16 Facts About Lee Bollinger

Lee Carroll Bollinger was born on April 30,1946 and is an American attorney and educator who served as the 19th president of Columbia University from 2002 to 2023 and as the 12th president of the University of Michigan from 1996 to 2002.

Lee Bollinger is a legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech.

Lee Bollinger served as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York board of directors in 2011, and was a member of the board from 2006 to 2012.

Lee Bollinger was raised in Santa Rosa and Baker City, Oregon.

In 1963, Lee Bollinger spent a year as an exchange student in Brazil with AFS Intercultural Programs.

In 1971 and 1972, Lee Bollinger served as a law clerk to Judge Wilfred Feinberg of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.

In 1973, Lee Bollinger joined the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School, becoming a full professor in 1979, and dean of the school in 1987.

Lee Bollinger assumed his position as president of Columbia University in June 2002.

In 2003, Bollinger was a named defendant representing the University of Michigan in the Supreme Court cases Grutter v Bollinger and Gratz v Bollinger.

Lee Bollinger lived in the Columbia President's House from February 2004 until the end of his tenure as president, after the building underwent a $23 million renovation.

In November 2006, Lee Bollinger was elected to the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a term lasting for three years.

On October 19,2010, the Board of Trustees announced through a university-wide email that Lee Bollinger had agreed to continue as president for at least the next five years.

Lee Bollinger was the subject of criticism for his role in advocating the expansion of the university into the Manhattanville neighborhood and the use of eminent domain to help it seize property there.

Lee Bollinger attempted to expand the international scope of the university, took frequent trips abroad and invited world leaders to its campus.

Lee Bollinger was criticized for taking a neutral public position on controversies regarding the Middle East Languages and Cultures department.

In February 2022, the Columbia Daily Spectator reported that Lee Bollinger had purchased an Upper West Side apartment for $11.7 million.