Earlier today, President Bollinger announced that Steve Coll, Dean of the Columbia School of Journalism since 2013, will be stepping down in June 2022.

Columbia President Lee Bollinger announced Thursday afternoon that Steve Coll will be leaving his position as Dean of Columbia’s Journalism School at the end of June 2022. Bolliger reflected on Coll’s many accomplishments—both as Dean of the Columbia Journalism School and as an independent journalist—including praise for his two Pulitzer Prizes and his journalistic work surrounding ethics and human rights. 

This comes two weeks after the announcement that Columbia College Dean James Valentini will also be stepping down from his role beginning in June 2022. Coll, who was appointed to his role as Dean in 2013, will remain on the Journalism School’s faculty. The full text of Bollinger’s email can be found below. 

Bwog has contacted Columbia Communications for comment.

Email from President Bollinger sent to the Columbia community on Thursday at 1:35 pm, EST:

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

I write to share that Steve Coll has informed me that he will be stepping down as Dean of Columbia Journalism School, following nine years of extraordinarily thoughtful and intellectual leadership, at the end of June 2022. I am so very pleased that he will continue to be a member of the Journalism faculty.

When I appointed Steve in 2013, he was a renowned journalist, widely admired for his in-depth reporting on politics, finance, and national security, and a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize. Steve’s life experiences gave him a special vantage point for appraising the present and future of journalism, and it served him, and us, exceedingly well during his tenure as Dean. In his understated way, Steve dedicated himself to transforming the School by building new programs and attracting outstanding, award-winning faculty to educate and shape the next generation of journalists.

To support students and alumni working on stories of global concern, he launched the Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism. To combat disinformation and train journalists to deal with ethical and security challenges, he established the Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security. To give reporters the tools they need to write on race, diversity, and civil and human rights, he created the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights. Under his leadership, endowed professorships were established in these and other areas. He led the creation of a new master’s degree in data journalism to help students navigate the challenges of the data-rich age. And, to fund these efforts, Steve has raised $150 million, including more than $50 million in financial aid to expand access and to advance student wellbeing.

We celebrate journalists for the role they play in promoting freedom of thought, information, and ideas, and in advancing the search for knowledge and sustaining democracy. They bear the closest kinship to academic scholars. No one person embodies those roles, at the very highest levels, or with more commitment, than Steve Coll. We are admiring as well as grateful for all he has done to ensure that our School of Journalism remains at the pinnacle of its field. 

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger

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