The Society of Columbia Graduates is one of the oldest continuous service organizations affiliated with Columbia University. Its nearly one thousand members meet in fellowship to promote and celebrate service to the University. The Society traces its roots back to 1909 when it was founded by alumni eager to preserve Columbia's values and fellowship as it moved from Midtown to Morningside.

The Society's members are outstanding Columbians who were leaders as undergraduates, and who have remained active alumni/ae during the decade or more following their graduations. We bring together the entire spectrum of alumni/ae who support Columbia's undergraduate schools, libraries, teams, programs, clubs, and publications, and mentor its students and graduates. That support is measured not by financial contribution, but by significant personal service and extraordinary loyalty to Columbia. What has united us since the founding of the Society in 1909 is our dedication to serving Alma Mater, our appreciation of the primacy of great teaching, and a strong desire to unite the proud traditions and values of Columbia with its shining vision for the future.

The Teaching Lion you see on this Web Page epitomizes the fierce commitment of the Society of Columbia Graduates to great teaching on Morningside. Each year since 1949, the Society has presented Great Teacher Awards to outstanding professors at Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. The presentations are made at a Gala Dinner in Low Library. The list of awardees, which is a virtual 'Who's Who in Teaching Excellence' at Columbia, can be found, flanking The Teaching Lion, on the east wall of the Robert M. Rosencrans Reading Room in Butler Library. The process and criteria for the Award, and its more than one hundred recipients, are described elsewhere on this Web site.