Henry Steele Commager (1902-1998) joined the faculty of the history department in 1938 and taught until 1956. Commager was one of the most recognized historians of his time and helped define American liberalism. He was a prolific political commentator who disseminated...

Salo Wittmayer Baron (1895-1989) was the Nathan L. Miller Professor of Jewish History, Literature and Institutions. Baron’s appointment in 1929 marks the beginning of the academic study of Jewish history in American universities. In 1961, Baron testified at the...

Jacques Barzun (1907-2012) lecturer in history at Columbia from 1928, full professor from 1945 and Seth Low Professor of History from 1960. Barzun published more than 30 critical and historical studies and is considered a founder of the study of cultural history. He...

Lynn Thorndike (1882-1965), Thorndike taught at Columbia between 1924 and 1950. In this time he played a pioneering role in no less than three fields: medieval and intellectual history, and, above all the history of science. Thorndike wrote pioneering surveys of...

William Linn Westermann (1882-1964), joined the Department of History at Columbia as professor of ancient history in 1923. Westermann’s scholarship focused primarily on ancient economic history. He was one of the leading papyrologists in the United States and...