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Columbia names former law school dean as Jewish life liaison

Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin will serve as a point of contact for Jewish students, advise university leaders on combating antisemitism and help oversee compliance with Columbia’s agreement with the Trump administration.

Columbia University Building, College Students
College students at Columbia University in New York City. Credit: Beraldoleal via Wikimedia Commons.

Columbia University has appointed Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin, a former dean of students at Columbia Law School and a professor at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law, as its Jewish life liaison.

Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin. Credit: Columbia Law School.
Michelle Greenberg-Kobrin. Credit: Columbia Law School.

The position was created under the university’s July 2025 settlement with the Trump administration that restored more than $400 million in canceled federal research grants.

In the role, Greenberg-Kobrin will serve as a point of contact for Jewish students experiencing antisemitism, recommend ways to strengthen support for Jewish life on campus and advise university leaders on implementing the settlement, according to the Columbia Spectator.

A graduate of Columbia College and Columbia Law School, Greenberg-Kobrin served as president of Yavneh, the Orthodox Jewish student organization, as an undergraduate. After college, she worked in Israel on ancillary agreements related to the Oslo Accords before returning to Columbia to earn her law degree.

Greenberg-Kobrin is a clinical professor and director of the Filmmakers Legal Clinic at Cardozo. She will retain that position while serving as Columbia’s Jewish life liaison.

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