In a university-wide e-mail, PrezBo has announced that Gerald Rosberg will be Columbia’s new Senior Executive Vice President starting July.

Who is the Senior Executive Vice President?

Well, he is replacing Robert Kasdin, who left the position to go to Johns Hopkins. Kasdin, described by many as the right hand man to PrezBo, had been an administrator under PrezBo when he was at UMich and, at Columbia, was influential in the Manhattanville expansion.

PrezBo, who refers to Rosberg as “Gerry,” wrote in his e-mail that Rosberg will serve as his “trusted advisor, alongside the many senior administrators whose excellent work we all benefit from daily, and as a partner to the Provost, deans, and other administrators in helping us realize our academic and institutional goals.”

PrezBo knows Rosberg from his days as a lawyer, as both men were clerks at the Supreme Court and faculty at UMich’s Law School.

Read the full e-mail below.

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

I am writing to announce my appointment of Gerald Rosberg as Senior Executive Vice President, as of July 1, 2016.  In this role, Gerry will be supporting me and working in partnership with the senior leadership of the University to manage a host of increasingly complex matters.  Gerry is one of the most extraordinary people I have had the privilege and pleasure of working with over the years, and we are incredibly fortunate that he will now join us here at Columbia.

Gerry earned his BA and JD from Harvard University, where he was Assistant Managing Editor of The Harvard Crimson and Supreme Court Note Editor of the Harvard Law Review.  He served as a law clerk to Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and then to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.

As he becomes better known to you, Gerry’s many personal and professional qualities will quickly become readily apparent.  He and I have known one another since serving as clerks to justices on the U.S. Supreme Court and subsequently joining the law school faculty at the University of Michigan.  After achieving tenure, Gerry went on to pursue another career, serving for many years as the Senior Vice President of The Washington Post Company (now Graham Holdings).

Throughout his time there, Gerry focused first and foremost on supporting the essential mission of outstanding, independent journalism, thereby winning the respect of reporters, editors, and other colleagues throughout the organization.  Similarly, in his new role at Columbia, he will be serving me as a trusted advisor, alongside the many senior administrators whose excellent work we all benefit from daily, and as a partner to the Provost, deans, and other administrators in helping us realize our academic and institutional goals.

Please join me in welcoming Gerry Rosberg to Columbia.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger