Columbia University. University Archives.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED After the Columbia University student protests of April and May 1968, the Board of Trustees appointed a six-member Special Committee to study the structure of the university and recommend changes. The Committee met often during the next year, and examined and produced proposals for changes, such as the establishment of a University Senate.

Columbia University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States, was founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of King George II of England. Samuel Johnson, the College's first president, held the first classes in October 1754 in the vestry room of the Trinity Church schoolhouse on lower Broadway. There were eight students in this first class. This room housed classes until 1760 when the school moved to a building on Park Place in downtown Manhattan, near the present site of City Hall. Classes were suspended during the American Revolution in 1776 and the building was used as a barrack and hospital for both British and American troops. When instruction resumed in 1784, King's College changed its name to Columbia, in keeping with the contemporary political climate.

Classes continued in the Park Place campus building until 1857, when, to accommodate its continuing expansion, the college moved to 49th Street and Madison Avenue. It remained at this site for forty years, until 1897, when the university was moved by President Seth Low to the more spacious Morningside Heights campus, designed as an urban academic village by McKim, Mead, and White.

During the last half of the nineteenth century, Columbia rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. The Columbia School of Law was founded in 1858. The country's first mining school, a precursor of today's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, was established in 1864 and awarded the first Columbia Ph.D. in 1875. Barnard College for women became affiliated with Columbia in 1889; the medical school came under the aegis of the University in 1891, followed by Teachers College in 1893. In the 1880s, Columbia developed graduate faculties in political science, philosophy, and pure science, establishing Columbia as one of the nation's earliest center for graduate education. In 1896, the Trustees authorized the use of yet another new name, Columbia University, and today the institution is officially known as Columbia University in the City of New York.

During the presidency of Nicholas Murray Butler (1902-1945), Columbia emerged as a preeminent national center for educational innovation and scholarly achievement. The study of the sciences flourished along with the liberal arts. Franz Boas founded the modern science of anthropology at Columbia in the early decades of the twentieth century; the School of Journalism was established by bequest of Joseph Pulitzer in 1912; a course of study of original masterworks for undergraduates was created which ultimately developed into what is now know as the Core Curriculum; and atomic research was conducted by Columbia faculty, bringing the Physics Department to international prominence. In 1946, the School of International Affairs (now the School of International and Public Affairs) was founded marking the beginning of intensive growth in international relations as a major scholarly focus of the University.

Columbia continued to expand in the ensuing decades -- improving both its physical plant and creating new programs and infrastructure for a growing campus and community. Today it is considered one of the pre-eminent institutions of higher learning in the country and in the world.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Columbia University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States, was founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of King George II of England. Samuel Johnson, the College's first president, held the first classes in October 1754 in the vestry room of the Trinity Church schoolhouse on lower Broadway. There were eight students in this first class. This room housed classes until 1760 when the school moved to a building on Park Place in downtown Manhattan, near the present site of City Hall. Classes were suspended during the American Revolution in 1776 and the building was used as a barrack and hospital for both British and American troops. When instruction resumed in 1784, King's College changed its name to Columbia, in keeping with the contemporary political climate.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Classes continued in the Park Place campus building until 1857, when, to accommodate its continuing expansion, the college moved to 49th Street and Madison Avenue. It remained at this site for forty years, until 1897, when the university was moved by President Seth Low to the more spacious Morningside Heights campus, designed as an urban academic village by McKim, Mead, and White.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED During the last half of the nineteenth century, Columbia rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. The Columbia School of Law was founded in 1858. The country's first mining school, a precursor of today's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, was established in 1864 and awarded the first Columbia Ph.D. in 1875. Barnard College for women became affiliated with Columbia in 1889; the medical school came under the aegis of the University in 1891, followed by Teachers College in 1893. In the 1880s, Columbia developed graduate faculties in political science, philosophy, and pure science, establishing Columbia as one of the nation's earliest center for graduate education. In 1896, the Trustees authorized the use of yet another new name, Columbia University, and today the institution is officially known as Columbia University in the City of New York.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED During the presidency of Nicholas Murray Butler (1902-1945), Columbia emerged as a preeminent national center for educational innovation and scholarly achievement. The study of the sciences flourished along with the liberal arts. Franz Boas founded the modern science of anthropology at Columbia in the early decades of the twentieth century; the School of Journalism was established by bequest of Joseph Pulitzer in 1912; a course of study of original masterworks for undergraduates was created which ultimately developed into what is now know as the Core Curriculum; and atomic research was conducted by Columbia faculty, bringing the Physics Department to international prominence. In 1946, the School of International Affairs (now the School of International and Public Affairs) was founded marking the beginning of intensive growth in international relations as a major scholarly focus of the University.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Columbia continued to expand in the ensuing decades -- improving both its physical plant and creating new programs and infrastructure for a growing campus and community. Today it is considered one of the pre-eminent institutions of higher learning in the country and in the world.

Department of Fine Arts

BIOGHIST REQUIRED The Department of Music was established within the Faculty of Philosophy in 1896. Six years later the department was established as an independent School of Music under the Division of Fine Arts (which included the School of Architecture).

