Columbia Names Shipman Acting President as Armstrong Steps Down

Columbia University’s interim president Katrina Armstrong said she is leaving her position, ending a tumultuous tenure that was marked by confrontation with the Trump administration and outcry from faculty and students over the school’s response.

Just a week after the university agreed to a list of demands from the US government in an attempt to restore federal funding, Armstrong said Friday that the board named Claire Shipman, co-chair of the trustees, as acting president effective immediately. She’ll serve until the board finishes its search for a president, while Armstrong returns to her previous roles including chief executive officer of Columbia’s Irving Medical Center.