Updates and News From President Armstrong to Alumni
With our spring semester underway, educating our students and supporting them at every level of academic progress, from first-year undergraduates to post-doctoral fellows, has again taken center stage at Columbia. They are fortunate to be here at a time when the new frontiers of knowledge to be explored have never been more varied or more promising.
In March, as part of our university-wide AI initiative, we will host an interdisciplinary summit to consider how the extraordinary possibilities of artificial intelligence can help meet the world’s most pressing challenges. The event will cover topics ranging from healthcare, business, and policy to the sciences, engineering, and the humanities. As a biomedical researcher, I am particularly fascinated by the potential for using AI to predict the inner workings of cells, which should allow us to more easily identify the drivers of disease, such as the mutations connected with pediatric leukemia, to cite just one example.
Our academic community continues to be energized by the addition of outstanding scholars who have made Columbia their intellectual home. Recently, we welcomed Jennifer Posey, MD, who was appointed the University’s inaugural Chief Genomics Officer and will also serve as Chief of the Division of Clinical Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics. Genomics and precision medicine will be responsible for many of the breakthroughs that revolutionize clinical practice in coming years, and we are grateful to have Dr. Posey as one of the leaders of this effort.
Also of great significance on the biomedical research front is the appointment of renowned scientist and physician Dr. Michel Sadelain as the inaugural Director of the Columbia Initiative in Cell Engineering and Therapy. CICET is a University-level project bringing together fundamental biological research, computation, engineering, and medicine to create “living treatments” that are transforming the clinical approach to many diseases.
The Columbia Climate School has a new Dean in Alexis Abramson. Dean Abramson, an expert in sustainable energy technology, is ideally suited to strengthen Columbia’s leadership and academic distinction in climate and sustainability. Her appointment comes at a pivotal moment, as the accelerating impacts of climate change challenge ecosystems, economies, and communities worldwide, reinforcing the urgent need for innovation and collaboration.
The centerpiece of the Columbia community will always be a student body of unsurpassed excellence. I am pleased to report that our longstanding efforts to support the success of student veterans were recognized by the Student Veterans of America, who honored Columbia with the William Pearson Tolley Champion for Veterans in Higher Education Award. We also have launched a very promising pipeline program with the Borough of Manhattan Community College.
These developments take place at a moment of unprecedented pressure on higher education produced by events beyond our campuses and often beyond our control. Last week, in a message to the Columbia community about my experience meeting with members of Congress, I emphasized that Columbia has a noble and essential mission and now is the time to affirm and defend it. I also counseled that we must be honest and humble enough to recognize our flaws and focus on the areas where we can do better. A willingness to engage in fearless introspection is how great institutions remain that way.
I am deeply grateful to you and all alumni for what you do on Columbia’s behalf. The support you provide and interest you express are always critically important, and never more so than at this pivotal time in the long history of our institution. Thank you for being part of this remarkable University community.
All my best,
Katrina Armstrong
Interim President, Columbia University in the City of New York