| Lee Bollinger | |
|---|---|
| 19th President of Columbia University | |
| Term | 2002 – present |
| Predecessor | George Erik Rupp |
| 12th President of the University of Michigan | |
| Term | 1996 – 2002 |
| Predecessor | James Johnson Duderstadt |
| Successor | Mary Sue Coleman |
| Born | April 30, 1946 Santa Rosa, California |
| Alma mater | University of Oregon (B.S.) Columbia Law School (J.D.) |
| Profession | Attorney |
| Salary | $1,411,894 |
| Website | Office of the President |
Lee Carroll Bollinger[1] (born April 30, 1946) is an American lawyer and educator who is currently serving as the 19th president of Columbia University. Formerly the president of the University of Michigan, he is a noted legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech.[2] He was at the center of two notable United States Supreme Court cases regarding the use of affirmative action in admissions processes.[3][4] In July, 2010 Bollinger was appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York board of directors for 2011. Previously, he had served as Deputy Chair.[5]
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Bollinger was born in Santa Rosa, California, the son of Patricia and Lee Bollinger.[6] He was raised there and in Baker City, Oregon. As a student, Bollinger spent a year (1963) as an exchange student in Brazil with AFS Intercultural Programs. He received his B.S. in political science from the University of Oregon, where he became a brother of Theta Chi Fraternity, and his Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School. He served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Justice Warren Burger of the Supreme Court. Bollinger went on to join the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in 1973, becoming dean of the school in 1987. He became provost of Dartmouth College in 1994 before returning to the University of Michigan in 1996 as president. Bollinger assumed his current position as president of Columbia University in June 2002.[7] On October 19, 2010, the Board of Trustees announced through a university-wide email that Bollinger has agreed to continue as president for at least the next five years. The board explained as the rationale for its decision to extend Bollinger's contract: "Columbia is thriving on many levels today, and is well positioned for the long-term both locally and globally, because of Lee’s distinctive vision of the university’s vital role in serving our society. But we still have much work to do in building on this extraordinary forward momentum in the years ahead and therefore have every reason to maintain the continuity of Lee's principled leadership."
In 2003, while serving as president of the University of Michigan, Bollinger made headlines as the named defendant in the Supreme Court cases Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger.[8] In the Grutter case, the Court found by a 5-4 margin that the affirmative action policies of the University of Michigan Law School were constitutional. But at the same time, it found by a 6-3 margin in the Gratz case that the undergraduate admissions policies of Michigan were not narrowly tailored to a compelling interest in diversity, and thus that they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
In 2006, affirmative action in university admissions in the state of Michigan was banned by a ballot initiative known as the Michigan Civil Rights Initiative.[9]
As president (known as "PrezBo"),[10] Bollinger has attempted to expand the international scope of the University, taking frequent trips abroad and inviting world leaders to its campus. Bollinger has been criticized for taking a neutral public position on controversies in 2004–5 regarding alleged intimidation of students by professors in the Middle East Languages and Cultures (MEALAC) department by the Boston-based pro-Israel advocacy organization The David Project and for placing the department in receivership.[11][12] He has also been at the forefront of criticism for his role advocating the expansion of the university into the Manhattanville neighborhood and the possible use of eminent domain to help it seize property there.[13] The Bollinger administration's expansion plans have been criticized as fundamentally incompatible with the 197/a plan for development crafted by the community, and for failing to address the neighborhood's need to maintain affordable housing stock. President Bollinger has lived in the Columbia President's House since February 2004, after the building underwent a $23 million renovation.[14][15] In 2008, his salary was $1.7 million.[16]
In November 2006, Bollinger was elected to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City, a term lasting for three years.[17]
Bollinger received much criticism in September 2007, when Columbia invited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak at its campus on September 24, 2007.[18] A number of local and national politicians, including presidential hopefuls John McCain, Fred Thompson, Barack Obama, and Hillary Clinton, denounced Columbia for hosting Ahmadinejad.[18][19]
Additionally, the Wall Street Journal accused him of hypocrisy for allowing Ahmadinejad to address the university in the name of academic freedom and freedom of expression, but citing those same values in 2005 as justifications not to readmit an ROTC program to Columbia in light of the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy toward gays. Explaining his ROTC decision at the time, Bollinger wrote: "the university has an obligation, deeply rooted in the core values of an academic institution and in First Amendment principles, to protect its students from improper discrimination and humiliation." [20]
Bollinger described the event as part of "Columbia's long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate, especially on global issues."[21]
Bollinger released a statement on Columbia's website on September 19, 2007 outlining the content of his introduction, which included Ahmadinejad's statements regarding the Holocaust, Israel, and the Iranian government's record on civil liberties and human rights.[22]
In his introduction, Bollinger explained to the student body that the 'free speech' afforded to Ahmadinejad was for the sake of the students and the faculty rather than for the benefit of Ahmadinejad himself, whom Bollinger referred to as "exhibiting all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator."[23] Bollinger's introduction received both praise and condemnation.[24][25][26][27] He was criticized by students at Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, who believed he was pandering to his critics and damaged a rare opportunity for dialogue with a world leader.[28]
On July 14, 2010, he wrote an article for The Wall Street Journal calling for the American government to subsidize its journalists.[29]
Bollinger is married to artist Jean Magnano Bollinger. They have two children.[30]
In addition to his academic and administrative positions, Bollinger has written many articles and books on the subject of free speech.
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Johnson Duderstadt |
President of the University of Michigan 1996–2001 |
Succeeded by Mary Sue Coleman |
| Preceded by George Erik Rupp |
President of Columbia University 2002–present |
Incumbent |
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