Annual Report 2010 | 2011 - Columbia Global Centers

A Message from Lee C. Bollinger
Columbia Global Centers are quickly becoming a way in which all members of our community, both locally and
abroad, can engage the world. Over the last three years we have expanded our network to include Amman, Beijing,
Mumbai, Paris, Istanbul, Nairobi, and Santiago. We have connected faculty and students to these regions in new
ways, and perhaps most importantly, we have created a way for the various regions of the world to connect to one
another through our students and faculty scholarship.
The full potential of these centers is only now becoming visible. The rate with which this network is growing in scale
and contribution can be attributed to the early success of our first centers—most notably in Amman, made possible
with the support of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah. From the beginning, under the leadership of Safwan
Masri, the Columbia Global Centers | Middle East has been a model center. Safwan has fostered key partnerships
throughout the University, throughout the Middle East, and throughout the world in pursuit of global scholarly
engagement. In the coming year, Safwan will leverage these partnerships to cultivate programming in all of our
centers and will substantiate student involvement.
All of our Global Centers rely on the involvement and support of the surrounding region. Her Majesty’s involvement
with the center in Amman since the beginning has been a critical link to central connections in Jordan and throughout
the Middle East. Columbia owes all of our supporters a debt of gratitude for helping the University fulfill the mission
of the Columbia Global Centers.
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