Alumni in the News: September 21, 2026

Actress Julia Stiles ’04 is a new cast member on Season 35 of Dancing With the Stars; the Emmy-nominated competition show had its live, two-night premiere Sept. 15–16. Stiles, who played an aspiring ballerina in the 2001 film Save the Last Dance, is paired with dancer Ezra Sosa.

Chippy’s, a new fish and chips spot from restaurateur Patricia Howard ’13, was named to Sept. 14’s “Food & Wine’s 10 Most Anticipated Fall Restaurant Openings” list. Howard and her partner, chef Ed Szymanski, are the team behind the popular restaurants Dame and Lord’s. Chippy’s is due to open in the East Village later this month.

On Sept. 6, Sara Barone ’17 won an Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited or Anthology Series, Movie or Special (Original Dramatic Score) for the Netflix series The Beast in Me. Barone and co-composer Sean Callery were honored on the second night of the Creative Arts Emmy Awards telecast.

Tennis phenom Michael Zheng ’26 advanced to the third round at the US Open, earning his first career Open win against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan on Sept. 2. Zheng beat China’s Yunchaokete Bu the following day, before being defeated by France’s Arthur Gea on Sept. 5.

The Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame 2026 class was announced on July 16; the group comprises 22 individual inductees (including record-setting track star Kyle Merber ’12 and Olympic gold medal-winning fencer Jackie Dubrovich ’16), longtime Athletics staff members (including women’s soccer coach Kevin McCarthy ’85) and more than 115 years of Columbia Athletics history. The class will be feted at a black-tie dinner and ceremony on Thursday, Oct. 22.