SPRING/SUMMER 2021 COLUMBIA MAGAZINE COLUMBIA MA MAGAZINE.COLUMBIA.EDU G AZINE. C OL UMBIA.ED U SPRING/SUMMER 2021 SPRING/SUMMER 11.21_COVER-F.indd.21_COVER-F.indd 1 44/14/21/14/21 55:05:05 PPMM A BRILLIANT MOVE A Nourishing Life 1–4 Bedroom Luxury Condominiums in Morningside Heights 24,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities Outdoor Dining Terrace • Private Gardens • State-of-the-Art Fitness Center designed by The Wright Fit Private Sauna • Aquatics Center with 70 ft. long pool TOUR MODEL UNITS . IMMEDIATE OCCUPANCY 543 W 122ND STREET, NEW YORK • THEVANDEWATER.COM • [email protected] • 212 486 3956 THE COMPLETE OFFERING TERMS ARE IN AN OFFERING PLAN AVAILABLE FROM SPONSOR. FILE NO. CD17-0232. Sponsor reserves the right to make changes in accordance with the Offering Plan. Prospective purchasers are advised to review the complete terms of the Offering Plan for further detail as to type, quality, and quantity of materials, appliances, equipment, and fixtures to be included in the Units, amenity areas and common areas of the Condominium. All rights to content, photographs, and graphics reserved to Sponsor. Sponsor: West 122nd Street Property Investors III, LLC, 430 Park Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, NY 10022. Equal Housing Opportunity. 11.21_CONTENTS.indd.21_CONTENTS.indd 1 44/14/21/14/21 88:58:58 AAMM SPRING/SUMMER 2021 PAGE 14 CONTENTS FEATURES 14 THE EDUCATION OF SIDDHARTHA MUKHERJEE He wrote the book on cancer. Can he transform the way it’s treated? By David J. Craig 24 THE NEW TELEVISIONARIES These six alumnae directors, writers, and producers have found enviable success in the streaming era. By Julia Joy 30 THE COLUMBIA GUIDE TO THE PENTAGON PAPERS CASE In 1971, the US government sued to stop the New York Times from publishing classifi ed documents. Alumni and faculty tell us why this case matters more than ever. By Paul Hond 36 HOW TO PREPARE FOR A ‘MEGADISASTER’ A Q&A with Jeff rey Schlegelmilch, director of Columbia’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness. By Kevin Krajick ’76GS, ’77JRN and David J. Craig ALLISON MICHAEL ORENSTEIN ALLISON COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2021 1 11.21_CONTENTS.indd.21_CONTENTS.indd 1 44/14/21/14/21 33:58:58 PPMM COLUMBIA CONTENTS MAGAZINE DEPARTMENTS Executive Vice President, 5 University Development & Alumni Relations FEEDBACK Amelia Alverson Deputy Vice President for Strategic Communications 8 Jerry Kisslinger ’79CC, ’82GSAS COLLEGE WALK Magnetic Field \ Veterans’ Voices \ Law-School Lexicon \ Honoring Brother Editor in Chief Sally Lee Zach \ Postcards from the Heights Art Director Len Small 40 EXPLORATIONS Managing Editor Rebecca Shapiro When grief won’t end \ Why these dinosaurs PAGE were homebodies \ 6 Columbia podcasts to 30 Senior Editors keep you in the know \ How college students’ David J. Craig, Paul Hond lives are shaped by COVID-19 \ “Get the Copy Chief shot!” urges rap star \ Bacteria employed as Joshua J. Friedman ’08JRN “living hard drives” \ Self-aware robots? \ Digital Editor Black holes could be tapped for energy Julia Joy 46 NETWORK Senior Director for Strategic Communications Tracy Quinn ’14SPS A Princely Assignment \ Ask an Alum: Love at First Swipe \ New Company Cleans Up \ Director for Marketing Research Linda Ury Greenberg Alumni Go to Washington \ The Art of Caring Communications Offi cer Ra Hearne 52 BULLETIN PAGE 24 University news and views TOP: BETTMANN / GETTY IMAGES; MIDDLE: BIJOU KARMAN; BOTTOM: ELENA SEIBERT / HAND-COLORING BY CANDY KUGEL CANDY BY / HAND-COLORING ELENA SEIBERT BOTTOM: KARMAN; MIDDLE: BIJOU IMAGES; / GETTY BETTMANN TOP: 56 BOOKS Animal, Vegetable, Junk, by Mark Bittman \ What’s Mine and Yours, by Naima Coster \ Subscriptions: Address and subscription assistance The Doctors Blackwell, by Janice P. Nimura \ [email protected] Empire of Ruins, by Miles Orvell \ We Run the Tides, by Vendela Vida \ Plus, Ethan To update your address online, visit alumni.columbia.edu/directory, Kross discusses Chatter or call 1-877-854-ALUM (2586). Advertising: 64 [email protected] BACKSTORY Letters to the editor: Radio Made the Video Stars PAGE 64 [email protected] Columbia Magazine is published for alumni and friends of Columbia by the FOLLOW US COVER BY LAUREN SIMKIN BERKE Offi ce of Alumni and Development. On the cover, top row from left to right: Henry Moore’s Three-Way Piece No. 1: Points and © 2021 by the Trustees of Columbia University St. Paul’s Chapel viewed from Revson Plaza; outside @ColumbiaMag @columbiamag the CUIMC campus on Fort Washington Avenue. in the City of New York Middle row: Butler Library viewed from Pulitzer Hall café; the Roy and Diana Vagelos Education Center at CUIMC; Scholars’ Lion, by Greg Wyatt ’71CC, ’74TC on the Morningside campus. @columbiamagazine Bottom row: Low Library steps; Lenfest Center for the Arts in Manhattanville. 