George Clinton --

• 1739-1812
• Was elected New York Governor in 1777
• Believed in states' rights, opposed adoption of the Constitution
• Elected Vice President of the United States in 1804 and 1808

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 205

James Duane --

• 1733-1797
• governor of King's College
• Trustee of Columbia College
• elected to the Continental Congress in1774 and served on the committee which wrote the statement of rights of the colonists
• Served in Congress until 1783
• Mayor of New York 1784-1789.  Was concerned with rehabilitating the city
• Became the first federal judge of the district of New York in 1789

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 292.

John Jay--

• 1745-1829
• graduated from King's College in 1764
• New York delegate to first and second Continental Congresses
• elected President of Continental Congress in December 1778
• joined with Hamilton and Madison and contributed five of the "Federalist" papers in 1787
• Became the first Chief Justice of the United States

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 557.

Alexander Hamilton--

• 1755/7 ? -1804
• Began studies at King's College in 1773, but the Revolution interrupted his college years
• New York delegate to the Philadelphia Convention in 1787
• Opened newspaper wars over the adoption of the Constitution in July 1787, and planned the "Federalist" series, which he wrote with James Madison or by himself.
• Was appointed Secretary of the treasury in September 1789.

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 446.

DeWitt Clinton--

• 1769-1828
• graduated from Columbia College in 1786
• Appointed to the United States Senate in 1802
• Resigned from Senate in 1803 and became Mayor of New York City until 1815, except for the terms of 1807-8 and  1810-11
• Was a foremost spokesperson for public education in New York

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 204.

William Samuel Johnson--

• 1727-1819
• Became the first President of Columbia College in 1787.   Retired in 1800
• graduated from Yale in1744
• Was a member of the Stamp Act Congress
• Because of his loyalist nature, he declined to serve in the Continental Congress in 1774
• Was one of two Connecticut signers of the Constitution
• Became one of the first two senators from Connecticut, but resigned in 1791

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 572.

James Kent--

• 1763-1847
• Appointed first professor of law at Columbia College in December 1793
• His courses failed to attract students, so he resigned early in 1798.
• He established political affiliations with Federalist leaders
• As a conservative, he advocated the rights of the individual as distinguished from the people.
• Appointed judge of the New York Supreme Court by Governor Jay early in1798
• Became Chief Justice of the New York Supreme Court in 1804 and chancellor of the New York Court of Chancery in 1814.
• In 1823, he was forced to retire as chancellor by the New York constitution provision.
• In 1823, he accepted reappointment to the law professorship at Columbia
• He delivered three courses of lectures 1824-26 before he again resigned from teaching, a profession he was clearly not enjoying
• He expanded on his law lectures and wrote Commentaries on American Law (1826-28, 1830), which remains the  foremost institutional legal treatise

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 595.

Charles H. Wharton -- 4^th president of KC/CC (1801)

• ?
• 1748-1833
• Ordained Catholic priest in 1772
• Served as Chaplain to Roman Catholics at Worcester, England and underwent a change in religious views.
• Upon his return to Maryland, he published in 1784, a justification of his conversion to Protestantism
• Served as rector of St. Mary's Church, Burlington, N.J., 1798-1833

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 1274

Benjamin Moore --

• 1748-1816
• Served with out distinction as president pro tempore of King's College, 1775-84
• Served as actual president of Columbia (fifth president), 1801-11.
• Accepted rectorship of Trinity Church, New York City, in 1800.
• Was consecrated bishop of New York in 1801
• His duties as bishop were assumed by his assistant John H. Hobart, in 1811 because of Moore's paralysis.

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 782.

David Hosack--

• 1769-1835
• Professor of botany and materia medica at Columbia 1795-1811
• Taught practice and theory of medicine at College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1811-26
• Graduated from Princeton College in 1789. 
• Studied medicine under Samuel Bard, Benjamin Rush, and others
• Was one of first American surgeons to use the stethoscope and to advocate vaccination
• Instrumental in founding Bellvue Hospital
• Established, with John W. Francis, the American Medical Register in 1811.

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 518.

William Harris --

• Sixth president of Columbia College, 1811-1829
• Graduated from Harvard College in 1786
• Rector of St. Mark's-in-the-Bowery, New York City, 1802-1816

John Mason --

• First provost of Columbia College, 1811-1829
• Held Associate Reform and Presbyterian pastorates
• established the forerunner of Union Theological Seminary in 1804
• President of Dickinson College, 1821-24

John McVickar--

• 1787-1868
• Graduated from Columbia in1804
• Taught at Columbia in 1817-1864.  He was one of the earliest of political economy in the United States.  He treated the  subject as a branch of moral philosophy.
• Wrote a biography on John H. Hobart and economic essays including Hints on Banking (1827)

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 714

William A. Duer --

• Seventh President of Columbia College, 1829-1842
• Judge on the New York Supreme Court, 1822-29

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 293

Nathaniel F. Moore --

• Graduated from Columbia College, 1802
• Taught classical languages at Columbia, 1817-35
• Served as the eighth president of Columbia, 1842-49

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p.784

Frederick Gebhard

Charles King --

• Ninth President of Columbia College, 1849-1864/3?
• His administration marked the beginning of Columbia with the broadening of curriculum and addition of professional schools
• editor of New York American, 1823-1845

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 600

Wolcott Gibbs--

• 1822-1908
• graduated from Columbia in 1841
• received MD from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, 1845
• was a professor at New York City College, 1849-63
• was Rumford professor at Harvard, 1863-87
• chief work was with inorganic compounds, analytic methods, and physiological chemistry
• researched complex compounds of cobalt and platinum metals

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 394

Samuel Ruggles--

• 1800-1881
• Had a strong influence in the liberalization of Columbia and its development into a University
• Practiced law in New York City after 1821
• Served as New York Canal Commissioner 1839-1858
• Developed Gramercy Park, New York City, in 1831
• Active in promoting the creation of Union Square

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 994.

George Templeton Strong--

• 1820-1875
• Graduated from Columbia University with high honors in 1838
• Was a trustee of Columbia [date?]
• Practiced law
• During the Civil War, he was a member of the U.S. Sanitary Commission and helped to form the Union League Club
• Was a vestryman of Trinity Church
• President of the Church Music Association and the Philharmonic Society
• His diary spans much of the Nineteenth Century and provides commentary on the city's musical offerings, politics, and daily life.

Bibliography: Encyclopedia of the City of New York, p. 1132.

Richard McCulloch

Theodore W. Dwight --

• 1822-1892
• First professor at Columbia Law School, 1858
• Warden of Columbia Law School, 1878-1891
• Professor of law at Hamilton College, 1846-1858
• He emphasized the fundamental principles in teaching of law

  Bibliography; Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 301

F.A.P. Barnard --

• 1809-1889
• Tenth president of Columbia University, 1864-1889
• Encouraged elective system of studies
• From 1879 until his death, he urged the admission of women to the university on equal basis with men
• As a result of his efforts, Barnard  College was opened six months after his death
• Graduated from Yale in 1828
• Active in education in Alabama and Mississippi, 1837-1861

Bibliography: Concise Dictionary of American Biography, p. 56.