Weiping Wu Appointed Vice Provost for Academic Programs

Dear Colleagues,

I am very pleased to announce that I have appointed Weiping Wu, Professor of Urban Planning, to serve as Vice Provost for Academic Programs effective September 1.

A renowned urban and planning scholar with a focus on the Global South and China, Professor Wu came to Columbia in 2016 from Tufts University, where she was chair of the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. She is the author and editor of nine books as well as many articles on issues of housing, infrastructure, and migration in China’s cities. 

Since joining our faculty, Professor Wu has distinguished herself not only as a scholar and educator but also a skilled academic leader, serving as the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation’s interim dean from January until August 2022. She has served as director of the urban planning programs, and in that position has spearheaded the master’s program’s successful reaccreditation. She also was a founding member of GSAPP’s anti-racism task force in 2020 and co-led the design of Common Circle, a school orientation program to raise awareness of structural racism and anti-racism action. 

Professor Wu has also held academic leadership roles outside of the university. She is the current chair of the Planning Accreditation Board, which accredits university undergraduate and master’s programs in urban and regional planning in North America; chairs the Social and Behavioral Sciences panel of the Hong Kong Research Grant Council; serves on the international advisory panel for the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities; was president of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning from 2017 through 2019; and has been editor of the Journal of Planning Education and Research. 

As Vice Provost for Academic Programs, Professor Wu will play a critical role ensuring Columbia’s sustained academic excellence. She will oversee the university’s reaccreditation efforts, which are already underway for a 2024-2025 review by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. She will work closely with schools to guide the development, enhancement, and approval of academic programs; review educational agreements with other universities and external partners; oversee the Office of Planning and Institutional Research; and manage periodic assessments of schools, institutes, and other University-wide academic units.

Please join me in welcoming Weiping Wu as our next Vice Provost for Academic Programs and thanking Julie Kornfeld, who will step down as Vice Provost at the end of August to become the president of Kenyon College, for her outstanding service to Columbia.

Sincerely,

Dennis A. Mitchell, DDS, MPH, (he/him)
Interim Provost
Professor of Dental Medicine at Columbia University Medical Center