2 COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2021 11.21_CONTENTS.indd.21_CONTENTS.indd 2 44/14/21/14/21 33:58:58 PPMM PROGRAMS FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS SUMMER IMMERSION 3-WEEK AND 1-WEEK COURSES DESIGNED FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS, ENTERING GRADES 9-12. Brilliant Futures Begin at Columbia Columbia University offers immersive, collaborative classes for outstanding students as part of the Summer Immersion program. Dive into the college experience this summer with Columbia’s renowned instructors and a dynamic online learning platform. Session 1: June 28-July 16 | Apply by May 19 Session 2: July 20-August 6 | Apply by June 16 Session 3: August 9-13 | Apply by July 15 precollege.sps.columbia.edu/CM2021 Delve into Build Engage in Differentiate Academic Lifelong Activities Yourself Interests Connections #ColumbiaHSP 11.21_CONTENTS.indd.21_CONTENTS.indd 3 44/14/21/14/21 88:59:59 AAMM “I want to help people do the things that I wish I could have done years ago.” Gordon Kit ’76CC 1754 Society Member Gordon’s parents, Dr. Saul and Dorothy Kit Turning a Lens on Students Gordon attributes his love of film to his parents, Dr. Saul and Dorothy Kit, in whose memory he founded the Kit Noir Film Festival at Columbia. To bring students into focus, he established a charitable remainder trust that will provide fellowships to graduate students of film and media studies at the School of the Arts. Read Gordon’s full giving story at giving.columbia.edu/gordon Ready to focus on students? We’re here to help. Call us at 212-851-7894 or email [email protected] 11.21_FEEDBACK.indd.21_FEEDBACK.indd 4 44/14/21/14/21 99:04:04 AAMM FEEDBACK 3 WEB STORIES YOU SHOULD NOT MISS SHINE ON Rosen’s unfl inching account on the individual’s choice of I loved the cover of the of his experience, his love for how they would like to die. Winter 2020–21 edition. Iranian culture and the Ira- It is now legal in a num- The Butler Library snow- nian people, and most of all ber of states for people who Fictional Columbia globe illustration was his healing from trauma was a qualify as being of sound Alumni: TV Edition beautiful. I noticed that “In balm for my soul. Thank you. mind, and who are diagnosed 31 characters you may not Lumine Tuo” was reappro- Jackie Harounian ’91CC as terminally ill by two or know went to Columbia priated from the seal, where Great Neck, NY three physicians, to obtain it refers to God, and used to medication to end their lives. refer to the University itself. I met Barry Rosen on the Sometimes people do not Completely appropriate in shore of the Caspian Sea in want to die slowly under the my opinion, since the Uni- 1968, when I was an architect eff ects of painkillers. Coun- versity does provide the light working on the Bandar-e seling is provided by these that helps us see light. Pahlavi city hall. Reading organizations, and the family Reggie Henderson ’84CC where his life went after that is very much involved. Columbia in the Movies Rochester, NY was fascinating. When I was a student 21 fi lms in which Columbia Sid Robinson ’67GSAPP nurse, CPR and open-chest makes a cameo THE ROAD Aurora, IL cardiac massage had just FROM TEHRAN come into use. One of my I am an avid reader of your DYING WELL classmates said, “No one magazine, and the story of I am a 1952 graduate of can die in peace anymore.” former hostage Barry Rosen Columbia’s School of Nursing Now there are directives that struck a deep chord with me and was very interested in the can be completed ahead of (“Soul Survivor,” Winter article “The Lost Art of Dying time: health-care directives, 2020–21). As a fi rst-gener- Well” in the Winter 2020–21 a health-care durable power 28 Movie and TV Stars Who ation Iranian-American, I issue. Obviously, I am getting of attorney, and the POLST Graduated from Columbia was drawn to undergraduate closer to that end of life’s form. All of these need to Celebrities who have called studies at Columbia, where I spectrum. I have long been a be discussed with family or Morningside Heights home majored in English literature member of our local chapter close friends. and Middle East languages of End of Life Washington, Peggy Pomeroy ’52NRS Read at and cultures, or MELAC. which has had various other Mercer Island, WA magazine.columbia.edu Although I spoke Farsi from names, like Death and Dying, birth, Columbia is where I Compassion and Choices, Lydia Dugdale mentions learned to read and write the and Compassion in Dying. that the writing of the ars language of my ancestors. These groups have focused moriendi, a literary form COLUMBIA SPRING/SUMMER 2021 5 11.21_FEEDBACK.indd.21_FEEDBACK.indd 5 44/14/21/14/21 99:05:05 AAMM FEEDBACK “that asks us to think working with hospices called from scripture or songs to for the inevitable, but more about the way we live Comfort in Dying: Reflec- enhance them.