Welcome

Campaign News

• Alumni Center
• Campaign Update

CUMC Gifts & News

• Dental Medicine
• Physicians & Surgeons
• Public Health

Morningside Gifts & News

• GSAPP
• Arts
• Arts and Sciences
• Business
• Columbia College
• Earth Institute
• Engineering
• General Studies
• SIPA
• Journalism
• Libraries
• Social Work

• Editor’s Note

Welcome

From Mark Lemle Amsterdam
’66CC, ’69LAW, P: ’08CC, ’10CC
Chairman, Columbia College Fund
Without a doubt, the past twelve months have been memorable. While the news wasn’t always good, one of the happy events this year was the extraordinary success of the Columbia College Fund, part of The Columbia Campaign. More›

Campaign News

Alumni Center Readies for Official Launch
After a successful soft launch for the Columbia Alumni Center, all Columbia alumni will be invited to an “especially open house” scheduled for October 15-16. More›

Campaign Update
Through July 31, 2009, The Columbia Campaign had raised more than $3.2 billion in overall gifts and pledges, or 80 percent of the $4 billion goal. Thanks to our momentum, we remain $540 million ahead of schedule to meet our overall goal by December 2011. More›

CUMC Gifts & News

Dental Medicine
Professional baseball player Alex Rodriguez of the New York Yankees donated $250,000 to support Columbia’s Community DentCare programs through New York City. Also, Nobel Biocare committed $75,000 in unrestricted support.

Physicians & Surgeons
P&S received $2.5 million from various donors to fund the Glicklich Professorship of Cardiology, and a single gift of $2.5 million to establish the Choudhrie Professorship of Cardiology. Other gifts will support bone research, pediatric cardiology, pediatric oncology, and more.

Public Health
The School of Public Health received gifts of $500,000 for community health and children's environmental health along with $221,000 for other initiatives. More›

Morningside Gifts & News

Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
After a year-long planning process, the School has launched a new alumni association for graduates of its real estate development program. Overseeing alumni activities is the first MsRED Alumni Council, which comprises 15 alumni representing diverse classes and geographic regions; Mehul J. Patel ’04GSAPP will serve as president. Council members began their terms on July 1, with the first formal meeting scheduled for early September.

Arts
The Shubert Foundation has made a $220,000 donation to the School of the Arts, allocating $120,000 for the Shubert Presidential Scholars program, which provides financial aid for theatre arts students, and $100,000 for the Shubert Internship Program, which provides stipends to theatre arts students pursuing internships.

Arts and Sciences
Thomas and Linda Lau have donated $200,000 to the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental Biology in support of clean water projects and the students working on them as part of a larger multi-purpose donation.

Business
The School received gifts in support of three new professorships from University Trustee Vikram Pandit ’76SEAS, ’77SEAS, ’80BUS, ’86BUS, Giuseppe Ciardi ’81BUS, and Daniel M. Cain ’72BUS. Also, the School's annual fund raised a record $3.5 million, and Dean Glenn Hubbard announced the reappointment of Lisa Yeh as associate dean for external relations and development.

Columbia College
Recent gifts included a $2.4 million bequest for financial aid and $100,000 for the Parents Fund. Also, the Columbia College Fund raised $14.6 million in FY09, up 12 percent from the $13.1 million raised the previous fiscal year. This increased support came from 11,217 different donors, about the same number as in FY08.

Earth Institute
A $869,000 grant from the Merck Company Foundation will support expansion of the Global Health program's Community Health Worker initiative in Africa. The Earth Institute also received a total of $465,000 in support of several additional initiatives.

Engineering and Applied Science
The Engineering School’s annual fund raised $1.806 million in FY09, up almost 18 percent from $1.532 million raised the previous fiscal year. This increased support reflected a 7 percent uptick in the number of donors, from 4,391 to 4,698.

General Studies
The Juan Jacobo de Lara and Jonne Low de Lara Foundation has donated $300,000 to establish a scholarship fund at the School of General Studies. The gift is the first to qualify for the new General Studies Scholars Match.

International and Public Affairs
An anonymous donor has make a gift of $1 million to the School of International and Public Affairs to support the the George W. Ball Adjunct Professorship.

Journalism
Annual fund giving at the Graduate School of Journalism exceeded both financial and participation goals in FY2009, with $695,000 raised from 1,501 alumni. The School had hoped to raise $665,000 from at least 1,500 alumni; pushing the fund over the top was a $75,000 matching gift challenge, which spurred nearly 280 alumni to give $194,000 in the campaign’s final month.

Libraries
One recent grant will support efforts to develop and implement a program for incorporating web content into the Libraries' collections, while another will help the Rare Book and Manuscript Library support care of the archives of the Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research. More›

Social Work
A generous bequest of $1.335 million from a charitable trust established by the late Isadore and Ruth Ginsberg will significantly enhance two student aid funds, while a gift from University Trustee Ann Kaplan ’72SW, ’77BUS supports the annual fund and research. More›

Editor’s Note
Columbia Campaign Update will now be distributed six times a year rather than four; look for the next edition in early October. In the meantime, thanks once more to the many colleagues in Columbia’s alumni and development community who provide information and assistance.

If you have any comments regarding this newsletter, please contact Marcus Tonti.