TY - BOOK ID - 78641690 TI - An improbable life PY - 2014 SN - 0231537050 9780231537056 9780231167628 0231167628 PB - New York Columbia University Press DB - UniCat KW - College presidents KW - Sovern, Michael I. KW - Columbia University KW - Columbia College (New York, N.Y.) KW - Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center KW - Ko-lun-pi-ya ta hsüeh KW - Kolumbiĭskiĭ universitet KW - Panepistēmion Columbia KW - Université de Columbia KW - Columbia University in the City of New York KW - Gelunbiya da xue KW - 哥伦比亚大学 KW - Presidents KW - History. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:78641690 AB - Columbia University began the second half of the twentieth century in decline, bottoming out with the student riots of 1968. Yet by the close of the century, the institution had regained its stature as one of the greatest universities in the world.According to the New York Times, ?If any one person is responsible for Columbia's recovery, it is surely Michael Sovern." In this memoir, Sovern, who served as the university's president from 1980 to 1993, recounts his sixty-year involvement with the institution, as well as his experiences growing up poor in the South Bronx and attending ER -