On May 13, President Bollinger announced that professor and journalist Jelani Cobb has been named the next Dean of Columbia Journalism School.

On Friday afternoon, Columbia announced via the university news website and an email to students that Jelani Cobb has been appointed Dean of Columbia Journalism School, a role that he will begin on August 1, 2022. Cobb will succeed current Dean Steve Coll, who is set to step down next month.

Cobb is the current Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and Director of the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights at Columbia. A New Yorker contributor and staff writer since 2012, Cobb is known for his work in journalism as well as civil and human rights, with much of his writing centering on social justice issues. He has written books on President Barack Obama’s election and the history of hip hop, and he recently co-edited The Matter of Black Lives: Writing from The New Yorker, an anthology of portraits of Black life in America that was published in 2021.

A member of Columbia faculty since 2016, Cobb has taught several courses, including the seminar “Covering Race,” which examines the influence of race in the United States and its effects on reporting and media coverage. At the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights, Cobb and his colleagues work to provide support to journalists from diverse backgrounds and conduct research about the ways in which race, diversity, and human rights are understood in the journalism community. Cobb, who has received fellowships from the Fulbright and Ford Foundations, graduated from Howard University and received his PhD in American History from Rutgers University.

As Dean of Columbia Journalism School, Cobb will work to support the school’s mission of embracing the role of journalism in society and preparing Columbia Journalism School graduates for professional work in an ever-changing field. In his statement to the Columbia University community, Bollinger wrote, “I am grateful to the members of the search committee for their careful and tireless work throughout this selection process—we are all delighted with this outcome and look forward to seeing how, as Dean, Jelani will shape the future of journalism education.”

Email sent from President Bollinger to the Columbia community at 2:03 pm on Friday, May 13:

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

It is with great pleasure that I write to announce my appointment of Jelani Cobb as the next Dean of Columbia Journalism School, as of August 1, 2022. Professor Cobb is the Ira A. Lipman Professor of Journalism and Director of the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights.

Jelani is a highly distinguished and renowned journalist and historian. Since 2012, he has worked for The New Yorker, as a contributor and currently as a staff writer, offering in-depth analyses of a wide array of subjects, ranging from electoral politics and policing to filmmaking and stand-up comedy. He has authored books on the election of President Barack Obama and the history of hip hop, and he recently co-edited an anthology of portraits of Black life in America. His essays and opinions have been published in The Washington Post, The New Republic, Essence, Vibe, The Progressive, and TheRoot.com. Jelani’s expansive resume also includes reporting for “Whose Vote Counts,” the Peabody Award winning documentary series with Columbia colleague June Cross, from PBS FRONTLINE, Columbia Journalism Investigations, and USA Today.

We have been fortunate to count Jelani as a member of our University community since 2016. He and his colleagues at the Ira A. Lipman Center for Journalism and Civil and Human Rights convene experts and support journalists from diverse backgrounds to ensure that stories on these critical issues are covered with the care and rigor they deserve. Among the courses Jelani teaches is the seminar “Covering Race,” which examines the influence of race in the United States and its effects on reporting and media coverage. Jelani graduated from Howard University and received his PhD in American History from Rutgers University. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Fulbright and Ford Foundations and in 2015 was honored with the Sidney Hillman Award for Opinion and Analysis Journalism.

Jelani’s vision for the future of the Journalism School is one that embraces the vital role of journalism in our society, on a local and global scale, and the need to ensure our graduates are as well prepared as possible for an incredibly dynamic and changing field. I am grateful to the members of the search committee for their careful and tireless work throughout this selection process—we are all delighted with this outcome and look forward to seeing how, as Dean, Jelani will shape the future of journalism education.

I know everyone joins me in celebrating this appointment and also in expressing our deepest gratitude to Steve Coll for his wise and forward-looking leadership.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger

Jelani Cobb via Calla Kessler and Columbia University Office of the President