Columbia University

I

Introduction

Columbia University, institution of higher learning, in New York. Established in 1754 as King's College under a charter granted by King George II of Great Britain and Ireland, the school reopened as Columbia College after the American War of Independence. Originally situated in lower Manhattan, it moved in 1897 to Morningside Heights on Manhattan's Upper West Side. Notable institutional advances occurred during the university presidencies of Frederick Augustus Porter Barnard, from 1864 to 1889, and Seth Low, from 1890 to 1901; the modern reputation of the university was established during the long tenure of Nicholas Murray Butler, from 1902 to 1945. Dwight D. Eisenhower served as university president from 1948 to 1953, before becoming president of the United States.

A board of 24 trustees is the ultimate governing authority. The University Senate—composed of administration, faculty, alumni, and students—develops campus policy matters. See also Ivy League.

II

Graduate and Professional Schools

The school of medicine, founded in 1767 and later merged with the College of Physicians and Surgeons, is now part of a health sciences complex that includes schools of dentistry, nursing, and public health, located in northern Manhattan. Other graduate and professional schools were established in the following order: law; engineering; architecture; social work; journalism (endowed in 1912 by the American journalist and newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer); business; dramatic, musical, and fine arts; and international and public affairs. Affiliated schools are Teachers College and Union Theological Seminary. The School of General Studies offers degree courses to full- and part-time students who are over 21 years old.

Outside the city, Columbia University maintains Nevis Laboratory, for research in physics, and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, which offers extensive geophysics and oceanography facilities.

III

Undergraduate Activities

The university's oldest division, Columbia College, offers undergraduate courses leading to the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree. Formerly restricted to male students, the college became co-educational in 1983. Barnard College for women became affiliated with the university in 1890.

IV

Buildings and Publications

Located amid a high-density urban population, Columbia's Morningside Heights campus combines traditional and contemporary architecture. The university library system, centred in Butler Library and housing more than 6 million volumes, is among the nation's largest collections. The Columbia Daily Spectator was founded in 1877. Other university publications include Jester, a humorous undergraduate magazine; Columbia Journalism Review; and Columbia Law Review. Columbia University Press has been an affiliate since 1893. The university annually awards the Pulitzer Prizes.

Reviewed by: Columbia University