Claire Shipman

Claire Shipman
Shipman in 2021
President of Columbia University
Acting
Assumed office
March 28, 2025
Preceded byKatrina Armstrong (acting)
Succeeded byJennifer Mnookin
Personal details
Born (1962-10-04) October 4, 1962
Washington, D.C., U.S.
Spouses
  • Steve Hurst (m. 1991; div. 1996)
  • Jay Carney (m. 1998; div. 2025)
Domestic partner
Kati Jo Spisak (2025-)
Children2
EducationColumbia University (BA, MIA)
Awards
Emmy Award (1990)
Peabody Award (1991)
Medal "Defender of a Free Russia" (1993)
Signature

Claire Shipman (born October 4, 1962) is an American television journalist and the former senior national correspondent for ABC's Good Morning America.[1] Shipman was the acting president of Columbia University from March 2025 through June 2026, leading the university through a 15-month period marked by protests against the Gaza war, the university's $221 million settlement with the Trump administration, and the first review of the University Senate.[2][3][4] Before becoming acting president of Columbia, she was a co-chair of the university's Board of Trustees.[5][1]

Early life and education

Shipman was born in Washington, D.C. and is the daughter of Christie (Armstrong) and Morgan Enlow Shipman, a law professor at Ohio State University.[6] She was raised in Columbus, Ohio.[7]

In 1980, Shipman graduated from Worthington High School in Worthington, Ohio.[8] She is a 1986 graduate of Columbia College of Columbia University with a degree in Russian Studies.[9][10] In 1994, she earned a Master of International Affairs from Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs.[11][12][9][10]

Career

Shipman outside the Guantanamo Bay detention camp in 2003

Journalism

Shipman began her career in journalism at CNN as an intern,[13] where she covered the White House and international events. In 1990, she received an Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award and an Emmy for her reporting on the Tiananmen Square protests.[14][15][16]

She spent five years at CNN's Moscow bureau covering the August 1991 Soviet coup attempt and the subsequent dissolution of the Soviet Union.[17] Shipman received a Peabody Award in 1991 as part of the CNN team that covered the failed coup and in 1993, she earned the medal "Defender of a Free Russia" from Russian president Boris Yeltsin for her reporting of the event.[18]

She worked at NBC from 1997 to 2001 and covered the White House during the Clinton administration.[19] Shipman joined ABC News in 2001, reporting on politics, international affairs and social issues.[20][1]

Shipman has stated that Jay Carney, her husband and White House Press Secretary when Osama bin Laden was killed, gave her no indication that the secret operation was underway in Pakistan.[21]

Along with co-author Katty Kay, a BBC journalist, Shipman has written three New York Times bestselling books: Womenomics (2009), The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance—What Women Should Know (2014),[22] and The Confidence Code for Girls (2018).[11]

In 2018, she attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference and conducted interviews on stage with US politicians Marco Rubio, Chris Coons, Tom Cotton, and Grace Meng.[23]

Columbia University

Trustee

Shipman joined the board of trustees of Columbia University in 2013 and became a co-chair in 2023.[24] Her tenure as co-chair of the board of trustees included the protests at Columbia during the Gaza war and genocide.[25] The Columbia Daily Spectator reported that "leaked text messages reveal that Shipman and board of trustees co-chair David Greenwald, Law ’83, were the driving forces behind the creation of the Task Force on Antisemitism."[26] These leaked text messages also included the message "We need to get somebody from the middle east or who is Arab on our board. Quickly I think. Somehow" in a January 2024 text to Mark Gallogly, vice-chair of the board of trustees.[26]

Her tenure's span included the Gaza Solidarity Encampment (April 17–30, 2024) during which the NYPD entered the campus and arrested dozens of students for protesting to pressure Columbia to divest "all finances, including the endowment, from corporations that profit from Israeli apartheid" and for government officials to call for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza war and genocide.[27][28]

On March 8, 2025, Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian SIPA graduate and negotiator on behalf of the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, was taken by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from his Columbia University residence,[29][30] and, on April 14, Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian General Studies student, was taken by ICE agents from his naturalization appointment.[31] On April 28, 2025, Shipman first publicly acknowledged Khalil and Mahdawi by name in a university-wide email focusing on expansions to the International Students and Scholars Office.[32][33]

