Jennifer L. Mnookin has been selected to be the next president of Columbia University in New York City. She will begin her presidency on July 1, 2026.
Columbia University enrolls over 9,100 undergraduates and more than 26,000 graduate students, according to the most recent federal data. Women represent 49 percent of the Ivy League institution’s undergraduate student population.
“I am honored and thrilled to join Columbia University at this important moment,” said Dr. Mnookin. “Columbia is defined by rigorous scholarship, a deep commitment to open inquiry, world-class patient care, and an inseparable and enduring connection to New York City, the greatest city in the world. I look forward to working closely with faculty, students, and staff, and with both our local and global community of alumni and friends, to advance the university’s critically important mission and to ensure that its teaching and research continue to contribute meaningfully to society.”
For the past four years, Dr. Mnookin has served as chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, overseeing 13 schools and colleges with over 25,000 faculty and staff, including a medical school and an affiliated health system. Under her leadership, the university has invested heavily in faculty hiring and research infrastructure, artificial intelligence and interdisciplinary research, and financial support for students.
Before her current role, Dr. Mnookin spent seven years as dean of the School of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles. She joined the UCLA faculty in 2005, following several years in leadership roles at the University of Virginia School of Law. As one of the nation’s most-cited scholars in the field of legal evidence, Dr. Mnookin focuses on evidence, science, and the law, with particular attention to wrongful convictions, forensic evidence, and visual evidence.
A graduate of Harvard University, Dr. Mnookin holds a juris doctorate from Yale Law School and a Ph.D. in history and social study of science and technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.