Suicides

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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

Date Person Position Notes
October 4, 1898 Henry E. McDermott Assistant Professor of Chemistry Prussic acid
Novemeber 11, 1901 Richard Mayo Smith Professor of Political Economy Jumped; possible accident
February 21, 1902 Isaac N. Henderson PhD Candidate Self-inflicted gunshot
January 27, 1906 William N. Van Reypen Jr. Law School Student Self-inflicted gunshot
February 27, 1906 Ralph C.B. Moore Student Drowning
January 23, 1907 Lathrop Smith Law School student Self-inflicted gunshot
November 16, 1907 Lucien M. Underwood Professor of Botany Slit throat
December 5, 1914 Robert H. Jones Student Self-inflicted gunshot
August 8, 1919 John Hipp Student Multiple: slit wrist, throat, and jumped)
October 16, 1921 Dorothy Wilson Student Jumped under train at 125th Street New York Central / Metro North
August 28, 1924 Francis E. Brooks Professor of French Hanging
March 9, 1925 Henry Mead Student Jumped from sixth floor of Hartley
March 14, 1926 Walton White Student Hanging
September 21, 1927 Oscar Petty Professor of Linguistics Drowning


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)
Brian Malmon, March 24, 2000 - student (suicide while on leave)
Puneet Bhandari, April 20, 2000 - student (train collision)
Andrea Melendez, December 6, 2000 - student (jumped off stairwell in Mcbain)
Nick Kemnitzer, November 9, 2001 - student (unknown)
Fraser Lunan, December 13, 2003 - student (suicide while on leave)
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).