Suicides
Columbia has had its share of suicides, much like other elite institutions of higher learning (but unlike NYU, which has had far more). If you or someone you know has made even a passing remark about suicide, it is suggested to contact Health Services immediately.
Partial List of Suicides
Henry E. McDermott, October 4, 1898 - Assistant Professor of Chemistry (prussic acid)
Richard Mayo Smith, Novemeber 11, 1901 - Professor of Political Economy (jumped; possible accident)
Isaac N. Henderson, February 21, 1902 - PhD Candidate (self-inflicted gunshot)
William N. Van Reypen Jr., January 27, 1906 - Law School Student (self-inflicted gunshot)
Ralph C.B. Moore, February 27, 1906 - student (drowning)
Lathrop Smith, January 23, 1907 - Law School student (self-inflicted gunshot)
Lucien M. Underwood, November 16, 1907 - Professor of Botany (slit throat)
Robert H. Jones, December 5, 1914 - student (self-infliected gunshot)
John Hipp, August 8, 1919 - student (slit wrist, throat, and jumped)
Dorothy Wilson, October 16, 1921 - student (jumped under train at 125th Street New York Central / MetroNorth)
Francis E. Brooks, August 28, 1924 - Professor French (hanging)
Henry Mead, March 9, 1925 - student (jumped from sixth floor of Hartley)
Walton White, March 14, 1926 - student (hanging)
Oscar Petty, September 21, 1927 - Professor of Linguistics (drowned)
Rollin F. Lewis, May 13, 1928 - student (hanging)
David Halfant, May 23, 1928 - PhD Candidate in Economics (self-inflicted gunshot)
Russell G. Smith, June 7, 1929 - Professor of Sociology (jumped)
Louis Finkelstein, March 9, 1930 - Law School student (jumped)
Edgar F. Grossman, May 11, 1933 - PhD Candidate in Philosophy (self-inflicted gunshot)
Fred Lester Acer, June 16, 1937 - student (lethal dose of sleeping medication)
Robert E. Chaddock, October 21, 1939 - Professor of Statistics (jumped)
Marvin Krueger, April 13, 1941 - Assistant Professor of Education (gas)
Rudolf Schoenheimer, September 11, 1941 - Professor of Biological Chemistry (toxic acid)
Marion Ellis, May 3, 1942 - student (gas)
Habeeb Ahmed Faruqi, January 15, 1948 - Teachers College student (jumped from ninth floor of Furnald)
Dorothy Bordes, October 5, 1951 - student (hanging)
Edward R. Fenn, October 20, 1953 - student (self-inflicted gunshot)
Madeline Jean Sommers, July 21, 1954 - summer student (fire)
Lawrence Goldsmith Jr., January 3, 1955 - student (sedative overdose)
Frank William Ritchie Jr., April 28, 1958 - General Studies student (self-inflicted gunshot)
Michael Bogost, April 17, 1960 - student (potassium cyanide)
Richard Kulick, November 26, 1961 - Dental School student (self-inflicted gunshot)
Deborah Daniels, May 4, 1965 - Teachers College student (jumped)
Christine Gallant, November 25, 1968 - librarian (sleeping pill overdose, drowned in bathtub)
Hsio Min Feng, February 18, 1974 - Professor of Chinese (jumped in front of subway in Queens)
Jonathan A. Spohn, September 24, 1988 - student (jumped from fourteenth floor of John Jay)
Shirley Yoon, September 20, 1998 - student (jumped from twentieth floor of East Campus)
Darren Pascual, September 21, 1998 - student (hanging)
Richard Ng, May 7, 2006 - student (jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge)
(note: the above list is very incomplete as major media outlets, for the most part, stopped reporting on college suicides during the 1960s).
