David Stone, Executive Vice President for Communications, to Step Down

August 13, 2018

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

I am writing to announce that, after more than twelve years of wonderful service to the University as Executive Vice President for Communications, David Stone will be stepping down from this role at the end of September. I am also pleased to say, however, that David will remain at Columbia as a Senior Advisor working on multiple major initiatives.  

David’s contributions to the institution are really so numerous and consequential that it is impossible to provide anything close to a full accounting. He reorganized and rebuilt the Office of Communications and Public Affairs, hired outstanding people, and established a culture of collaboration among colleagues across our schools and campuses. David provided intelligent and wise counsel on issue after issue, and his team projected the University both internally and externally across the evolving landscape of new technologies of communication. His experience in government, law, and documentary and public affairs television served him, and us, extremely well.  

Through all of this, David established friendships and relationships, which, among other things, makes this a bittersweet moment. To be Executive Vice President for Communications is a relentlessly consuming job, and in this David has been tireless. In the new strategic role he will be assuming, we will have the welcome opportunity to gain even more from David’s great talents.  

David let me know some time ago about his desire, after a long and productive tenure, to step aside. I will soon have news to share with the community about next steps in this transition. In the meantime, David will continue to serve in his current role through this period.

On behalf of all of us, I want to extend a deep and heartfelt thank you to David Stone.  

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger