Earlier today, the Times reported that Václav Havel, the dissident playwright who was elected president of Czechoslovakia after the fall of the Soviet Union and later became the first president of the Czech Republic (after it split from Czechoslovakia), passed away at the age of 75. A founding member of Charter 77, Havel was an […]

Columbia researchers find that the dust from car exhaust increases the chance for, among other things, brain damage, autism, depression, and Alzheimer’s. (WSJ) Yesterday, voters soundly rejected an anti-abortion initiative in Mississippi and a law limiting union rights in Ohio. (NYT) Though the initial flooding in Thailand may be over, the recovery is expected to cost in excess of […]

Z.Y. Fu, the Chinese businessman and philanthropist who donated generously to Columbia University over the past 20 years, passed away yesterday. In 1990, Mr. Fu began his philanthropy by endowing a chair of applied mathematics at the Engineering school, where his brother-in-law taught as a professor. Three years later, he endowed a scholarship fund for […]

John W. Kluge, CC ’37 and a major donor to the University, passed away today. Kluge came to Columbia on scholarship after leaving Germany for America at the age of 16. He went on to become a billionaire primarily in the telecom and media industries. Over his lifetime he made several gifts to Columbia acknowledging […]

 Photo via Yeshiva U. “White shoe impresario” Schuyler Chapin died at his home yesterday at the age of 86.  He was dean of the School of Arts from 1975 to 1985. Chapin was known as a master political maneuverer in the arts and a powerful public and private figure, and he once told the Times, […]

Molly Ivins, the nationally syndicated columnist and Columbia Journalism School graduate, died of cancer at the age of 61 today. Ivins, a witty Texan,  was known throughout her life for an unpretentious, down-to-earth style as well as her strong, self-proclaimed liberal views. Most recently, Ivins had written in strong opposition to President Bush and his […]

Martha Peterson, the 7th president of Barnard, died at her home in Wisconsin on Friday. She was 90 years old. Back in the 60’s, she worked to compromise with students who were protesting the war in Vietnam. From the New York Times: “In Miss Peterson’s estimation, she once told a reporter, her most significant achievement […]

Word from a Varsity Show source is that set-up for tonight’s West End preview displaced a group of mourners fresh off a memorial service. The dearly departed was none other than Grandpa Munster himself. Grandpa reportedly lied his whole life about earning a Columbia Ph.D. so we’ll assume he wouldn’t mind sacrificing a little dignity […]

Henry Coleman, former Columbia Dean, passed away last week at age 79. Coleman was at the center of two of Columbia’s most troubling events: in ’68 he was taken hostage by students upset over planned expansion and in ’72 he was shot five times by undergrad suspended for poor academic performance. While Coleman officially left […]