No. 49: Prof. Jennifer Mnookin: Columbia’s first Jewish pres., arriving at its most turbulent hour

Professor Jennifer Mnookin became Columbia University's 21st president on July 1, 2026, marking the institution's first Jewish leader in three decades. She arrived during a period of significant campus turmoil, including controversies over antisemitism and a $221 million settlement with the Trump administration.

• Mnookin's academic background spans law and science, with degrees from Harvard, Yale, and MIT, and prior roles as dean of UCLA's law school and chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
• At Wisconsin, she condemned the “vicious terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians” following October 7 and authorized police to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment, later negotiating a peaceful resolution.
• Her approach drew mixed reactions, with one graduate noting, “the chancellor being Jewish would lead a lot of Jewish students to automatically assume she's 'on our side.' That's not her role.”
• Columbia's trustees described her as “a keen listener who builds consensus and does not shy away from making difficult decisions when necessary,” a quality she will need as she addresses campus divisions and the recommendations of Columbia's antisemitism task force.