Since 1754, Columbia University has had a male president but that is about to change. The university announced Wednesday that Nemat (Minouche) Shafik, a leading economist and author, will become its 20th president and first female leader, according to CNBC.
Since 2007, Shafik, 60, has served at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), initially as director, before being promoted to president and vice-president in 2017.
In a statement from Columbia's Board of Trustees, Shafik was praised for her character and dedication to driving change.
“What set Minouche apart as a candidate was her unwavering belief in the vital role that institutions of higher education can and must play in solving the world's most complex problems,” the board said. “Like all of us in the Columbia community, she believes that in order to effect meaningful change, we have a collective obligation to combine our distinct intellectual capacities with groups and organizations beyond academia.”
Born in Alexandria, Va. Originally from Egypt, Shafik and her family immigrated to the U.S. after losing everything in the “political turmoil of the 1960s,” Shafik says in an introductory video for the Columbia community.
“We moved to Savannah, Georgia when I was just 4 years old. I attended several schools as we moved to the American South. At that time I also discovered the local libraries,” he shares. “I love reading and this was my way to discover the world. My father always told me, “they can take everything away from you except your education”.
Shafik's father, an environmental scientist and professor, and her mother, a teacher and school principal, instilled in her the value of education from a very early age. This played a role in her love of learning, as she went on to receive a BA at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, an MA at the LSE and a PhD at the University of Oxford.
At the age of 36, Shafik had becoming the youngest vice president of the World Bank in the 1990s. She also taught at Georgetown University and the Wharton Business School.
Shafik succeeds Lee C. Bollinger, who served as Columbia's president for 21 years and announced his plans to retire at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.
“I feel that if I had searched the world for the best person to lead Columbia next, I would have chosen Minouche Shafik,” Bollinger said in a statement. “Her expertise, her experiences – both personal and professional – and her general understanding of academic and public life make her an inspired appointment.”
Shafik says she is excited about the opportunity to explore other viewpoints and different approaches to problems as she begins her new journey as president.
“That's what I love about Columbia. Whether addressing challenges like climate change or a global public health crisis, or exploring the foundations of philosophy, science, and the arts through the core curriculum, Columbia thrives as a center for ideas and the advancement of knowledge because it is a rich, diverse community where everyone has something to contribute.”
As president, Shafik will be responsible for maintaining the university's commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion—Columbia boasts the first African-American advocacy group on a multiracial campus in the U.S., the first gay rights advocacy group on any campus and the fourth largest international student population of any US university.
Columbia joins universities such as Harvard, Dartmouth and George Washington University, which have elected the first female presidents will begin later this year.