Acting president

On March 28, 2025, Shipman, then serving as co-chair of Columbia's board of trustees, was made acting president of the university amid turmoil from protests in solidarity with Palestine and crackdowns from the Trump administration.[34] She took over for interim president Katrina Armstrong, MD who stepped down suddenly after a call with faculty in which she ostensibly downplayed Columbia's commitment to its concessions to the Trump administration.[35]

Review of the University Senate

Two weeks after delivering her first address as acting president in her first meeting with the University Senate on April 4, 2025,[36] acting president Shipman announced[37] that the University Senate—a policymaking body composed of faculty members and students established for shared governance after the 1968 Columbia University protests[38][39]—would be subject to review.[40] While Shipman cited concerns regarding community-wide representation within the Senate, the review came under media criticism for her vague language, with The New York Times describing the move as an "effort to potentially diminish the university senate’s authority".[41] The report was released in April 2026 and called "on the senate to reform its structure and communication with the University administration and the board of trustees." It also set up three task forces to carry out the reforms.[42]

Butler Library protests and public reaction

After pro-Palestinian protesters occupied the main reading room at Butler Library on May 7, 2025, naming it the "Basel Al-Araj Popular University" for Bassel al-Araj, Shipman authorized the presence of the NYPD, and police in riot gear arrested 78 student protesters.[43][44] It was the fourth mass arrest at Columbia University in 18 months[45] and the largest since April 2024 when the NYPD arrested 109 in its sweep of "Hind's Hall" and the second Gaza Solidarity Encampment.[46] The policing and suppression of the protest has been described as forceful and aggressive,[47][48] with two individuals brought out in a stretcher, one of them wearing a kuffiyeh draped over their face.[49][50] The university Emergency Medical Service was denied entry by Public Safety to treat injured protestors.[51]After heavy media criticism of police activity on campus, Shipman praised the NYPD and Public Safety for what she called their "professionalism".[52]

On May 20, 2025, during her speech at the Columbia College class day ceremony, Shipman was greeted with jeers and boos, as well as chants of "free Mahmoud" in reference to Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate held in detention since U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took him from his Columbia residence on March 8.[53][54] At the university's main commencement ceremony the following day, there were also chants of "free Palestine" from the crowd of graduates during her speech.[55][56]

In July 2025, Shipman apologized after messages in which she called for the removal of a Jewish trustee were released by the House Committee on Education and the Workforce.[57]

Columbia's settlement with the Trump administration

On July 23, 2025, the board of trustees of Columbia University formalized a settlement with the Trump administration in which Columbia would pay the federal government US$221 million and accept various demands from the Trump administration, including adopting the IHRA definition of antisemitism; punishing student demonstrators with expulsions, degree revocations, and multi-year suspensions; and reviewing the university's Middle East studies programs.[58][59][60] Following the Gaza Solidarity Encampment and broader protests amid the Gaza genocide, the university became a focus of Donald Trump, whose administration, citing what it called widespread antisemitism at Columbia, cut $400 million in funding to the university, detained and attempted to deport Palestinian student-activists Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, and investigated Columbia for Title VI violations. Critics of the settlement called the government's actions "extortion" and Columbia's actions "capitulation"[61][62][63][64] and held that it prejudiced the university's institutional independence and restricted academic freedom within it.[65]

Shipman described the $220 million settlement to restore federal funding as "in line with our values."[66] Addressing public response to the settlement in the hours after it was announced, she said "I think it’s easy to cast things in really binary terms, and capitulation versus fighting," and added: "I think that we have so many important things at stake in this institution right now, and what we’ve been trying to do, the group of us who’s been looking at all of it and talking to the government, talking with people across the University and academic leadership, is slow down and really work as deliberately as we possibly could."[66][65]

In the 2026 commencement ceremonies, Shipman spoke in favor of "generosity of spirit" and privileging the "consequential over the petty" and was booed again.[65][67] Shipman did not attend any of the class day ceremonies.[65]

Personal life

She was married to former CNN Moscow bureau chief Steve Hurst from 1991 to 1996.[68] She was then married to former White House Press Secretary Jay Carney, with whom she has a son and daughter.[69] As of 2025, they were recently divorced.[70]

