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AROUND THE QUADS

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William V. Campbell ’62 PHOTO: EILEEN BARROSO

William V. Campbell ’62 is the new chair of Columbia’s Board of Trustees, succeeding David J. Stern ’66L. Campbell was captain of the 1961 Ivy League champion Lions football team and served as the team’s head coach from 1974–79 before embarking on a successful business career at companies including J. Walter Thompson, Kodak, Apple and Intuit. “Bill has never wavered in his support of Columbia,” said President Lee C. Bollinger. “I know that his deep and passionate commitment and proven leadership to his alma mater will be enormously important to the future.”

In addition, Michael B. Rothfeld ’69, ’71 Bus., ’71J is one of three new members of the Board of Trustees who began their six-year terms in September, along with Patricia M. Cloherty ’68 SIPA, ’68 TC and Ann F. Kaplan ’72 SW, ’77 Bus. Rothfeld has been extremely active in College affairs and chairs the College’s Board of Visitors for 2005–06. Dennis H. Langer ’71, P’04, P’08 is the new vice-chair of the Board of Visitors.

Mark Amsterdam ’66, ’69L is the new president of the Columbia University Club of New York, having begun his term in October. He is supported by vice presidents David Gibson ’75 AR and Donna Rosenthal ’67 SW, treasurer David Evans ’99E, secretary Roger Lehecka ’67, ’74 GSAS and past president Dr. Laurance J. Guido ’65, ’69 P&S, who will serve as special adviser. Amsterdam, previously a club board member, says that the club is “planning a terrific program for the upcoming year, a program that will stimulate your intellect, keep you abreast of important current events and academic advances, and entertain and enlighten you, all in an atmosphere of collegiality and Columbiana.”

Jenny Davidson, assistant professor of English and comparative literature, has been named one of eight Visiting Scholars at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. The academy’s Visiting Scholars Program supports promising scholars and practitioners in the early stages of their careers who show potential for becoming leaders in the humanities and social sciences. Davidson’s research project, Breeding: Nature and Nurture Before Biology, is an examination of how 18th-century scholars thought about breeding. At the time, prior to the development of scientific terms such as heredity and genetics, breeding was a catch-all term that could refer to pregnancy, nature or nurture, hereditary resemblance, manners, moral character, social standing and more. By exploring the works of literary figures such as Shakespeare, Locke, Defoe and Swift, Davidson offers a fresh perspective on a world that was struggling between the belief that a person’s birth determined his or her place in the world and one where anyone could be transformed through education.

The Alumni Office has welcomed three new officers — Hassab Gebremedhin, Bari Lovi and Patrick McMorrow ’88, ’90 GSAS. Gebremedhin, assistant director for reporting and stewardship, had worked since 2002 at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia, serving most recently as the operational systems manager. Lovi, a development officer, also joins Columbia by way of Philadelphia, where she was a senior development associate with the women’s philanthropy unit of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia. McMorrow, assistant director of operations, has been working at Columbia almost continually since his graduation, mainly in the Arts and Sciences, most recently as departmental administrator in the Spanish and Portuguese department.

Arthur E. Levine has announced plans to step down on July 1 after 12 years as president of Teachers College. He plans to take a sabbatical and then return as a professor.

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