Contact: Kim Brockway For immediate release (212) 854-2419 kkb18@columbia.eduSix Columbia College alumni -- with professional accomplishments in settings as diverse as college communities, major corporations and international affairs -- will be honored with Columbia's John Jay Awards on Thursday, March 26, in a black-tie event in the Rotunda of Columbia's Low Memorial Library, Broadway and West 116th Street. The evening will begin with a reception at 6 p.m., followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Media coverage is invited. The John Jay Awards are presented annually to alumni of distinction and are named for John Jay, a graduate of the class of 1764 who became the first Chief Justice of the United States. The alumni who will receive the awards this year are: William P. Barr ('71), currently serves as chief general counsel for GTE Corporation. As Attorney General under President George Bush, Barr oversaw domestic counterterrorism efforts during the Persian Gulf War and the deployment of federal agents during the Los Angeles riots. In his current role, he recently led the landmark assault on federal regulation of local telephone service, which ultimately struck down the FCC's rules implementing the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Joseph D. Coffee ('41), has served education in various roles for more than half a century. He established many of the most cherished traditions at Columbia, and guided the University's development and alumni efforts to realize an involved, informed and supportive alumni body. The creator of the corporate matching gift program, Coffee played a key role in establishing Eisenhower College (now part of the Rochester Institute of Technology) as well as serving as its president and chancellor, and led the nation's first campaign for school desegregation in Teaneck, N.J., during the 1960s. Gerald Green ('42), a producer of NBC's Today show in its early years, is the author of The Last Angry Man, which was twice filmed from screenplays he wrote, and other works including To Brooklyn With Love, The Chains, and The Artists of Terezin. A graduate of Columbia's Journalism School, Green won an Emmy Award for the 1978 series Holocaust, which sparked an international dialogue that led to the German Parliament's annulment of the statute of limitations on Nazi war criminals. Milton Pollack ('27), is senior partner in the law firm of Unger & Pollack and has presided over precedent-setting cases, including the $3 billion settlement of the Milken-Drexel bankruptcy cases. Also a graduate of Columbia Law School, Pollack served for many years on the Judicial Panel on Multi-District Litigation and other Judicial Conference Committees, and received the Edward J. Devitt Award for Distinguished Service to Justice. James P. Rubin ('82), is assistant secretary of state for public affairs and department spokesman, as well as a principal advisor to Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and liaison to the Executive Office of the President. Rubin, who also holds a master's degree from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, served as director of foreign policy for the 1996 Democratic presidential campaign and, as senior foreign policy advisor to Sen. Joseph R. Biden, consulted on the ABM treaty, among other issues. Mark H. Willes ('63), chairman, CEO and president of the Times Mirror Company, and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, also holds a doctorate in economics from Columbia University. A former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, he served as president, chief operating officer, and vice chairman of General Mills. Columbia University President George Rupp and Austin E. Quigley, dean of Columbia College, will present this year's John Jay Awards. Saul Cohen ('57) and Phillip Satow ('63) are the evening's co-chairs. Past winners of the John Jay Awards include former Secretary of Defense Harold Brown, ABC News Chairman Roone Arledge, poet Allen Ginsburg, Iran- Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh and playwright Tony Kushner. 3.9.98 19,288 Columbia College Honors Accomplished Alumni For Exceptional Achievement in International Affairs, Education, Media, and Law
State Department's James Rubin, TV producer Gerald Green, Educator Joseph Coffee Among Honorees