In September 2025, Shipman was engaged to former pro soccer player Kati Jo Spisak.[71]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". 2025-03-29. Archived from the original on 2025-07-25. Retrieved 2025-12-05.
  2. ↑ Zuloaga, Joseph. "'Kept the lights on': 15 months of Shipman, as Columbia embarks on its next chapter". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-07-14.
  3. ↑ "Shipman Named Acting President | Office of Public Affairs". communications.news.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  4. ↑ Otterman, Sharon; Coleman, Maia (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  5. ↑ "Claire Shipman | Office of the Secretary of the University". secretary.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2021-09-22.
  6. ↑ "Morgan Enlow Shipman". Legacy.com. December 4, 2008.
  7. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  8. ↑ "Photograph of Claire Shipman, First Lady Laura Bush, President George W. Bush and Jill Ensminger". Worthington Memory. 2018-05-26. Archived from the original on 2019-12-12. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  9. 1 2 "Who Is Claire Shipman? Columbia Board Of Trustees Co-Chair Appointed New President". Times Now. 2025-03-29. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  10. 1 2 Otterman, Sharon; Coleman, Maia (29 March 2025). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times.
  11. 1 2 "Claire Shipman". HarperCollins. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  12. ↑ "Claire Shipman, Co-Chair | Office of the Secretary". secretary.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  13. ↑ Boss, Shira J. (March 2002). "From Columbia to the Kremlin and the Capital". Columbia College TODAY. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
  14. ↑ "Claire C. Shipman CC'86, SIPA'94 Receives 2022 Alexander Hamilton Medal". Columbia College. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Clair Shipman" (PDF). Congress.gov.
  16. ↑ Davis, Spencer. "Here's what to know about Claire Shipman, Columbia's new acting president". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  17. ↑ "Authors | The Confidence Code for Girls". #ConfidentGirl. Archived from the original on July 5, 2018. Retrieved March 5, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Указ Президента Российской Федерации от 18.08.1993 г. № 1247". Президент России (in Russian). Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  19. ↑ "Claire Shipman | C-SPAN.org". www.c-span.org. Retrieved 2026-01-23.
  20. ↑ "Claire Shipman | Conferences". conferences.shrm.org. Retrieved March 29, 2025.
  21. ↑ Kurtz, Judy (May 14, 2014). "ABC's Claire Shipman: My husband kept me in the dark on bin Laden". The Hill. Retrieved January 5, 2015.
  22. ↑ Kay, Katty; Shipman, Claire (May 2014). "The Confidence Gap". The Atlantic. Retrieved July 28, 2025.
  23. ↑ Davis, Spencer. "Here's what to know about Claire Shipman, Columbia's new acting president". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved May 9, 2025.
  24. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  25. ↑ Marantz, Andrew (2024-04-25). "How Columbia's Campus Was Torn Apart Over Gaza". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  26. 1 2 Davis, Spencer. "House Committee on Education and the Workforce asks Shipman to explain leaked text messages in new letter". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
  27. ↑ Mann, Brian (2024-04-18). "NYPD breaks up pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University". NPR. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  28. ↑ Badaan, Vivienne; Abu Moghli, Mai (2026-01-02). "Academic solidarity in the time of genocide". Globalisation, Societies and Education. 24 (1): 75–95. doi:10.1080/14767724.2025.2558989. ISSN 1476-7724.
  29. ↑ Kang, Jay Caspian (2025-03-14). "The Detention of Mahmoud Khalil Is a Flagrant Assault on Free Speech". The New Yorker. ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 2026-03-31.
  30. ↑ Knoblauch, Nadia. "ICE arrests Columbia student, Shipman says agents lied to enter University-owned residence". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-03-31.
  31. ↑ Alfred, Tsehai. "Palestinian activist Mohsen Mahdawi, GS '25, detained by ICE at naturalization appointment". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-03-31.
  32. ↑ "Supporting Our International Community | Office of the President". president.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
  33. ↑ Chen, Heather. "In Columbia's varying responses to student detainments, the question of a "Palestine exception" lingers". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-03-06.
  34. ↑ Otterman, Sharon; Coleman, Maia (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  35. ↑ Sulkin, Maya. "Columbia President Says One Thing to Trump Admin—and Another in Private". www.thefp.com. Retrieved 2025-05-01.
  36. ↑ Karam, Esha. "Shipman delivers first address as acting president at University Senate plenary". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  37. ↑ "Building on Our Commitment to Listen and Learn | Office of the President". president.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  38. ↑ "Columbia University Libraries Online Exhibitions | 1968: Columbia in Crisis". exhibitions.library.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  39. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-06). "Could Columbia Change Who Gets to Set the Rules on Protests?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  40. ↑ Banerjee, Isha. "Shipman delivers updates on ongoing federal negotiations, senate review at University Senate plenary". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  41. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-06). "Could Columbia Change Who Gets to Set the Rules on Protests?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-07.
  42. ↑ Zuloaga, Joseph. "'Largely opaque process': University senators criticize senate review report at first plenary since release". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  43. ↑ Pillai, Daksha. "Pro-Palestinian protesters and Public Safety officers clash at "Emergency Rally" in Butler Library". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  44. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (May 7, 2025). "Pro-Palestinian Demonstrators Occupy Columbia University's Main Library". New York Times. Archived from the original on May 7, 2025.
  45. ↑ Walton, Lara-Nour (2025-05-08). "To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  46. ↑ Alfred, Tsehai. "NYPD confirms 78 arrests at Butler Library protest, all released from custody". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  47. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-08). "A Year Ago, Columbia Security Was Hands-Off at a Protest. Not This Time". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  48. ↑ Walton, Lara-Nour (2025-05-08). "To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  49. ↑ Davis, Spencer. "NYPD officers respond with force to protesters picketing around Columbia after arrests at Butler Library". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  50. ↑ Davis, Spencer. "Shipman authorizes NYPD sweep of pro-Palestinian protest in Butler Library, police in riot gear arrest over 70". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-08.
  51. ↑ Walton, Lara-Nour (2025-05-08). "To Suppress the Latest Protest, Columbia Unveils a Violent New Form of Campus Policing". ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  52. ↑ Davis, Spencer. "Shipman praises NYPD and Public Safety 'professionalism' after Butler Library arrests". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-09.
  53. ↑ Banerjee, Isha. "Columbia College celebrates 2025 Class Day". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  54. ↑ Freiman, Jordan (20 May 2025). "Columbia University acting president booed during graduation speech, faces chants of "free Mahmoud"". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 21 May 2025.
  55. ↑ "Columbia University's acting president booed when noting absence of activist Mahmoud Khalil in commencement speech". NBC News. 2025-05-21. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  56. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2025-05-21). "Graduates Boo Columbia's President at Commencement After a Fraught Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-05-23.
  57. ↑ Tress, Luke. "Acting Columbia president sorry for calling to remove Jewish board member after Oct. 7". The Times of Israel. ISSN 0040-7909. Retrieved 4 July 2025.
  58. ↑ Davis, Spencer. "Columbia will pay $221 million in deal with Trump administration to resume federal funding". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  59. ↑ "Columbia University agrees to Trump demands in effort to restore federal funding". NBC News. March 21, 2025. Retrieved April 24, 2025.
  60. ↑ "What the Columbia Settlement Really Means". Knight First Amendment Institute. Retrieved 2026-02-12.
  61. ↑ Speri, Alice (2025-07-24). "'Extortion': Columbia University's deal with White House met with mixed reactions". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-01-28.
  62. ↑ Bose, Meghnad (2025-04-15). "Nobel Winner Joseph Stiglitz Denounces Columbia's Apparent Capitulation to Trump". The Intercept. Retrieved 2026-02-03.
  63. ↑ Khalidi, Rashid (2025-03-25). "Does Columbia still merit the name of a university?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2026-02-04.
  64. ↑ Sinnar, Shirin (2025). "Campus Protests and the Rule of Law". Law and Contemporary Problems. 87 (3) – via Duke Law.
  65. 1 2 3 4 Zuloaga, Joseph. "'Kept the lights on': 15 months of Shipman, as Columbia embarks on its next chapter". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  66. 1 2 Banerjee, Isha. "'In line with our values': Shipman describes deal with Trump administration in first interview with Spectator". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  67. ↑ Otterman, Sharon (2026-05-20). "For Columbia's Class of 2026, a Toasty Graduation Day Caps Years of Heat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2026-07-17.
  68. ↑ "Columbia College Today". www.college.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2025-03-29.
  69. ↑ "Columbia College Today". College.columbia.edu. 2001-10-15. Retrieved 2014-06-19.
  70. ↑ Otterman, Sharon; Coleman, Maia (2025-03-29). "Who Is Claire Shipman, the New Interim President of Columbia?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-03-30.
  71. ↑ "Columbia's interim president, a former GMA correspondent, engaged to soccer star". NewsNation. 2025-09-05. Archived from the original on 2025-09-10. Retrieved 2025-12-07.
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