High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Lee Carroll Bollinger (born April 30, 1946) is an American lawyer and educator who is serving as the 19th president of Columbia University. Formerly the president of the University of Michigan, he is a noted legal scholar of the First Amendment and freedom of speech. He was at the center of two notable United States Supreme Court cases regarding the use of affirmative action in admissions processes. In July 2010, Bollinger was appointed Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York board of directors for 2011. Previously, he had served as Deputy Chair.