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

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)

Date	Person	Position	Notes
October 4, 1898	Henry E. McDermott	Assistant Professor of Chemistry	Prussic acid
November 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
May 13, 1928	Rollin F. Lewis	Student	Hanging
May 23, 1928	David Halfant	PhD Candidate in Economics	Self-inflicted gunshot)

(note: the above list is very incomplete as major media outlets, for the most part, stopped reporting on college suicides during the 1960s).