News

Congratulations to the seventh cohort of Columbia Community Scholars! The Columbia Community Scholars Program was developed to enable independent scholars to pursue their lifelong learning aspirations, whether it be completing an independent project or attaining skills in a particular area. The program allows Scholars in Upper Manhattan a formal opportunity to access University resources and participate in the intellectual life of the University through interaction with faculty, students and other visiting scholars. 

Columbia’s long-term plan for the old Manhattanville manufacturing area will revitalize the four former industrial blocks from 125th/129th to 133rd Street between Broadway and 12th Avenue, and three small blocks along the east side of Broadway from 131st to 134th Street, into an environmentally sustainable and publicly accessible center for academic and civic life woven into the fabric of the West Harlem community.
Read more for a listing of construction activities.

Columbia’s long-term plan for the old Manhattanville manufacturing area will revitalize the four former industrial blocks from 125th/129th to 133rd Street between Broadway and 12th Avenue, and three small blocks along the east side of Broadway from 131st to 134th Street, into an environmentally sustainable and publicly accessible center for academic and civic life woven into the fabric of the West Harlem community.
Read more for a listing of construction activities.

A longtime donor to Columbia Community Service, Professor Edward Leonard of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, went beyond the call of the Annual “Back to School Campaign” to donate a research microscope to CCS Grantee, Triple F Empowerment, an organization that works to inspire, empower and encourage the young people of Harlem to pursue education and careers in the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) fields. Stephanie Farmer, Founder and Executive Director, had been interested in acquiring a "real microscope" for her Science Club equipment to impart a deeper understanding of biology and proper laboratory equipment usage to her students.

Columbia University will host and sponsor The Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce's NYC Economic Development Day (EDD) Conference on August 8th, held in partnership with The City of New York, New York State, and Federal agencies. EDD is a part of Harlem Week which celebrates the neighborhood’s assets and unique flavor, promoting Harlem’s rich African, African-American, Caribbean, Hispanic and European history, cultures, arts, entertainments, and sports. 

Columbia University is adding two new tenants, both of which will bring expand the eating and socializing opportunities to the Morningside Heights area. Learn more about the new tenants, Dos Toros and Hex & Co.

On Saturday, July 20, 2019, Madam C.J. Walker and her daughter A’Lelia Walker were honored with the unveiling of a street sign to mark the co-naming of 136th Street at Lenox Avenue (Malcolm X Boulevard). The ceremony was presented by City Councilmember Bill Perkins, Sundial Brands CEO Richelieu Dennis, Harlem Historical Society President Jacob Morris, and attended by Madam C.J. Walker’s biographer and great-great-granddaughter, Columbia University Trustee A’Lelia Bundles. 

I am delighted to announce that I have appointed Melissa Begg, Professor of Biostatistics at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Vice Provost for Academic Programs at Columbia University, to serve as the next Dean of the Columbia School of Social Work and Professor of Social Work and Biostatistics, effective September 1, 2019. 

2019 marks the 10th anniversary of Harlem Pride's presence in Upper Manhattan, the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance and the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The legacies of these events and groups will be celebrated this Saturday in West Harlem, with the Harlem Pride celebration on 12th Avenue at West 135th Street, and Uptown Swing on the Columbia's Manhattanville campus outside the Lenfest Center for the Arts on 129th street.. 

Families and locals from the community joined Manhattanville’s Mad Science–themed events on Saturday, April 13. Children learned the science behind slime and its sensory benefits, adults were able to check their blood pressure for free, and movie lovers went back in time with a screening of the 1960s film The Absent Minded Professor. These and several other events were free and open to the public. 

The Columbia-Harlem Small Business Development Center (CHSBDC) has been part of the community of Upper Manhattan since 2009. Funded partially by the United States Small Business Administration, the CHSBDC is one of 900 centers across the country that offer free business advice and training provided by qualified small business professionals to existing and future entrepreneurs. The CHSBDC was first launched by Jack McGourty, then vice dean at The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and now director of Community and Global Entrepreneurship at the Columbia Business School, where the CHSBDC now calls home.

COSMOS is the advanced wireless testbed Rutgers, Columbia, and NYU are jointly deploying in West Harlem as part of the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) program. As part of the COSMOS education plan, over each summer public school teachers from across NYC work with researchers to develop web-based laboratories/projects to use in their classrooms in the upcoming school year. The immersive educational toolkit is developed by NYU and Columbia Engineering researchers. The program is designed to teach fundamentals of math, physics, and computer science through interactive research experiments in wireless networking. Pictured: Mr. Bianchi’s AP Computer Science class at Frederick Douglass Academy engaged in a lesson.

The Beyond the Bars Fellowship offers students and community members an opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of mass incarceration and social change; and to collaborate with social justice organizers, activists, and academics to plan the annual Beyond the Bars Conference. The 2018–2019 Beyond the Bars Fellows come from many schools across Columbia (Social Work, Teachers College, International and Public Affairs, Public Health, Sociology, and Columbia College); other colleges (CUNY Graduate Center and John Jay College of Criminal Justice); and a variety of community and government organizations (the Brooklyn Bail Fund, the Door, the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, the Social Change Agents Institute, G.I.R.L.S., the New York City Department of Education, and Vocal New York).

Named after Nancy Rupp, the wife of President Emeritus George Rupp and an exemplary CCS board member, the CCS Nancy Rupp Community Scholarship was designed to help CCS nonprofit professionals with class instruction and training provided by the Columbia Business School. The Scholarship Fund, created in 2002, provided a new avenue of support for the community. Since the first award, CCS has distributed over $60,000 in scholarships to 25 agency representatives to give them an opportunity to participate (free of charge) in the Developing Leaders Program for Nonprofit Professionals at the Columbia Business School. This year, three candidates were selected to participate: Matthew Bull from Corpus Christi School, Thomas Perry from Cathedral Community Cares, and Chris Pellettieri from Pellettieri Stone Carvers’ Academy, seen here with their instructor, Professor Michel Tuan Pham.

The African Academy of Sciences (AAS) inducted ICAP founder and global director Wafaa El-Sadr, MD, MPH, MPA, as a Fellow at its 11th General Assembly Meeting in Pretoria, South Africa. ICAP at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health (formerly the International Center for AIDS Care and Treatment Programs) supports programs and research that address HIV/AIDS and related conditions and works to strengthen health systems. ICAP currently supports HIV/AIDS prevention, care, and treatment programs in 30 countries, 19 of which are African.