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Lee Bollinger
19th President of Columbia University
Term	2002 – present
Predecessor	George Erik Rupp
Born	Santa Rosa, California
Alma mater	University of Oregon
Profession	Lawyer

Lee C. Bollinger is an American lawyer and educator and is currently serving as the 19th president of Columbia University. Formerly the president of the University of Michigan, he is a noted legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech. He was at the center of two notable United States Supreme Court cases regarding the use of affirmative action in admissions processes.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Works 3 Affirmative Action cases 4 President of Columbia 5 Personal life 6 External links

Born in Santa Rosa, California, Bollinger was raised there and in Baker City, Oregon. He went on to graduate from the University of Oregon in 1968 and received a J.D. from Columbia Law School. He served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and Chief Justice Warren Burger of the U.S. Supreme Court. Bollinger went on to join the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School in 1973, becoming dean of the school in 1987. He became provost of Dartmouth College in 1994 before returning to the University of Michigan in 1996 as president. Bollinger assumed his current position as president of Columbia University in June 2002.

In addition to his academic and administrative positions, Bollinger has authored many articles and books on the subject of free speech, including The Tolerant Society and Images of a Free Press.

In 2003, Bollinger made headlines as defendant in the Supreme Court cases Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger. In the Grutter case, the Court found by a 5-4 margin that the affirmative action policies of the University of Michigan Law School were constitutional. But at the same time, they found by a 6-3 margin in the Gratz case that the undergraduate admissions policies of Michigan were not narrowly tailored to a compelling interest in diversity, and thus that they violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

As president, Bollinger has attempted to expand the international scope of the University, taking frequent trips abroad and inviting world leaders to its campus. Bollinger has been criticized for taking a neutral public position on controversies in 2004-5 regarding intimidation of students by professors in the Middle East Languages and Cultures (MEALAC) department alleged by the pro-Israel advocacy organization The David Project, and for placing the department in receivership. He has also been at the forefront of criticism for his role advocating the expansion of the University into the Manhattanville neighborhood and the possible use of eminent domain to help it seize property there. The Bollinger administration's expansion plans have been criticized as fundamentally incompatible with the 197/a plan for development crafted by the community, and for failing to address the neighborhood's need to maintain affordable housing stock.

While Bollinger began his presidency promising to continue the legacy brought with him from Michigan as open and receptive to students, many have criticized him for failing to live up to these expectations as well. Nevertheless, Bollinger remains fairly popular with students and has largely succeeded in maintaining a very high profile for Columbia. In November 2006, Bollinger was elected to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York City, a term lasting for three years.

Lee is married to artist Jean Magnano Bollinger. They have two children, and live in the newly restored Columbia University President's House on W. 116th Street and Morningside Drive in Manhattan, New York City.

Academic Offices
Preceded by George Erik Rupp	President of Columbia University 2002 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Homer Neal	President of the University of Michigan 1996-2001	Succeeded by B. Joseph White

• Columbia University President's Office
• UOregon article about Bollinger

Presidents of University of Michigan
Monteith • Tappan • Haven • Frieze • Angell • Hutchins • Burton • Lloyd • Little • Ruthven • Hatcher • Fleming • Smith • Shapiro • Fleming • Duderstadt • Neal • Bollinger • White • Coleman