Dr. Katrina Armstrong steps down as Interim President of Columbia, Board of Trustees co-chair Claire Shipman appointed as Acting President

Barnard President Rosenbury thanks Armstrong for her partnership and states that Dr. Armstrong will be returning to lead the Irving Medical Center.

Photo by The Barnard Bulletin

By Giselle Bradshaw

April 2, 2025

On Friday, March 28, Columbia University’s Board of Trustees announced that Dr. Katrina Armstrong will step down as Interim President and return to her previous roles as Chief Executive Officer of Columbia University’s Irving Medical Center, Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences, and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine and the Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons. Claire Shipman (CC ’86, SIPA ’94), co-chair of the Board of Trustees, will assume the role of Acting President until a permanent successor is selected, making her the third person to hold the presidency in two years. 

This leadership change comes about seven weeks before the end of the spring semester, amid turmoil related to the demands made by the Trump administration and federal funding cuts regarding the University’s handling of ongoing pro-Palestinian protests. 

David J. Greenwald, chair on behalf of the Trustees, announced Armstrong’s departure in an email to the Columbia community at 7:42 p.m. on Friday, stating, “The Board of Trustees appreciates Dr. Armstrong’s service at a time of great uncertainty for the University. She worked tirelessly to promote the interests of our community and has always given her heart and soul to Columbia. We look forward to her continued contributions to the University.” 

Armstrong took over as Interim President following the resignation of former President Minouche Shafik in August 2024. During her tenure, Armstrong expanded the Campus Climate Working Group, consolidated reports of discrimination under the new Office of Institutional Equity, and initiated listening sessions through the University Senate’s Rules of University Conduct Committee.

She also oversaw controversial policy shifts in response to federal pressure after the Trump administration withheld $400 million in funding from the University. These measures included prohibiting masks at protests, appointing a new Senior Vice Provost to review Regional Studies programs — such as the Center for Palestine Studies and the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies — and implementing mandatory university-wide Title VI training.

In a separate email sent to the Columbia community on Friday night, Armstrong wrote, “It has been a singular honor to lead Columbia University in this important and challenging time. This is one of the world’s great universities, in its most vital city, and I am proud to have worked with extraordinary faculty, students, and alumni.” She emphasized that her return to the Medical Center was part of her original plan, stating that “[her] heart is with science, and [her] passion is with healing.”

In the same announcement, Greenwald highlighted Shipman’s readiness to take on the role, writing, “Acting President Shipman steps into this role with a clear understanding of the serious challenges facing our community. She brings a steadfast commitment to lead with urgency and integrity and will work closely with our faculty to advance our mission, protect our students, uphold academic freedom, and preserve open inquiry.”

Shipman has served on Columbia’s Board of Trustees since 2013 and became co-chair in 2023, a position she held during the April 2024 campus encampments. She has worked as a journalist for CNN, NBC, and ABC News and has won numerous awards, including a Peabody Award and an Emmy Award. She has also co-authored three bestselling books. 

Shipman played a key role in Columbia’s response to campus antisemitism concerns. In April 2024, she testified before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, stating, “We shut our gates and backed the critical decision to invite the New York City Police Department onto our campus during demonstrations for the first time since 1968.” She further stated, “We’ve also brought on other law enforcement experts, rewritten our rules, and beefed up our enforcement process, suspending two student groups for non-compliance, more than a dozen individual students, and also disciplining faculty members. We’ve created an independent antisemitism task force, and launched training across the University on antisemitism.” 

Following her appointment, Shipman reaffirmed her commitment to addressing Columbia’s ongoing challenges in a statement from the Office of Public Affairs: “I assume this role with a clear understanding of the serious challenges before us and a steadfast commitment to act with urgency, integrity, and work with our faculty to advance our mission, implement needed reforms, protect our students, and uphold academic freedom and open inquiry.” Shipman also noted that Columbia’s next permanent president will “conduct an appropriate review of the University’s leadership team and structure to ensure we are best positioned for the future.”

President Rosenbury emailed the Barnard College community on Monday, March 31 regarding the leadership change at Columbia, writing, “I thank Dr. Armstrong for her partnership during this challenging time across higher education. I wish her the very best as she returns to lead the Irving Medical Center. I have been in contact with Acting President Claire Shipman, and I look forward to continuing the open dialogue that has been so critical in recent months.” 

Rosenbury also announced that a “Columbia University Statements and Announcements” link has been added to the Barnard College News website, so that members of the Barnard community have “timely access to relevant Columbia communications that may be of interest.” Rosenbury further stated, “Although Barnard and Columbia have different leadership, governance, and missions, we remain deeply connected at our core.”