Announcements
Over the many years that I have spent studying and practicing medicine, I have come to believe that excellence requires both a focus on achieving the best possible outcomes for each person and on doing our best to support their individual journey through complicated and challenging times.
I am immensely pleased to announce the appointment of Michel Sadelain, MD, PhD, as the inaugural Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy (CICET).
I am writing to share with you how we are thinking about access to the Morningside campus over the upcoming weeks.
As I write the first of what will be regular communications to you in my capacity as Columbia’s Interim President, I must begin by saying that Columbia would not be what it is without our incredible alumni community.
Throughout the events of the past year, our Columbia community has been engaged in an ongoing discussion about how the University can best fulfill its academic mission of teaching, learning, and research while creating and sustaining an environment that enables free expression, rigorous debate, and open dialogue.
As I shared with you several weeks ago, one of my priorities for this year is to strengthen engagement across our University, including the meaningful dialogue of leaders at all levels with the many groups and communities that make up this vibrant institution.
Two weeks ago, I wrote to all of you to affirm our mission and our values and lay out my priorities for the coming academic year. I said I would continue to share new developments on those priorities as often as I could.
I have spent the last few weeks getting to know many of you during orientation.
I am grateful to the Task Force on Antisemitism, its co-chairs, and its members for their work on this report, particularly their focus on listening to and elevating the voices and experiences of our students.
Last Friday, I called on all of us to remember that our mission is to teach, create, and advance knowledge.
It has been wonderful to connect and reconnect with so many of you on campus over the past week, as we celebrate the arrival of our new students and the return of our academic community.
As the start of the new academic year approaches, I want to express how much I am looking forward to welcoming new and returning students, faculty, and staff to our campuses.