Jennifer Mnookin, currently the chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has been named the next president of Columbia University, according to reports from The New York Times.
Mnookin has been Madison's chancellor since 2022, and he will continue to hold that position until spring commencement.
University of Wisconsin President Jay Rothman thanked Mnookin in a statement and said, “As Chancellor Mnookin begins her next chapter, we thank her for her contributions and wish her every success.”
Mnookin will take over for acting president Claire Shipman. The search has been marked by problems, delays, and the withdrawal of several prominent applicants. Her selection would bring the Ivy League school its fourth leader since late 2023, capping a tumultuous search.
Here are five things to know about the new Columbia University president.
Mnookin has degrees from two Ivy League institutions and MIT
Jennifer Mnookin is an American legal scholar known for her work on evidence, forensic science and the intersection of law and technology.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from Harvard in 1988, a J.D. from Yale Law School and a PhD in history and social study of science and technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Mnookin helped make the University of Wisconsin #12 public university
As per the official chancellor's page of the University of Wisconsin, under Mnookin's chancellorship, the university was named a Best Value school and ranked as the 12th best public university in the United States.
President Rothman said, “During her tenure, Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin brought unbounded energy, resilience and deeply thoughtful leadership to this great university.”
The University news site reported that Mnookin enhanced student performance, set records for fundraising, and made a UW–Madison education more accessible and affordable for more Wisconsin students.
Mnookin was a professor at the UCLA School of Law
Before transitioning to university leadership, Mnookin spent 17 years as a professor at the UCLA School of Law. She rose through the ranks at UCLA and eventually served as vice dean for faculty and research and later as dean.
Mnookin is the founder and co-director of UCLA's Program on Understanding Law, Science & Evidence (PULSE @ UCLA Law). She has written about topics related to forensic science, including DNA evidence, fingerprint identification, and handwriting expertise.
Mnookin donated her kidney to her father
In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Mnookin gave her father, Harvard law professor Robert Mnookin, a kidney.
The organ was transported from Los Angeles to Boston for a successful transplant using a transplant solution created at UW-Madison.
Mnookin successfully handled protests at UW-Madison
Mnookin dealt with waves of protest action at UW-Madison that were comparable to those at other colleges, such as a pro-Palestinian camping and major federal budget cuts to the university's multibillion-dollar research enterprise.