Story Archive

A pioneering civil rights lawyer with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund who argued 10 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, Motley was the first Black woman to serve as a federal judge.

His pathbreaking career was nearly crushed by McCarthy-era ostracism, but Paul Robeson’s voice, in song and speech, continues to be heard in support of Black freedom.

A prosecutor, classicist, and Marine veteran, the Manhattan assistant district attorney has set himself the herculean task of cleaning up the trade in stolen antiquities. 

For nearly two decades, Hunt was an unsung power player in Washington. Then he was thrust into the limelight by the Mueller report on Russian interference in the 2016 election and, more recently, by the House Select Committee’s investigation of the January 6 attack on the Capitol.

As vice chair and president of Microsoft, Smith navigates the often choppy waters “where technology and society meet.” He will receive the 2022 Columbia Law Medal for Excellence on October 28.

As the longtime president of the American Museum of Natural History and former president of Barnard College, Futter, one of this year’s Medal for Excellence recipients, has devoted her career to expanding and burnishing the reputations of two of New York City’s most prominent institutions.

As the first chief diversity officer for the nearly 140-year-old Metropolitan Opera, Sells will use her experience at institutions from the NBA to Harvard to foster inclusion.

Robert Currie Ríos ’13 LL.M. is director of environmental strategy and regulatory affairs at Entorno Social Consultores, a sustainability and environmental consulting firm in Santiago, Chile.

Makalika Naholowa’a is executive director of Native Hawaiian Legal Corporation in Honolulu.

The Perkins Coie partner fought for marriage equality and calls protection of voting rights “imperative for our democracy.”