Columbia University has selected Jennifer Mnookin, currently the chancellor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as its new president, filling a leadership gap that has persisted for nearly 18 months. Her appointment comes amidst a backdrop of ongoing pro-Palestinian demonstrations and heightened federal scrutiny that have significantly impacted the campus atmosphere.
Mnookin, who specializes in the intersection of law and science, will become Columbia’s fifth president in a span of just four years. Her transition from UW-Madison to Columbia was confirmed by the University of Wisconsin President, Jay Rothman. He mentioned that Mnookin will continue her role at Wisconsin until the conclusion of the spring semester, as noted in his statement here.
Expressing her enthusiasm, Mnookin stated, “I am honored and thrilled to join Columbia University at this important moment. Columbia is renowned for its rigorous scholarship, commitment to open inquiry, world-class healthcare, and its enduring bond with New York City, the greatest city in the world.”
Mnookin, at 58, will be stepping into her new role at Columbia with a host of challenges ahead. She is expected to focus on adhering to and managing the aftermath of last summer’s agreement with the Trump administration. Additionally, she will work on mending relationships with a faculty that has become disillusioned with past leadership, an alumni network dissatisfied with the university’s responses to President Trump and campus protests, and a student body still polarized since the protests in spring 2024.
In a statement, Columbia board of trustees Co-Chairmen David Greenwald and Jeh Johnson expressed their confidence in Mnookin: “President-designate Mnookin brings an outstanding academic and leadership background, known for fostering trust through active listening and engagement. She is a thoughtful consensus builder, committed to excellence and bringing both vision and energy to institutional leadership.”
The co-chairmen further added, “She will be a remarkable leader of our great university.”
It was not immediately clear how Mnookin would handle protests at Columbia if they were to erupt. At Wisconsin, Mnookin in 2024 authorized police to clear an early pro-Palestinian encampment, before reaching a deal with the Madison chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine to take down the tents that were pitched, according to the student newspaper and university statements.
“We must hold on to our commitment to free speech, which does and must include our adherence to the rules, laws and policies that ensure that the space of dialogue is open to all,” Mnookin wrote in a statement at the time. “And we must continue to work to find ways to see each other, to listen, to understand, and to recognize our shared humanity.”
Mnookin’s selection comes after Columbia had to delay its presidential search by nearly a month at the end of last year, following two candidates dropping out of the process, Bloomberg reported. The student newspaper Columbia Spectator reported at the time that it was the longest the university had gone without a permanent president since 1948.
Before she led Wisconsin’s flagship state university, Mnookin was the dean of the UCLA School of Law, where she spent 17 years as faculty, according to her school biography. Before then, she was a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, and a visiting professor at Harvard Law School.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, her law degree from Yale Law School, and a doctorate in history and social study of science and technology from MIT.
The top post at Columbia has gone unfilled since summer 2024, when former President Minouche Shafik stepped down from the position after facing criticism over her handling of campus protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza. Some Jewish and Israeli students found her actions offensive. Shafik summoned the NYPD twice to arrest protesters on campus, including a small group that occupied the university’s Hamilton Hall.
In her place, the university temporarily installed Katrina Armstrong, the medical school dean who was rumored to be a finalist for the permanent position. But she abandoned the post last March, when she came under fire from the Trump administration during negotiations to restore critical federal research grants.
Columbia eventually settled with the federal government to restart the funding under Claire Shipman, who until Mnookin’s swearing-in is expected to continue as acting president.
That resolution agreement extended to topics unrelated to the antisemitism claims negotiations were purported to address, and sparked renewed, but much smaller protests, near campus at the start of this school year against government overreach and threats to academic freedom.
