Announcement // Tuesday, February 26, 2013
To the Columbia College community and friends,
It is with tremendous enthusiasm that we announce, after an intensive five-month search process, the appointment of Dr. Kwang-Wu Kim as the next president and chief executive officer of Columbia College Chicago.
Kwang-Wu Kim: “Columbia College has captured my heart and my imagination.” Photo by Rena Naltsas, THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE.
At a special meeting today, the Board of Trustees approved Kwang-Wu Kim as president-elect upon unanimous recommendation by the Presidential Selection Advisory Panel and overwhelmingly positive feedback from the college community.
With a BA in philosophy from Yale University and a doctorate in music from Johns Hopkins University, Kwang-Wu brings impeccable academic and artistic credentials to Columbia College. As dean and director of the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts at Arizona State University, and as a former president of the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he also brings a wealth of educational leadership expertise. Colleagues laud his energy, intellect, vision, and candor. He speaks of himself as a listener, communicator, and builder of cultural bridges. We were most impressed with his conviction about the value of a creative education and the importance of preparing students for the transformative roles of creative individuals in society. Read full biography.
A native Chicagoan, Kwang-Wu will soon return to the hometown that he left several decades ago. He comes to a Columbia College very different from that in his memory. Today’s Columbia College is, with 11,000 undergraduate and graduate students from the United States and over 50 countries, a major destination for emerging creative professionals. With 120 majors and programs, an exceptional faculty body of arts and media practitioners and scholars, and a growing network of outstanding, accomplished alumni, Columbia has arrived. Our urban campus, now comprising 24 buildings, has seen the construction of its first new building – the state-of-the-art, sustainably designed Media Production Center. Our campus has also recently expanded with the acquisition of the famed Johnson Publishing Building, which will be redeveloped as a library and learning center while honoring the proud Johnson legacy.
We would like to thank the 22-member Advisory Panel representing board members, administrators, faculty, students, and alumni. The Panel’s steadfast and thoughtful dedication to the critical task of choosing the right candidate has been most gratifying.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge Warrick L. Carter, PhD, whose visionary leadership over the past 13 years has brought Columbia College Chicago to its current position as the largest and most diverse private, nonprofit arts and media school in the nation. Under Warrick, the college has experienced extraordinary growth and maturation.
Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Warrick’s able successor, Kwang-Wu Kim. He will officially begin his presidential duties when he arrives on campus in July.
Allen M. Turner Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Richard P. Kiphart Chair, Presidential Selection Advisory Panel