Today, the Board of Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York announced that Nemat “Minouche” Shafik will join the university as its next president on July 1, 2023.
Columbia World Projects and Director Wafaa El-Sadr celebrate the appointment of Shafik who will serve as the 20th president of Columbia University, succeeding President Lee C. Bollinger after two decades of service.
“I am thrilled with the selection of Minouche as the next president of Columbia University,” Columbia World Projects Director and Executive Vice President for Columbia Global, Wafaa El-Sadr said, adding that Shafik “embodies the spirit and intellect that will continue to carry the crucial work of the university for the world forward, with the empathy and expansive thinking necessary to create a more just society.”
In the university statement, President Bollinger said of his successor: “I feel like, if I had looked all over the world for the best person to next lead Columbia, I would have chosen Minouche Shafik. Her expertise, her experiences—both personal and professional—and her general outlook on academic and public life make her an inspired appointment. I offer her my warmest congratulations and very best wishes as she takes on what I believe to be the best job in the world.”
In remarks at the ceremony announcing her appointment, Shafik said that universities must be a critical force for good - of and for the world - fueled by curiosity and inspired by their faculty, students, and staff. “It is a special time to be in higher education,” she finished, “as we have an opportunity today to make extraordinary contributions to the world.”
This article was updated on January 23, 2023 to reflect President-Designate Shafik's visit to CWP. She met with Obama Foundation Scholars, a program in its fifth year, and with undergraduate Social Impact Fellows, who spend a year with CWP building skills to engage in solving complex global challenges.
About Columbia World Projects
Columbia World Projects is a university-wide initiative established in 2017 to forge a closer and more useful connection between Columbia University’s vast research capabilities and the needs of the world. CWP mobilizes researchers and scholars to work with governments, organizations, businesses, and communities to tackle global challenges.
