Members of the Class of 2016 arrived on campus for Convocation on Monday, August 27, and were welcomed by President Lee C. Bollinger and Dean James J. Valentini, among other speakers. They came from 48 states and nearly 60 countries and represent almost 90 prospective majors, according to the dean. This year’s program also featured the first Alumni Procession at Convocation, with approximately 75 alumni grouped by decades marching behind banners to rousing applause from the students, parents and guests.

See photos from Convocation.

A theme among the speakers, who also included Dean of Student Affairs Kevin Shollenberger, New Student Orientation Program coordinator Briana Saddler ’14, CC Alumni Association President Kyra Tirana Barry ’87, SEAS Interim Dean Donald Goldfarb and E.V.P. for Arts and Sciences Nicholas Dirks, was an exhortation to the incoming students to make the most of the next four years and the myriad opportunities available to them both at Columbia University and in the city of New York. The New Student Orientation Program, with programming including the “Class Act” variety show, information and advising sessions, and tours of campus and the city, began immediately following Convocation and continues through the start of classes on Tuesday, September 4.

Jonathan Schiller ’69, ’73L will be presented the 2012 Alexander Hamilton Medal on Thursday, November 15, at the Alexander Hamilton Award Dinner, an annual black-tie event in Low Rotunda. The medal, the highest honor paid to a member of the Columbia College community, is awarded  by the Columbia College Alumni Association to an alumnus/a or faculty member for distinguished service to the College and accomplishment in any field of endeavor.

Schiller, a University trustee and a member of the Dean’s Council of the Law School, received a John Jay Award for distinguished professional achievement in 2006. He was a member of the 1967–68 Ivy League Championship basketball team and was inducted with that squad into the Columbia University Athletics Hall of Fame in February 2006.

Schiller’s most recent commitments to the College include establishing the Jonathan Schiller Scholarship Fund in June 2011. The Jonathan D. Schiller Endowment in International Human Rights was created in 2006 at the Law School by the Schiller family and provides funding for summer fellowships in international human rights.

As co-founder and managing partner of Boies, Schiller & Flexner, Schiller has more than 35 years of experience trying cases throughout the United States and is recognized as a leading practitioner in international arbitration. He was elected a fellow of the American Bar Foundation and appointed to the Milan Chamber of Commerce Club of Arbitrators. He also was appointed to the Board of Trustees of the Supreme Court Historical Society in Washington, D.C.

Schiller was recognized by Who’s Who Legal as one of the most highly regarded individuals, “the real deal,” in its listing of the Top Ten International Commercial Litigators for 2011. He also was recently cited by Lawdragon as one of its “500 Leading Lawyers in America” for the sixth consecutive year. Chambers and Partners, a legal research organization that publishes annual peer-reviewed evaluations of the world’s leading law firms and lawyers, recognized Schiller “as a leading practitioner in the field of international arbitration,” and The US Legal 500 2010 Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers named him as “one of the premier international arbitration attorneys in the world” and “a seasoned practitioner with an impressive reputation.” He also was named “Litigator of the Week” by American Lawyer earlier this year following Barclays’ successful trial defense against $13 billion in claims sought by Lehman Brothers bankruptcy estates.

Schiller is married to Marla Prather ’88 GSAS, who earned a master’s in art history. Their sons also are Columbia alumni: Zachary ’01, Joshua ’08L and Aaron ’06.

For more information on the dinner, contact Robin Vanderputten, associate director, College events and programs: robinv@columbia.edu or 212-851-7399.

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger announced today that James J. Valentini will be the new Dean of Columbia College and Vice President for Undergraduate Education effective July 1, 2012.  Dean Valentini, known better as “Deantini” to the students of the College, has been acting as Interim Dean since September 2011.

The search for a permanent dean was announced in late March.  In making the announcement, President Bollinger said that there was “broad consensus for Jim Valentini’s continued leadership of the College” and that ”[o]ver the past year, Jim has succeeded in unifying students, faculty, and alumni of the College in pursuit of these goals through an embracing and inclusive leadership style.”

Dean Valentini is “thrilled” to be able to continue as dean.  “I am tremendously grateful for the opportunity to serve the College and the University that I love, ” he said.

Dean Valentini’s many notable strengths as a scholar, teacher, administrator, and recognized leader of the College community made him the unanimous selection of an advisory committee that considered several very impressive internal candidates as finalists for the deanship. 

Professor Valentini is a longtime supporter of Columbia College. He served for many years as an active member of the University Senate and on the Presidential Advisory Committee on Diversity Initiatives, and was chair of the Arts and Sciences Academic Review Committee and the College Committee on Science Instruction, and a member of the Committee on the Core Curriculum and the College Committee on Instruction. He has served as a faculty representative to the Alumni Association Board, and has worked with many other groups on curriculum matters, undergraduate affairs, faculty governance, and tenure.

Professor Valentini earned his B.S.in Chemistry from the University of Pittsburgh, his M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago, and his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed postdoctoral work at Harvard University. He was a member of the research staff at Los Alamos National Laboratory and a Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine, before coming to Columbia. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the American Physical Society. His research focuses on chemical reaction dynamics and the spectroscopy of molecular transients. He has taught many undergraduate and graduate chemistry lecture courses, has developed and taught research seminars for first-year students and seniors, and recently designed the course “Energy and Energy Conservation” for the Core Science Requirement.

