Stanford psychologist Claude Steele named 21st University Provost

WEB EXCLUSIVE 2:20p.m. Claude Steele, a professor of psychology at Stanford University, will become Columbia's next provost, according to a University announcement and an e-mail University President Lee Bollinger sent to students on Wednesday afternoon. Steele will become the first African American to hold the post.

He will begin his tenure on Sept. 1, 2009, succeeding current Provost Academic Brinkley to the role of the University's chief academic officer and the president's right-hand man. Coming from an external institution, Steele will have to learn about Columbia's idiosyncrasies and bureaucratic structure fairly quickly.

Steele is currently Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences and director of Stanford’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has been teaching psychology in Stanford since 1991, and worked as the department's chair from 1997 to 2000. Steele has also directed Stanford's Center for Comparative Studies in Race and Ethnicity since 2002.

In a phone interview on Wednesday afternoon, Bollinger said that his contact with Steele, though not intimate, stretches back over a decade. From 1987-1991 he taught at the University of Michigan, Steele overlapped with Bollinger. "He's very well known, one of the leading figures in the field of psychology, in stereotyping work," Bollinger said.

Of their contact at Michigan, Bollinger said, "As I said, we really weren't close colleagues. I knew him a little bit, and knew of him a lot."

Though Steele had left by the time Bollinger returned from Dartmouth to become Michigan's president, his name was still on Bollinger's mind, as he was involved in Bollinger's affirmative action lawsuits. "I didn't actually interact with him and I knew about his role," Bollinger said. "My provost at Michigan was Nancy Cantor who is now the president of Syracuse University, and she was very close to him. "

Bollinger added that unlike his abrupt Chinese restaurant proposal to Brinkley, he followed the advice of the advisory committee, which presented him with several finalists—including Steele. "I used the committee to help me think through the type of person and the role of the provost," Bollinger said.

“Having earned the admiration of students and colleagues for his excellence as a teacher, researcher and department chair, Dr. Steele is an ideal choice to succeed Provost Alan Brinkley, whom I thank again for his tremendous contribution to the university," Bollinger said in the University announcement. “Dr. Steele is a friend and colleague to many in the Columbia community, and it is a great moment to be able to welcome him here.”

Steele will succeed Brinkley, who is stepping down to take a year of leave before returning to the history department full time. Under Brinkley’s leadership, the duties of the provost's office grew, and began overseeing diversity initiatives and the newly-created Columbia middle school. Steele will pick up where Brinkley left off, Bollinger said, to further develop the academic component of Manhattanville planning.

Since Columbia's endowment fell by about 22 percent, Steele will take the reins of an academic institution trying to balance its budget while maintaining academic quality. In a recent e-mail, Bollinger mentioned that the 8 percent endowment funds cut across all units was just a first step, signaling that Steele will have join the administration in making tough budgetary choices and cutbacks in years to come.

According to Columbia's announcement, Steele is known for his research in social psychology, "including such issues as self-identity, group stereotypes and addictive behaviors." Steele has published research and informed policy makers on issues such as substance abuse, unemployment and education, and juvenile delinquency.

Steele spent his undergraduate years at Hiram College, a small liberal arts institution in Ohio. He then earned his master’s and Ph.D. from Ohio State University. He he has taught at the University of Michigan, University of Washington and the University of Utah, and earned honorary degrees from other colleges, such as Yale. According to his CV, Steele overlapped with Bollinger at Michigan, where he taught from 1987-1991.

Steele's resumé is filled with many organizational leadership positions, including president of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, president of the Western Psychological Association, and a member of the board of directors of the American Psychological Society. In terms of administrative experience, the announcement noted that he has been "an active member of the Stanford community" through work on the Faculty Senate and Board of Trustees Development Committee.

“Columbia has long had a unique place in higher education and the university has built remarkable momentum in recent years,” Steele said in the announcement. “As I considered the deepening excellence of its students, faculty, and administrative leadership, this seemed like a wonderful opportunity to work with a new group of accomplished colleagues on the important missions of teaching, research, patient care and public service in an increasingly diverse and global society.”

In the announcement, both psychology professor and vice provost for diversity initiatives Geraldine Downey and Kenneth Prewitt, Columbia’s Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs and vice president for global centers praised Steele's accomplishments in the announcement. “Though I had long respected Claude as a scholar, not until I joined the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences Board of Trustees did I see his administrative finesse in action, and under tough conditions,” Prewitt said. Downey noted that Steele would be a worthwhile addition to her department.

See below for full text of Bollinger's e-mail:

Dear fellow members of the Columbia community:

I am very pleased to announce that I am appointing Dr. Claude M. Steele as the new Provost of Columbia University, effective September 1, 2009. Dr. Steele is currently the Lucie Stern Professor in the Social Sciences at Stanford University, where he has taught since 1991. He also currently serves as the Director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. Claude is widely recognized for his dedicated and charismatic teaching, for his seminal scholarship, which has focused on questions of identity, group stereotypes, and addictive behaviors, and for his service to the academic community and beyond. He is a friend and colleague to many in the Columbia community, and it is a great moment to be able to welcome him here as Provost.

Let me note just a few of the highlights of Claude’s distinguished career. As a leader in the field of social psychology, he currently holds memberships in the National Academy of Education, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences. He is the recipient of several fellowships and prizes including the Senior Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest and the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award from the American Psychological Association. His past leadership roles include serving as the president of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, as the president of the Western Psychological Association, as the chair of the Executive Committee of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and as a member of the board of directors of the American Psychological Society. His extensive academic experience includes professorships on the faculties of the University of Michigan, University of Washington, the University of Utah, and in his current role at Stanford, where he has served as the chair of the Psychology Department. Dr. Steele received his BA from Hiram College and both his MA and PhD from Ohio State University. He has received honorary degrees from a number of prestigious universities, including the University of Chicago, Yale, and Princeton.

Having earned the admiration of students and colleagues for his excellence as a teacher, researcher, and department chair, Dr. Steele is an ideal choice to succeed Provost Alan Brinkley, whom I thank again for his tremendous contribution to the University. I also want to thank all the members of the Advisory Committee for their care and insights in the process leading to this new appointment.

Please join me in welcoming Dr. Claude Steele as the 21st Provost of Columbia University.

Sincerely,

Lee C. Bollinger