by the immense opportunity to look forward, to join together for the laudable mission we are here to serve, and to become our best selves individually and institutionally. Never has it been more important to train leaders capable of elevating society and addressing the complexity of modern life. Columbia University has a long history of meeting the moment, and I have faith that we will do so once again. I ask each of you to join me in this critically important work fueled by the enthusiasm for what we can accomplish together. Through our collective effort, I am confident we will succeed.

Much of this work will fall to the Columbia faculty. You are the ultimate keepers of the institution’s values and the stewards of its long and proud history. The habit of critical thinking and humility that gives birth to tolerance of contrary points of view is the most essential lesson taught in Columbia's classrooms and the intellectual common ground that unifies the many scholarly pursuits found across our campuses. Physicians learn this philosophical approach quickly as it can often be the difference between life and death. My leadership of Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC) has been grounded in consistent engagement with the entire faculty across all four schools, and that will again be the case during my time as your Interim University President.

I assume this role able to stand on the shoulders of our two most recent presidents, Minouche Shafik and Lee C. Bollinger, whose dedication to Columbia is boundless, and I take comfort in knowing they will be available to me and to Columbia going forward. The University exists because of the love for the institution expressed and the contributions made by countless talented individuals over many decades, particularly our faithful alumni. First among these, in my experience, is P. Roy Vagelos, a visionary leader and supremely generous benefactor, whose friendship I have relied on throughout my time at Columbia and whom I must recognize and thank here.

I have been privileged to spend my professional life at the greatest research universities in the United States, serving as a teacher, researcher, attending physician, department chair, administrative leader, dean, and, most recently, head of CUIMC, one of the nation’s greatest academic medical centers. I fully appreciate the profound responsibility of meeting the needs of the many constituencies that make Columbia University the renowned leader in higher education that it is. With optimism and resolve, let us move forward together, embracing the opportunity to renew our vision and strengthen our community.

All my best,

Katrina A. Armstrong
Interim President