Tradition, Innovation, and Growth

Columbia researchers have discovered a genetic variant that reduces the odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease by up to 70%.

Columbia professor Michel Sadelain is one of the pioneers of CAR T cells, a “living drug” that has revolutionized the treatment of blood cancers.

A recent Columbia study showed that DNA analysis picks up many more health conditions than standard screening, paving the way for a new standard of neonatal medical care. 

Researchers from Columbia Engineering and Columbia University Irving Medical Center are building a living knee replacement from biomaterials.

Columbia’s Zuckerman Institute conducts pioneering research into how the brain develops, performs, endures, and recovers, gaining insights that promise to benefit people and societies everywhere.

Columbia is a leader in the rapidly growing field of AI. The recent Columbia AI Summit showcased the University’s wide-ranging expertise in pioneering AI.

Columbia physicist Isidor Isaac Rabi discovered nuclear magnetic resonance in the 1930s, which led to the development of the MRI now used to diagnose and monitor medical conditions.

In 1951, Columbia’s Charles Townes came up with the idea for the device that led to the laser and earned him a Nobel Prize.

Before and during the Second World War, Columbia scientists played a pivotal role in the development of nuclear science, which led to the first atom bomb.

In 1943, bacitracin was discovered at Columbia. This 80-year-old antibiotic ointment is still vital today.

Columbia engineers led by Shree Nayar revolutionized digital photography with a new kind of imaging now used in over one billion smartphones worldwide.

Professor Louis Brus won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on quantum dots, which now help power flat-screen TVs, LED lamps, and technology used to remove tumors.

Professor Joachim Frank won the Nobel Prize for his role in developing a way to capture high-resolution 3D images of molecules, revolutionizing biology and drug discovery in the process.

A founder of the field of neonatology and inventor of the Apgar score

 The former CEO of Xerox Corporation

The first woman to win the Academy Award for Best Director

One of the world’s most successful investors

Since its founding in 1948 as the world’s first institutional home of oral history, Columbia’s Center for Oral History Research has been a resource for scholars, students, artists, and many others to mine the living history of New York City and of our world.

Columbia’s more-than-100-year-old Core Curriculum gives undergraduate students a grounding in the frontiers of science, as well as 2,800 years of literature and philosophy.

Frank Tannenbaum was professor of Latin American history at Columbia from 1935 until his retirement in 1962 and a founder of the University Seminars, a series of convenings where leading thinkers debate vital issues facing society.