Columbia University

Elected Fellow of the American Ornithological Society for contributions to ornithology.

Selected as a Provost’s Senior Faculty Teaching Scholar at Columbia University (2024).

Irene Garcia Ruiz was awarded a Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral work at the Université de Neuchâtel (Rubenstein Lab announcement).

Alexis Earl’s research on superb starlings was featured in The New York Times (May 2025).

Historical recognition: the IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine (installed starting Aug 1955 at Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory) is documented as the first general-purpose computer to be installed and used at Columbia; it supported hundreds of research projects and university computing instruction in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Columbia faculty and researchers played key roles in early atomic energy research and parts of the Manhattan Project during World War II, with notable scientists contributing to the development of nuclear research.

Columbia announced the creation of the Columbia Climate School in 2020 to coordinate and accelerate research, education, and policy engagement addressing the global climate crisis.

Detailed historical article documenting the IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machine at Columbia (photos, technical descriptions, user recollections), affirming that the 650 was the first general-purpose computer installed and used at Columbia and describing SOAP assembler (1955), FORTRAN availability (FORTRANSIT by 1957), and other 650-era computing practices on campus.

Comprehensive CTMC lecture notes (course resource) useful for stochastic processes and queueing theory.

Method paper discussing heredity-constrained LARS for designed experiments, practical model-selection caveats (cross-validation limits in small-run designs), solution-path inspection advice, and pointers to the one-standard-error rule and other penalty-based criteria; includes acknowledgements and NSF grant support details in the hosted manuscript.

Practical guidance for Ph.D. students on selecting a thesis topic and conducting research: emphasizing important, novel questions; use of seminars and working papers; balancing coursework, teaching and research; advisor interactions; presentation and writing practices; and pragmatic strategies for early-career success.

Annual World Leaders Forum scheduled at Low Library (Sept 22–25, 2025).

Columbia hosts programming and events during Climate Week NYC (Sept 21–28, 2025), with contributions from Columbia Climate School and Columbia Engineering.

Two IBM 650 Magnetic Drum Data Processing Machines were installed at the Watson Scientific Computing Laboratory (612 West 116th Street) beginning in August 1955; they supported more than 200 Columbia research projects and intensive computing courses over the late 1950s and early 1960s.

The Symbolic Optimal Assembly Program (SOAP), an optimizing assembler for the IBM 650, was written at Watson Lab by Stan Poley in 1955 and used to automate drum-placement optimization for 650 programs.

The IBM 650 installations enabled hands-on programming courses, including assembly programming and early high-level languages (FORTRANSIT FORTRAN support by 1957), and were referenced widely in Columbia computing education and research materials from the period.

Columbia's 650s were definitely operating in 1962 and were gone by 1970 when IBM left the Watson Lab building; the page documents user recollections and technical details of their configuration and use on campus.

Upcoming Brainwaves 2025 neurosurgery practice update (listed on Columbia events calendar).

On March 28, 2025, Columbia’s Board of Trustees announced that Interim President Katrina Armstrong would return to lead the Irving Medical Center, and Board Co-Chair Claire Shipman was appointed acting president while a presidential search continues.