Columbia University names Jennifer Mnookin as new president effective July 1
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Columbia University announced Monday that it has selected a new president who will begin his term in July 2026.
“The Columbia University Board of Trustees has appointed Jennifer L. Mnookin, a nationally recognized legal scholar who served as president of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as the next president of Columbia University, effective July 1, 2026,” it said Monday. announcement Study from Columbia University. “The appointment culminates an extensive national search conducted by a committee of trustees and faculty who sought input from students, faculty, staff, alumni and other members of the Columbia community.”
Before becoming chancellor at UW-Madison, Mnookin was dean of the UCLA School of Law and spent 17 years on the faculty, and before that served as a professor of law at the University of Virginia School of Law and an adjunct professor of law at Harvard Law School.
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Columbia University announced Monday that it has selected a new president who will begin his term in July 2026. (iStock)
Mnookin’s biography page on the University of Wisconsin-Madison website states that he is “committed to pushing the boundaries to take the university to new levels of excellence in research and education.”
Mnookin in 2025 he told the New York Times “I think a lot of colleges, most if not all, have focused deeply on identity diversity for a while and not really focused on diversity of perspective or diversity of beliefs that much,” he said, noting that colleges have put a lot of emphasis on diversity of identity.
He added: “I think there’s a danger that the pendulum will swing too far in the other direction, and we need to worry about that. But I think universities need to be places where ideas and different ideas embodied by people from different backgrounds come together, and it won’t always be comfortable, but we will learn from that interaction and do better.”
In early 2025, Mnookin announced that the university’s Department of Diversity, Equity, and Educational Achievement “will cease as a standalone department” and the office “will be moved to the Department of Teaching and Learning, with leaders and academic advisors supporting this work.”
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He voiced his support for the Black Lives Matter movement during his tenure as dean and Ralph and Shirley Shapiro Professor of Law at UCLA Law. (Stanton Sharpe/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Federal campaign finance records show Mnookin has donated to Democratic campaigns, including $2,000 to former President Barack Obama in 2008, $500 to former President Joe Biden in 2020 and $250 to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2016.
So was Mnookin. outspoken In his support of the Black Lives Movement in 2020, when he was dean of UCLA Law
“As a member law school Particularly as a community, we must acknowledge and combat the complicity of the legal system and law enforcement in acts of racism and violence. These recent horrific examples are unfortunately not an aberration; “Our legal system has been part of our nation’s shameful history of institutionalized racism,” he wrote.
Wisconsin State Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, R. criticized MnookinHe thanked him for his service in a statement on Monday.
“I want to thank Chancellor Mnookin for his service to the University of Wisconsin-Madison and applaud his commitment to students,” Vos said.
“Chancellor Mnookin has accomplished many great accomplishments during her tenure, such as bringing more free speech to campus and closing the DEI department,” Vos added. “I enjoyed working with him because we both want students to reach their full potential and lead successful and impactful lives after graduation.”
Mnookin’s appointment comes as Columbia faces federal scrutiny.
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Protesters demonstrate near Columbia University in New York City on February 2, 2024. (Alexi J. Rosenfeld/Getty Images)
In July, President Donald Trump reached a $221 million agreement with Columbia University to resolve various issues. federal civil rights investigationsIncluding allegations of discriminatory practices against Jewish faculty and allegations of anti-Semitic employment discrimination following the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
Mnookin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
