Economist Nemat “Minouche” Shafik will take over as Columbia University’s president later this year, becoming the school’s first female leader.
(Bloomberg) — Economist Nemat “Minouche” Shafik will take over as Columbia University’s president later this year, becoming the school’s first female leader.
Shafik, 60, currently president of the London School of Economics & Political Science, will succeed Lee Bollinger at Columbia, the Ivy League university said in a statement Wednesday.
“If I had looked all over the world for the best person to next lead Columbia, I would have chosen Minouche Shafik,” Bollinger, who’s stepping down in June after more than two decades on the job, said in the statement. “Her expertise, her experiences — both personal and professional — and her general outlook on academic and public life make her an inspired appointment.”
Born in Alexandria, Egypt, Shafik has led the London School of Economics since 2017. She also held posts at the International Monetary Fund and the Bank of England. At age 36, Shafik became the youngest vice president of the World Bank.
“This is a very special time to be in higher education and we have an opportunity today to make extraordinary contributions to the world,” Shafik said during a news conference. “It is also a special time for me because I share deeply your commitment to Columbia’s mission to be a great university in the modern age.”
Bollinger’s Legacy
Bollinger, 76, the Ivy League’s longest-tenured president, will remain at the New York City school to teach full time. A key figure in transforming a part of Upper Manhattan, he raised $13 billion and expanded the university’s footprint with a new 17-acre development. North of Columbia’s main Morningside Heights campus, the development is now the home to the Columbia Business School.
Shafik stood out as a champion of diversity and inclusion at the London School of Economics & Political Science, according to the statement. She managed significant expansion and infrastructure projects while also focusing on improving the student experience.
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Other US universities have recently announced leadership changes. In October, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology hired Duke University Provost Sally Kornbluth as its next president. Harvard named Claudine Gay as the Ivy League’s first Black president in December. New York University President Andrew Hamilton will be stepping down in June 2023.
–With assistance from Erin Fuchs.
(Updates with Shafik comment in fifth paragraph.)
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