An international student body does not merely refer to the number of countries, ethnicities or cultures represented, but it describes the tenor and character of a place. At Columbia you will find peers from all over the world who engage with each other in serious dialogue between cultures, nations, races and religions. Consider your future home to be a place of both comfort and difference—where you may find students who come from the same small town as you, but also others with radically different views of the world. A dynamic home that will push and challenge you: where the world’s leading scholars moderate and shape conversation. It is a place of acclaimed alumni who have come through Columbia and gone on to leave their legacy in the world. Welcome to Columbia: the Global University.

It is a community made up of:

• Alumni: Renowned international alumni who have come from all parts of the world, but who found their home in Morningside Heights
• Faculty: Faculty members who are leading groundbreaking research—these are your mentors 
• Students: Remarkable students from all around the globe who will be your classmates and peers.

International Alumni

Columbia is home to many renowned alumni who have gone on to change and influence the world.  Many of these eminent alumni were international students.

Coming from diverse backgrounds and places, they traveled to Morningside Heights with a particular hope and goal in mind—to better themselves so they might better the world. 
Some international students completed their undergraduate degrees, while others earned graduate degrees.  Though this list is only a sampling, consider these alumni to be your mentors, role models and guides; they were international students who came from abroad and experienced the unique Columbia educational experience.

• Aravind Adiga—An international student from Australia, but born in India, Adiga graduated salutatorian of Columbia College in 1997. He was recently named the recepient of the Man Booker Prize for his novel White Tiger. The prize is the British Commonwealth's highest prize awarded annually for fiction
• Madeleine Albright—Emigrated from the former Czechoslovakia and came to Columbia to earn her PhD (SIPA ’68, GSAS ’76) before becoming the country’s first female Secretary of State
• B.R. Ambedkar—Came from India to Columbia where he studied political science (GSAS ’28); he would return to India to write its constitution and advocate for the rights of “untouchables’ in Indian society
• Emanuel Ax & Yo Yo Ma—The acclaimed duo both emigrated from Europe to the United States to study at Juilliard and take courses at Columbia.  Ax would go on to complete an undergraduate degree (CC ’70)
• Jacques Barzun—Emigrated from France and spent his entire academic career at Columbia earning multiple degrees (CC ’27, GSAS ’32), giving life to the Core Curriculum, serving as Provost; he continues to write at age 100
• Dore Gold—Born in America, Gold spent most of his academic career at Columbia receiving multiple degrees (CC ’75, GSAS ’76 ’84) before he emigrated to Israel and became a leading diplomat, serving as that country’s ambassador to the United Nations
• Mario Laserna Pinzón—The Colombian educator came to Columbia (CC ’48) and developed an understanding of the liberal arts form of education that he would later bring to his home country through the foundation of the Universidad de los Andes
• Federico Garcia Lorca—Visited from Spain and spent the year of 1929-30 as a student at Columbia’s Extension School living in John Jay Hall where he began to write his famous book of poems Poeta en Nueva York
• Konrad Lorenz—Austrian zoologist and 1973 Nobel Laureate did much of his undergraduate work at Columbia before returning home and becoming an influential thinker on behavior patterns in animals
• Toomas Hendrik Ilves—The son of Estonian refugees, he grew up in New Jersey and attended Columbia College (CC ’76) before going back to lead Estonia as President while also trying to bring the Core to the Eastern European republic
• John Kluge—Emigrated from Germany and attended Columbia (CC ’37) on scholarship before becoming a media entrepreneur and major benefactor of Columbia and the Library of Congress
• Vikram Pandit—The current CEO of Citigroup emigrated from India to attend Columbia and earn a series of degrees from the Engineering and Business Schools (EN ’76, ’77 BU ’80, ’86)
• Pixley ka Isaka Seme—This great political leader studied at Columbia (CC ’06) where he fell in love with the spirit of the city and the university, the same spirit that he took back to South Africa, where he founded the African National Congress
• V.K. Wellington Koo—Received multiple degrees from Columbia (CC ’08, GSAS ’12) before he went on to serve as ambassador of the Republic of China to the United States and to be part of the committee that helped establish the United Nations

Faculty

An internationally acclaimed faculty across all disciplines.  Columbia has historically been the center of innovation, but the quality of a Columbia education is truly measured in the way faculty members interact with students.  You will become a co-investigator in pioneering research, a critical thinker pushed by your professors, and a deeply engaged global citizen seeking out new ways to help various communities. 

Here is a sampling of current faculty members who all teach undergraduates.

• Alfred Aho—Computer Science professor, the "A" in the programming language AWK.
• Barry Bergdoll (CC ’77)— Professor of Art History and chief curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
• Alan Brinkley—Professor of History and influential American historian
• Tsung Dao Lee—Physics Professor and Nobel Laureate who has spent his entire teaching career at Columbia
• Brian Greene—Mathematics and Physics professor, researcher, popular author and major proponent of String Theory
• Lydia Goehr—Professor of Philosophy, recipient of the Guggenheim, Melon and Getty Fellowships for her research of aestheticism, she has previously taught in the Core Curriculum
• Eric Kandel—Neuroscientist, immigrant from Austria and Nobel Laureate in Medicine, currently mentors students enrolled in the summer SURF program
• Orhan Pamuk—Literary genius, Nobel Laureate in Literature and currently  a professor of comparative literature at Columbia
• Robert Mundell—Economics professor whose work led to the creation of the Euro, winner of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Economics
• Jeffrey Sachs—United Nations advisor and world-renowned economist
• James Schamus—Film Studies professor, co-president of Focus Features, screenwriter, producer and Golden Globe winner
• Gayatri Spivak—Professor of English Literature and founder of post-colonialism, an influential theory of literature that has spread to other disciplines
• Joseph Stiglitz—Economics professor, influential thinker on globalization and 2001 Nobel Laureate
• Horst Stormer—Professor in Physics and Applied Physics, 1998 Nobel Laureate in Physics