Michael I. Sovern

Michael Ira Sovern (born December 1, 1931) was the 17th president of Columbia University. He is currently the Chancellor Kent Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. He is a noted legal scholar of Labor Law and an expert in employment discrimination. Sovern was born in the Bronx, three blocks from Yankee Stadium to a dress businessman father and bookkeeper mother. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1949, summa cum laude from C... more

Michael Ira Sovern (born December 1, 1931) was the 17th president of Columbia University. He is currently the Chancellor Kent Professor of Law at Columbia Law School. He is a noted legal scholar of Labor Law and an expert in employment discrimination. Sovern was born in the Bronx, three blocks from Yankee Stadium to a dress businessman father and bookkeeper mother. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1949, summa cum laude from Columbia College in 1953, and Columbia Law School in 1955, receiving the prestigious John Ordronaux prize for having the highest academic average in his graduating class. Immediately after graduation, he joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota Law School and taught there until 1957. He returned to Columbia as a visiting professor in 1957 and then joined the permanent faculty, becoming the youngest full professor in the University in 1960. He has mediated for New York City in transit worker contract negotiations, as well as fireman and... less