Armen Avanessians, SEAS '83
Current gig: Goldman Sachs, managing director
Digits: $5,000—Amount donated in 2007 to both Goldman Sachs' PAC and the industry lobbying organization
Claim to fame: Got laughs from the SEAS graduating class of 2008 with nerdy jokes about putting transceivers on micron chips
A'Leila Bundles, Journalism '76
Current gig: Journalist, author
Digits: Two—Number of books she has written about hair
Claim to fame: Served as president of the Radcliffe Association, representing her alma mater. She is also the great-great-great granddaughter of the first female black millionaire, about whom she wrote a book.
Lee. C. Bollinger, Law '71
Current gig: The Prezbo
Digits: $739,997—2006 salary
Claim to fame: Defending affirmative action before the highest court in the land, occupying the New York City news cycle for more than a week, being baronial.
Jose Cabranes, CC '61
Current gig: Federal judge
Claim to fame: The first Puerto Rican to be made a federal judge, in 1979, he was considered for a Supreme Court seat in 1994, and some have speculated that future administrations might make Cabranes—a judicial moderate—the first Latino on the bench. He's also college buddies with Attorney General Michael Mukasey.
Stephen Case, CC '64, Law '68
Current gig: Managing Director and General Counsel of Cohen & Company, LLC
Dollar figure: $28,100—donations to Democrats since 2006
Claim to fame: Was instrumental in the founding of the Columbia Alumni Association, and probably has been mistaken for AOL co-founder Steve Case too many times to count.
William Cambell (Chair), CC '62, M.S., '64
Current gig: Being a member of boards
Digits: Seven—Number of U.S. presidents who have received the National Football Foundation's Gold Medal, which Cambell was awarded in 2004
Claim to fame: By one report, Campbell runs the board of trustees like he captained the football team when it won the Ivy Championship for the first time in its history. He also coached the team for six less successful years, and everyone still calls him "Coach." Campbell has been a force behind M. Dianne Murphy's efforts to improve athletics, although one source speculated that he "probably wouldn't have gone as far as she did" in banning tailgating at Baker Blast three years ago.
Patricia M. Cloherty, SIPA '68, TC '68
Current gig: Venture capitalist
Claim to fame: Received the Order of Friendship from Russian de-facto president Vladimir Putin for making the East safe for capitalism.
Kenneth Forde, M.D. '59
Current gig: Retired colorectal surgeon
Digits: 108,070—The number of new colon cancer cases per year
Claim to fame: Had other people raise money for an endowed medical professorship in his name, rather than paying for one dedicated to someone else.
Eric Holder, CC '73, Law '76
Current gig: Private attorney
Digits: Nine—Number of black U.S. Attorneys when he was appointed in 1994
Claim to fame: As Bill Clinton's deputy attorney general, Holder abetted the pardon of Marc Rich in the President's last days. After being chosen to vet Obama's vice presidential candidates, he may find himself moving into the attorney general job next year. Also a college buddy of New York Gov. David Paterson.
Ellen Oran Kaden, Law '77
Current gig: Senior vice president at Campbell Soup Co.
Digits: $1.62 million—Annual salary
Claim to fame: Keeping Campbell Soup Co.'s lobbying activities on the down low.
Ann F. Kaplan, Social Work '72, Business '77
Current gig: Wealth manager, investment think tanker
Digits: 195—Number of minutes she will spend each Wednesday morning this fall teaching business school students the art of Investment and Wealth Management
Claim to fame: Helping other people make money.
Mark E. Kingdon, CC '71
Current gig: Investment manager
Digits: 13—Age at which he decided to go into business
Claim to fame: With three other Jewish trustees, endowed the first chair in the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies, two years after the David Project protested anti-Semitic remarks by professors.
Marilyn Laurie, BC '59
Current gig: Owner, Laurie Consulting
Claim to fame: Helped found Earth Day in 1970, and then went into helping companies like AT&T and Bell Labs improve their public image through targeted philanthropy and environmental measures.
Gerry Lenfest, Law '58
Current gig: Philanthropist
Digits: $100 million—Total donations to Columbia.
Claim to fame: As part of overseeing a cable television empire, Lenfest served as editorial director and publisher of Seventeen magazine.
Philip Milstein, CC '71
Current gig: Banker, New York real estate magnate
Digits: $20 million—Amount he paid for Leonard Bernstein's old apartment in the Dakota
Claim to fame: The university hasn't announced how much Milstein, who refuses to be ranked by the Forbes list, paid for naming rights to Milstein Library in Butler. But Prezbo predecessor George Rupp reportedly offered to name the whole thing after him, which Milstein declined. It's unclear whether the tennis team, on which he bestowed a $2 million gift, made a similar offer.
Vikram Pandit, SEAS '76; M.S., '77; M.Phil., '80; Ph.D., '86
Current gig: Citigroup, CEO
Digits: $17.9 million—What he paid for ten-room apartment in the Beresford
Claim to fame: Only trustee to donate to George W. Bush
Michael B. Rothfeld, CC '69, M.B.A., M.S., '71
Current gig: Theatrical producer, private equity investor
Digits: 38—Length, in feet, of Rothfeld's yacht, the Martha
Claim to fame: Secured funds to revamp the advising system. You can also thank him for the Lerner Black Box, which he largely financed.
Joan Edelman Spero, SIPA '68, Ph.D. '73
Current gig: President, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Digits: $0—Annual salary
Claim to fame: Getting rid of money belonging to the one-time richest woman in the world, who decreed that it go to "the improvement of humanity."
Esta Stecher, Law '82
Current gig: Goldman Sachs, Executive Vice President and General Counsel
Digits: 200—Number of people who worked under her at the tax division of GS
Claim to fame: Probably the most significant figure in the Columbia-Goldman Sachs cabal, having attained one of the highest offices in the clubbiest of boy's clubs.
Kyriakos Tsakopoulos, CC '93
Current gig: California real estate magnate
Claim to fame: Serves on Obama's finance team. Also a major force for Hellenic Studies at the university, and bar-none the handsomest person on the board.
Savio Tung, SEAS '73
Current gig: Managing Director, Investcorp International
Digits: $32 billion—Net worth of Investcorp
Claim to fame: Making money.
Faye Wattleton, M.S. '67
Current gig: Co-founder and President, Center for the Advancement of Women
Digits: 13—Number of honorary doctoral degrees she has received
Claim to fame: Became first black president of Planned Parenthood in 1978, and the youngest, at age 35. Appeared on Hardball to comment on whether Barack Obama had, in fact, snubbed Hillary Clinton.
Richard E. Witten, CC '75
Current gig: Independent investment manager
Digits: 554—The number of times the New York Times has quoted Witten commenting on currency markets
Claim to fame: After failing to get into Amherst, Witten talked his way into Columbia without filling out an application or writing an essay. Witten is the author of Divided Loyalties, a novel loosely based on his father's experience in World War II, which was well-reviewed by Columbia College Today and a small newspaper in his hometown of Mamaronack, N.Y.
Clyde Y.C. Wu, M.D., '56
Current gig: Cardiopulmonary specialist
Digits: Three—Number of medical professorships he has endowed at Columbia
Claim to fame: Reestablished Columbia's connection with several medical schools in China, furthering the university's global aspirations.
