From the newsroom, to the courtroom, to school, to planes flying above, the six alumni selected as this year’s John Jay Award honorees have been chosen for the impact their accomplishments have made in fields that span the professional spectrum.
The Annual John Jay Award Dinner
Columbia College will celebrate these distinguished alumni for their professional achievements on Wednesday, March 4 at the 42nd annual John Jay Awards Dinner, to be held at Cipriani 42nd Street. Proceeds from the dinner support the College’s prestigious John Jay National Scholars Program, which was named after Founding Father and first Chief Justice of the United States John Jay CC 1764. The program provides financial aid and special programming focused on promoting intellectual growth, leadership development and global awareness to a cohort of intellectually curious students.
“This year’s honorees are leaders in their professions and in their communities,” said James J. Valentini, dean of Columbia College and vice president for undergraduate education. “The significance and diversity of their achievements show the many paths to success that our alumni take in their Columbia College journeys.”
The 2020 John Jay Award honorees are:
Michael Barry CC’89, President and CEO, Ironstate Development
Lanny Breuer CC’80, LAW’85, Vice Chair, Covington & Burling
Anna Fang CC’04, Partner and CEO, ZhenFund
Poppy Harlow CC’05, Anchor, CNN Newsroom
Wanda Holland Greene CC’89, TC’91, Head of School, The Hamlin School
Victor Mendelson CC’89, Co-President, HEICO Corp.
More than 200 honorees have received the John Jay Award since its inception in 1978, including Jodi Kantor CC’96, Emanuel Ax CC’70, Ric Burns CC’78, Max Frankel CC’52, Dede Gardner CC’90, Art Garfunkel CC’62, Allen Ginsberg CC’48, Maggie Gyllenhaal CC’99, Eric H. Holder Jr. CC’73, Benjamin Jealous CC’94, Joel I. Klein CC’67, Tony Kushner CC’78, Robert J. Lefkowitz CC’62, Arthur Levitt CC 1921, Terrence McNally CC’60, George Stephanopoulos CC’82 and Jenji Kohan CC‘91.
Tickets to the 2020 John Jay Awards Dinner are available for purchase.
To learn more about supporting the dinner, please contact Columbia College Events and Programs at cc-events@columbia.edu or 212-854-2813.