Explore Conflict Urbanism: Aleppo, an interactive mapping project from the Center for Spatial Research using data and satellite imagery to document nearly six years of civil war. The map allows users to track destruction caused by war and tell the stories of important icons before they disappear. Read more.

Visit the Columbia Facebook Page tomorrow, January 27, at 3PM to watch a live feed featuring Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. They will discuss their friendship, philanthropy, and business as well as topics ranging from global health to innovation. Charlie Rose, host of the Charlie Rose Show, will moderate.

Sonya Dyhrman, associate professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Lamont-Doherty, studies how marine microbes like phytoplankton interact with their environment.

Working together, Farhana Mather at Lamont-Doherty and Christina Vellios at CC secured a $499K, five-year grant from Jim Angell ’83CC and The Paul M. Angell Foundation. The grant supports work by Professor Sonya Dyrham (pictured) on how changing ocean environments will impact microbes at the bottom of the marine food chain. Angell’s grant, which builds upon his family’s generosity to the College, furthers Columbia’s leadership in ocean resiliency research.

Angell directs the Angell Foundation’s environmental program, his philanthropic passion for sea life aligning with Dyrham’s studies. Angell’s father, Charles Angell ’63CC, the Foundation’s president, has been an active CC alumnus who helped lead his 50th College Reunion and worked for over a decade with Jim McMenamin, senior associate dean for CC Development and senior director of principal gifts.

This winter, the CAA holiday video continued to be one of the most popular alumni engagement pieces of the year, drawing more than 38,000 views. For the first time, alumni and alumni leaders from around the globe actively participated in the making of the video alongside staff, students, and faculty across the University. Watch the video and see below who took part.

• 32 students
• 33 alumni
• 24 staff members
• 20 faculty members

Schools and Programs:

• Columbia Athletics
• Columbia College of Dental Medicine
• Columbia Entrepreneurship
• Columbia Physical Therapy
• Columbia Student Affairs Committee
• The Office of Alumni and Development

Alumni Clubs:

• Columbia University Club of Washington, DC
• Columbia University Club of Germany
• Columbia University Club of France
• Columbia University Club of Northern California
• Columbia Women’s Leadership Council

During Black History Month this February, test your knowledge of distinguished black Columbians by matching the below alumni with their biographies.

Send answers to [email protected] by Friday, February 10. Winners will be e-mailed and receive a $10 Barnes and Noble gift card.

1. This Columbian was the first African American governor of New York and first visually impaired person to address the Democratic National Convention. He represented Harlem as a state senator from 1985 until 2007 and was an adjunct professor at SIPA.	_____ A. Lucy Diggs Slowe
2. The first African American graduate of Columbia’s architecture school, this Columbian was the primary architect of Harlem River Houses, one of the nation’s most successful public housing initiatives.	_____ B. Marie Maynard Daly
3. A professional tennis player and the first African American woman to win a major sports title, this alumna was a vocal advocate for women’s rights and academic opportunities as well.	____ C. David A. Paterson
4. The first African American woman licensed to practice architecture in the United States, this Columbian was also in 1936 the first African American women to receive a bachelor’s degree in architectural engineering.	_____ D. Charles R. Drew
5. In 1947, she became the first African American woman to earn a PhD in chemistry, investigating cholesterol, sugars, and other nutrients’ effects on the heart.	_____ E. John Louis Wilson Jr.
6. This Columbian discovered plasma could be dried and reconstituted, making it possible to ‘bank’ blood for long periods of time. His research led to the world’s first blood bank and improved blood storage techniques. He also challenged racial segregation in blood donations.	_____ F.  Beverly L. Greene

Thank you to those who participated in December’s Countdown contest, naming Columbia holiday writers and traditions. Below are our winners.

See photos below from our January 12 Winter Hot Chocolate party for November’s Campaign Countdown contest winners who matched architects with University buildings.

December Contest Winners

• Joanne Chaney, reporting and data coordinator, External Relations and Development
• Lenia Chaves, associate director, Gift Administration
• Rachel Eddey, deputy directory, Stewardship
• Rachel Ely, assistant director, CAA Marketing and Digital Initiatives
• Mary Greene, assistant director, Development Services, LAW
• Ryan Hart, executive director, Gift Planning
• Paul Lindberg, coordinator, Alumni Relations
• Christine McPherson, associate director, Human Resources
• Jessica Sain-Baird, program coordinator, Annual Funds
• Dylan Sands, proposal writer

“The existence of slavery makes us fancy many things that are founded neither in reason or experience.”

Hamilton was one of the nation’s founding fathers and, in 1784, revived King’s College as Columbia College. He co-wrote The Federalist Papers, essays defining discourse on American politics, and advocated for a centralized government. Hamilton’s pro-business policies spurred New York to become the financial capital it is today. Throughout his life, Hamilton also opposed slavery, openly scorning those who defended “the peculiar institution.” Learn more.

This year, two new buildings have illuminated Columbia’s future: the Jerome L. Greene Science Science Center and the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center. We share in their glow as both were included with five other buildings on The New York Times 2016 list of best New York City architecture. We hope your holidays are filled with light, family, and friends, and look forward to a bright new year. In lumine tuo…

Columbia Magazine interviews University neuroscientists about the brain’s inner workings, one of the greatest scientific challenges of our time. Read dispatches from the frontiers of neuroscience at the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and CUMC.