Dear members of the Columbia community,
I write to share that Melissa D. Begg, ScD, has informed me that she will be stepping down from her role as dean of the Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW) as of August 31, 2026. Melissa has been a steady and committed leader during a historically difficult moment for higher education, always centering social work’s values—especially the dignity and worth of every person—in leading the CSSW community.
As dean, Melissa implemented a bold vision for CSSW, led by four strategic pillars: impact, visibility, excellence, and community-building. Under her leadership, the school’s societal and global impact has grown through its thriving and vital research and partnerships with colleagues, institutions, and government agencies across the globe, including in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. Within Columbia, Melissa ensured that CSSW faculty were and are represented in critically important University-wide committees.
To know Melissa is to know her passion and enthusiasm for her students and the scholarship and training they undertake at CSSW. To ensure excellence in their experience here, she recruited outstanding faculty, raised millions in endowment funds for scholarships, and built a culture of community and support. Her experience in prior roles as the University’s vice provost for Academic Programs and co-director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research fortified her ability to identify strategic ways to enhance the breadth of CSSW’s curriculum and research, whether supporting the development of new programs or novel research collaborations across schools.
Melissa’s distinction as an educator and scholar has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards, including: Columbia’s Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching (2006), the ASPPH/Pfizer Award for Teaching Excellence (2013), the Lagakos Distinguished Alumni Award (2012) from her alma mater, the Harvard School of Public Health, and her election as a Fellow of the American Statistical Association (2012). She has been a dedicated advocate for diversity in academia and the research workforce for many years, leading NIH-funded programs to support undergraduates and junior faculty from underrepresented groups, and creating scholarships like the Winona Cargile Alexander Fund, in honor of the first Black woman to graduate from CSSW.
Though Melissa will step away from her role as dean, we are deeply grateful that she will stay on as faculty at Columbia, a fitting transition for this Queens-born leader who has been a part of our campus since she first joined as an assistant professor in 1989.
Very shortly, I will share details regarding the creation of a search committee to identify the next dean of CSSW. In the meantime, please join me in thanking Melissa for her extraordinary service and lasting impact on our community.
Sincerely,
Claire Shipman
Acting President, Columbia University in the City of New York
