Every October, Columbians around the world—alumni, students, parents, friends, neighbors, faculty, and staff—come together for Giving Day, a 24-hour online fundraising event that changes lives that change the world. On October 23, the eighth annual Giving Day raised a record high of $22,009,151 from 18,622 gifts to the causes, schools, and programs that support students and further Columbia's global mission.

Since Columbia University and the Lemann Foundation joined forces a decade ago, they have created an array of initiatives doing more for Brazil and more for Columbia students. To highlight the impact of ten years of partnership between the University and Jorge Paulo Lemann and the Lemann Foundation, Columbia produced a light-hearted video in vintage newsreel style.

Renowned Columbia economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Padma Desai contribute to the University in countless ways—as scholars, teachers, and experts in their fields. Now their impact at Columbia will go even further, supporting generations to come.

With a gift of $100,000 in December 2018, they established the Padma Desai Prize in Economic Science Fund in the Department of Economics. Income from the endowment fund will be used to award an annual prize to a PhD student in the Department of Economics who has delivered an outstanding dissertation. 

Phillip Smith '61CC, '69GSAPP and Doug Thompson '70GSAPP met as students at Columbia University in the late 1960s, leading to an extraordinary partnership in life and in work that flourishes to this day.