Columbia elects Jennifer Mnookin as its new president

The current chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Jennifer Mnookin, was selected as the next president of Columbia University, according to a report published this Sunday by The New York Times. Her appointment comes at a time of high public exposure for American universities, against a backdrop of political, financial and social tensions directly affecting higher education.

Mnookin will assume the leadership of Columbia after joining the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2022, following her tenure as dean of the UCLA School of Law. At Wisconsin, she led the institution during a period marked by internal and external challenges that demanded high-impact institutional decisions.

University management under political pressure

During her time at UW-Madison, Mnookin led the university amid large pro-Palestinian protests on campus and a complex political environment at the state level. In that setting, she engaged in negotiations with the Republican Wisconsin Legislature that resulted in a funding agreement that included the freezing and subsequent elimination of positions tied to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, in exchange for securing state resources.