BIOGHIST REQUIRED The Department of Fine Arts was established in 1921. The original goal was to allow the students to become familiar with aspects of architecture, painting, sculpture, and any related scholarly work in those fields. The first course that was offered was a general survey of western art from antiquity to the Renaissance period. The purpose, according to a history of the department, was "to acquaint those students whose programs would permit no more than a single course in Fine Arts with the outstanding names, monuments, and concepts in the arts, and to provide a framework for more intensive exploration in the several branches of the Fine Art..." Intermediate-level courses that allowed students to study in more depth were also established. An example of this would be Italian Renaissance Painting.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED While the department steadily grew, its success rested on the economy. In other word, the economic outlook affected student interest in these fields and thus, the department size. Another factor affecting the department was a changing view of education and focus at Columbia College. As the liberal arts program evolved, the changes naturally affected specialized departments within the college. By the late 1930s, however, collaboration between Humanities and the Departments of Music and Fine Arts balanced out some of the inequalities. The focus of the department also solidified. In the 1950s, the department increased adding more faculty members in order to handle the growing amount of students.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED The Arts Center Program, a forerunner to the School of the Arts, was never realized as such. Instead, Columbia created the Program in the Arts in 1958, which took over responsibility for the Schools of Dramatic Art and Painting and Sculpture. The Committee on the Arts administered the instruction of the Program in the Arts and advised on the Arts Center and the creation of the School of the Arts. The Trustees of Columbia University established the School of the Arts to take over the responsibilities of the Program of the Arts in December 1965. The School of the Arts was created with the intention of consolidating the many courses in the arts that had been offered at Columbia since the late nineteenth century.

Davidson Taylor

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Davidson Taylor was born in 1907 in Tennessee. He received a B.A. in 1927 from Mississippi College and a Th.M. in 1930 from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Before coming to Columbia University, Taylor worked at CBS beginning as an announcer for the Philharmonic and held various posts including the Director of the Music Division and ending as Vice President. After that, Taylor had been at NBC as Vice President in charge of news, public affairs, and sports and was also a consultant to the Lincoln Center Committee for the New York Public Library. In 1959, Columbia asked Taylor to be the Director of the Arts Center. Even though the Arts Center was never realized, Taylor spent many years fund-raising for the Center. In 1963, he became the Chairman of the Committee on the Arts, the administration committee of the Program of the Arts. In December 1965, when the School of the Arts took over the instructional responsibilities of the Program of the Arts, Taylor became director, and later dean in 1969, of the newly established School. He became Special Assistant to the President for Education in the Arts in September 1971. Taylor retired from Columbia University in 1975 and died in July 1979.

Grafton Nunes

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Grafton Nunes worked for Columbia University for twenty-two years. He received his B.A. in English and Religion from the College of the Holy Cross, his M.F.A. in Film History, Theory, and Criticism from Columbia, and his M.Phil in Theater History and Film Studies from Columbia. Nunes first began working at Columbia as the administrative assistant for the Film Division. In 1985, he was hired as a lecturer in the theatre division. He taught until 1988 when he was promoted to Assistant Dean. In 1990, Nunes was named Associate Dean of the School of the Arts. Besides his work in academia, Nunes was an active film writer and producer.

Translation Center

BIOGHIST REQUIRED The Translation Center was founded in 1972 by Frank MacShane (a writing professor in the School of the Arts), Robert Payne, and William Jay Smith. Since its foundation it has been governed by a board of literary translators. The mission of the Center is to increase "the number of works available in English from foreign literature..." By doing so, the Center makes "the American public aware of the concerns that are common to peoples of the world." To accomplish this, the Center has three major outputs. It grants $10,000 each year in awards to literary translators, it publishes twice a year Translation a magazine filled with poetry, nonfiction, and contemporary fiction translated into English, and it operates a Publishing Advisory Service. Although the Translation Center is housed on campus, it is funded primarily through grants. The School of the Arts does, however, provide some financing of the Director's position.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Columbia University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York and the fifth oldest in the United States, was founded in 1754 as King's College by royal charter of King George II of England. Samuel Johnson, the College's first president, held the first classes in October 1754 in the vestry room of the Trinity Church schoolhouse on lower Broadway. There were eight students in this first class. This room housed classes until 1760 when the school moved to a building on Park Place in downtown Manhattan, near the present site of City Hall. Classes were suspended during the American Revolution in 1776 and the building was used as a barrack and hospital for both British and American troops. When instruction resumed in 1784, King's College changed its name to Columbia, in keeping with the contemporary political climate.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Classes continued in the Park Place campus building until 1857, when, to accommodate its continuing expansion, the college moved to 49th Street and Madison Avenue. It remained at this site for forty years, until 1897, when the university was moved by President Seth Low to the more spacious Morningside Heights campus, designed as an urban academic village by McKim, Mead, and White.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED During the last half of the nineteenth century, Columbia rapidly assumed the shape of a modern university. The Columbia School of Law was founded in 1858. The country's first mining school, a precursor of today's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science, was established in 1864 and awarded the first Columbia Ph.D. in 1875. Barnard College for women became affiliated with Columbia in 1889; the medical school came under the aegis of the University in 1891, followed by Teachers College in 1893. In the 1880s, Columbia developed graduate faculties in political science, philosophy, and pure science, establishing Columbia as one of the nation's earliest center for graduate education. In 1896, the Trustees authorized the use of yet another new name, Columbia University, and today the institution is officially known as Columbia University in the City of New York.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED During the presidency of Nicholas Murray Butler (1902-1945), Columbia emerged as a preeminent national center for educational innovation and scholarly achievement. The study of the sciences flourished along with the liberal arts. Franz Boas founded the modern science of anthropology at Columbia in the early decades of the twentieth century; the School of Journalism was established by bequest of Joseph Pulitzer in 1912; a course of study of original masterworks for undergraduates was created which ultimately developed into what is now know as the Core Curriculum; and atomic research was conducted by Columbia faculty, bringing the Physics Department to international prominence. In 1946, the School of International Affairs (now the School of International and Public Affairs) was founded marking the beginning of intensive growth in international relations as a major scholarly focus of the University.

BIOGHIST REQUIRED Columbia continued to expand in the ensuing decades -- improving both its physical plant and creating new programs and infrastructure for a growing campus and community. Today it is considered one of the pre-eminent institutions of higher learning in the country and in the world.