The temporary leader of Columbia University resigned Friday evening after less than a full school year at the helm — a decision that was praised as an “important step” to restore federal funding by the Trump administration. In an email to students and faculty, Interim President Katrina Armstro ng said she would return to her role as the chief executive officer of the Columbia Medical Center, where she will also lead health sciences and medicine faculty and be dean of the medical school. “It has been a singular honor to lead Columbia University in this important and challenging time,” she wrote. “This is one of the world’s great universities, in its most vital city, and I am proud to have worked with extraordinary faculty, students and alumni.” “But my heart is with science, and my passion is with healing. That is where I can best serve this University and our community moving forward.” The Board of Trustees confirmed her resignation in a statement. One of its co-chairs, Claire Shipman, will serve as acting university president, effective immediately, until the board can complete a presidential search. “I assume this role with a clear understanding of the serious challenges before us,” Shipman wrote. She promised to work with faculty, protect Columbia students and implement “needed reforms.” At the time of her resignation, Armstrong had been knee-deep in negotiations with the Trump administration over $400 million in federal contracts and grants that were canceled due to allegations of campus antisemitism. At the end of last week, she agreed to several of the government’s demands, including prohibitions on masks during protests and oversight of Middle Eastern studies. Her willingness to work with the feds briefly earned her the praises of U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon. But the decision may have cost her the confidence of swaths of her faculty, who on Tuesday sued the Trump administration over ignoring what they called a legally required process to terminate funding. Students, too, protested — in masks — throughout the last week over what they say amounted to a capitulation to the federal government’s demands. It is not publicly known where negotiations between the government and Armstrong stood when she chose to step down, though a statement by President Trump’s antisemitism task force suggested the relationship had soured. As of Friday, the federal funding had still not been restored. A Columbia spokeswoman would not confirm if the Trump administration was involved in decisions around leadership changes. In recent days, Armstrong had to defend her commitment to the mask ban and other measures after leaks about internal meetings in which she tried to assure faculty that not much had changed. “I regret any confusion and inconsistent statements and want to make sure our position is clear as we go forward,” Armstrong said in a statement on Tuesday. The federal working group, which is housed within the U.S. Justice Department, suggested it was the trustees’ decision for Armstrong to step down. “The action taken by Columbia’s trustees today, especially in light of this week’s concerning revelation, is an important step toward advancing negotiations as set forth in the pre-conditional understanding reached last Friday between the University and the Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism,” read the task force’s statement. Armstrong, an Alabama native, joined Columbia’s medical center in 2022. She stepped into the interim role vacated by former university President Minouche Shafik in August. ...read more read less