The Program, whose first official class graduated in 2015, has now graduated nearly 200 students. Many have been inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and with the highest Latin honors at Columbia, and have gone on to study at the world’s leading graduate schools. These graduates also include two Rhodes Scholars, as well as those who have landed top positions pursuing impressive careers in diverse fields.
“Peter’s stature as an intellectual giant on the Faculty of Arts & Sciences coupled with his warmth, wit, and contagious humor made him the perfect leader to catapult the School of General Studies within Columbia and to secure its place among world-class colleges,” Rosen-Metsch said.
In attendance at the ceremony were relatives of Awn, in addition to numerous students, staff, faculty, parents, and alumni of both institutions. Speakers included President Mion, Dean Rosen-Metsch, Francis Vérillaud, Curtis Rodgers, Vice Dean of GS, and Norman Laurila, a close lifelong friend of Awn.
“Peter was never one to seek the spotlight, but somehow the spotlight always found him. It might have had something to do with the suspenders and brightly colored socks. His larger-than-life presence was something he grew into over time. Something he earned, student by student, and something he didn’t seek out or embrace until late in his deanship. But he did earn it, and he earned it beautifully,” Rodgers said. “While he was always the first to thank everyone else and give credit to everyone else, and was a reluctant recipient of all the honors and accolades he received during his life, this honor—the naming of the library on this campus—would be the one he would embrace most. Thank you.”
