Columbia University Irving Medical Center CEO Katrina Armstrong has been tapped to lead the school following the sudden resignation of President Minouche Shafik.
Shafik stepped down on Wednesday after a tenure marked by intense criticism, particularly over her response to the pro-Palestinian protests that began in April.
In a statement after her appointment was announced, Armstrong expressed gratitude to her predecessors and recognized the challenges facing the campus community as she assumes leadership.
"Challenging times present both the opportunity and the responsibility for serious leadership to emerge from every group and individual within a community. This is such a time at Columbia," she said. "As I step into this role, I am acutely aware of the trials the University has faced over the past year. We should neither understate their significance, nor allow them to define who we are and what we will become."
The Board of Trustees backed Armstrong as well, calling her "the right leader for this moment."
Here's everything we know about Columbia's new president:
- Armstrong is well-known to the Columbia community. She currently serves as CEO of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, a title she will retain during her stint as interim president. She also serves as executive vice president for health and biomedical sciences, and dean of the faculties of health sciences and medicine and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons.
- She earned her bachelor's degree from Yale University and a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University.
- Prior to joining Columbia, Armstrong served as physician in chief at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2013 to 2022, and was a professor at the University of Pennsylvania for 16 years.
- According to the Board of Trustees, Armstrong has completed extensive research in cancer, mental health, the roles that segregation and discrimination play in health care, as well as health disparities in rural areas, particularly among Native American tribes.
- Regarding the conflict between Israel and Gaza, Armstrong and her colleagues issued a letter in October 2023, urging the community to "come together and to embrace each other with compassion and empathy" for those affected in the region.
- During a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging Summit in November, Armstrong referred to Hamas as a terrorist organization and condemned its October attack on Israel. "Equally clear, and of great importance in this discussion, is that the Palestinian people are not Hamas and are not terrorists," she added. "... We must describe Hamas as it describes itself - as an entity openly committed to the destruction of Israel and to attacking the Jewish people - to provide our Jewish colleagues the comfort that comes with knowing that others understand what occurred on October 7 and the terrible psychological impact of that terrorist attack."