More than 3,700 College alumni and their guests descended on campus from May 31–June 3 for Alumni Reunion Weekend and Dean’s Day 2012. The 50-year milestone belonged to the Class of 1962, which capped off its Saturday dinner by presenting a $1.13 million Class Gift to the Columbia College Fund — the largest reunion Class Gift ever given by a 50th-anniversary class. The Class of 1987, meanwhile, celebrated not only its 25-year reunion but also its silver anniversary as the College’s first fully coeducational class.

You can view photos of all the weekend's festivities in the following galleries:

• Class Photos
• Lectures
• Lunches, Dinners & Receptions
• Wine Tasting & Starlight Reception
• Young Alumni Party on the U.S.S. Intrepid

Gathering this year were classes that end in 2 or 7 and, of course, every class had something to celebrate, from the six self-proclaimed members of the “Nonagenarian Club” who represented the 70th anniversary Class of 1942, to the Class of 2007, which made its reunion debut with a record-setting 264 attendees. And among them all, the chorus was the same: how fast time flies.

The sentiment also applied to the weekend itself. On Thursday and Friday, alumni fanned out around the city for special events, tours and receptions. Friday featured Back-on-Campus Sessions, an array of Mini-Core Courses on subjects from Plato and Rousseau, to the Divine Comedy and Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, to Hellenistic philosophy and the inner workings of the brain. Saturday featured Dean’s Day Public Intellectual Lectures in the morning and more Mini-Core Courses in the afternoon; Saturday’s lectures and presentations were open to all alumni, including those from non-reunion years, as well as to parents. Saturday also inaugurated the Witten Center for the Core Open House and Core Stories Taping. Alumni were invited to tour the center and to videotape a favorite Core memory.

Throughout Saturday, Camp Columbia kept kids 3–12 busy with sports, arts and crafts, movies and magic. Saturday evening brought the all-class Wine Tasting and class-specific dinners; afterward, all were invited to Low Plaza for the annual Starlight Reception where guests enjoyed dessert and drank champagne while the band served up songs for every generation. The dancing lasted until 2 a.m., when the party broke up — at least until next year.

• View a Reunion 2012 video.

Columbia College initiated 87 seniors into Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society, on Tuesday, May 15. The students were chosen by a faculty selection committee of Phi Beta Kappa members based on the breadth, depth and rigor of their academic programs, as well as recommendations from faculty members who have worked closely them and know their commitment to scholarly endeavor. Each year, 10 percent of the Columbia College graduating class is elected to membership in Phi Beta Kappa. Two percent (Junior Phi Beta Kappa) is elected in November. See http://college.columbia.edu/news/seniors-inducted-phi-beta-kappa for details on the Junior Phi Beta Kappa inductees.

The students and their guests were welcomed by Hazel May, Senior Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Dean of Columbia College James J. Valentini spoke, congratulating the students.

Phi Beta Kappa celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. Members receive a distinctive gold key, which symbolizes the core principles of Phi Beta Kappa – freedom of inquiry and liberty of thought and expression.

The Class of 2012 Phi Beta Kappa members are:

Shreya Agarwal
Yusuf Ahmad
Lauren Alpert
Audrey Baker
Katherine Balkoski
Noelle Bodick
Ashley Chin
Dane Cook
Jackson Cooper
Jacob Coppola
Philip Crandall
Joseph Daly
Samuel Draxler
Katherine Duh
Max Ehrman
Daniel Flicker
Elizabeth Foydel
Anne Gabriel
Priya Gandhi
Emma Gebert
Jou Glasheen
Erin Glennon
Sophie Gloeckler
Elyssa Goldberg
Felipe Goncalves
Perry Hampilos
Mark Hay
Benjamin Henderson
Victoria Jackson-Hanen
Alejandro Jinich
Madeleine Joseph
Colin Kinniburgh
Samuel Klug
Komal Kothari
Dylan Kotliar
Rafael Krichevsky
Rebecca Kutzer-Rice
Jacob Lasser
Cindy Law
Jiwoo Lee
William Leonard
Daniel Leong
Scott Levin
Emelyn Lih
Soo Youn Lim
Jodie Liu
Jordan Lord
Alexandra Lotero
Yin Yin Lu
Emma Manson
Katherine Marshall
Keith Miao
Laura Mills
Emilia Monell
Siddharth Nair
Michael Newman
Chimno Nnadi
Kelly O'Reilly
Sofia Pacheco-Fores
Vir Patel
Milesh Patel
Bartlomiej Piela
Lea Pollack
Samuel Preston
Jacob Rice
Julian Richers
Isabel Ricker
Kimberly Rubin
Usha Sahay
Sara Salzbank
John Sarlitto
Ian Scheffler
Amanda Schiff
Samuel Schube
Adria Schulman-Eyink
Ruijie Song
Erin Stahmer
Kevin Sun
Waradon Sungnak
Natasha Terhorst
Daniel Valella
Laura Waelbroeck
Yinou Wang
Elaine Wang
Erica Weaver
Fan Wu
Katherine Zee