Academic Affairs

Annual Lecture

​The Virginia Kneeland Frantz Society

The Virginia Kneeland Frantz Society offers a variety of faculty-driven programs and opportunities that target the specific needs of women faculty. Among these programs, the VKFS annual lecture provides the entire CUIMC community with the opportunity to hear directly from women leaders from a variety of professional fields on their perspectives and experiences with success and leadership.

2026 Lecture: "1001 Cuts" film screening and discussion with director, Dr. Sarah Temkin

Date: Monday, March 16, 2026

Location: Alumni Auditorium

Time: 5:30 p.m.

Register

The Virginia Kneeland Frantz Society (VKFS) presents a screening of “1001 Cuts,” followed by a discussion with the film’s director, Dr. Sarah Temkin, and Columbia faculty members Dr. Christine H. Rohde, Dr. Meghan Brooks Lane-Fall, and Dr. Wakenda K. Tyler. Dean Katrina Armstrong will deliver opening remarks.

“1001 Cuts” provides a compelling view of the challenges women face in the high-stakes professional world of surgery. Through candid, personal accounts, the film illustrates how addressing these unseen barriers benefits not just surgeons, but the entire healthcare system. To watch the trailer of “1001 Cuts” and to learn more about the documentary, visit the film's website.

This screening features a special presentation of  The VKFS Excellence in Mentorship Awards. The event is open to the entire Columbia community, including students, staff, trainees, and faculty.

Past Lectures:

2025 - Anne L. Taylor, MD

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

Speaker:

  • Anne L. Taylor, MD, Senior Vice President for Faculty Affairs and Career Development, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Vice Dean for Academic Affairs; John Lindenbaum Professor of Medicine at CUMC, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons

To view the 2025 program, click here.

2021 - Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

Speaker:

  • Reshma Jagsi, MD, DPhil, Deputy Chair of Radiation Oncology, Newman Family Professor of Radiation Oncology, Residency Program Director, Director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences, Michigan Medicine 

2016 - Lee Goldman, MD with Columbia University Deans

A Colloquium of Women Deans at Columbia University

Monday, March 7, 2016

Moderator:

  • Lee Goldman, MD, Executive Vice President and Dean of the Faculties of Health Sciences and Medicine; Chief Executive of the Columbia University Medical Center

Panelists:

  • Amale Andraos, MArch, Dean of the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation
  • Bobbie Berkowitz, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, Dean of the School of Nursing
  • Mary C. Boyce, PhD, Dean of Engineering at the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
  • Linda Fried, MD, MPH, Dean of the Mailman School of Public Health
  • Merit E. Janow, JD, Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs
  • Alondra Nelson, PhD, Dean of Social Science in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences
  • Jeanette Takamura, PhD, MSW, Dean of the School of Social Work

2015 - Claire Shipman

A Special Lecture with Claire Shipman

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Speaker:

  • Claire Shipman, Senior National Correspondent for ABC's "Good Morning America" and Co-author of the New York Times Bestsellers: "The Confidence Code: The Science and Art of Self-Assurance- What Women Should Know," and "Womenomics"

2014 - Margaret Wood, MD, FRCA; Richard Mayeux, MD; Michael Shelanski, MD, PhD

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Speakers:

  • Margaret Wood, MD, FRCA, EM Papper Professor of Anesthesiology; Chair, Department of Anesthesiology
  • Richard Mayeux, MD, Gertrude H Sergievsky Professor of Neurology, Psychiatry, and Epidemiology (in the Sergievsky Center and Taub Institute); Chair, Department of Neurology; Director, Sergievsky Center; Co-Director, Taub Institute
  • Michael Shelanski, MD, PhD, Delafield Professor of Pathology and Cell Biology (in Neuroscience and in the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer's Disease and the Aging Brain); Chair, Department of Pathology and Cell Biology

2014 - Debora Spar, PhD

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Speaker:

  • Debora Spar, PhD, President of Barnard College

2013 - Robin J. Ely, PhD

A Special Lecture and Panel Discussion focused on Women and Leadership in the Health Sciences

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Keynote Speaker:

  • Robin J. Ely, Warren Alpert Professor of Business Administration; Senior Associate Dean for Culture and Community, Harvard Business School

Panelists:

  • Katherine Phillips, PhD, Paul Calello Professor of Leadership and Ethics in the Faculty of Business, Columbia University
  • Janice Clements, PhD, Vice Dean for Faculty and Professor and the Mary Wallace Stanton Professor of Faculty Affairs; Professor of Comparative Medicine, Neurology, Pathology and joint appointment Molecular Biology & Genetics, Johns Hopkins University
  • Elaine Larson, PhD, RN, FAAN, CIC, Associate Dean for Research; Anna C. Maxwell Professor of Nursing Research
  • Mary D’Alton, MD, Willard C Rappleye Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Department Chair of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Columbia University
  • Margaret Wood, MD, EM Papper Professor of Anesthesiology, Department Chair of Anesthesiology, Columbia University

2011 - Julie Ann Freischlag, MD

A Special Lecture on Women Leadership in Academic Medicine

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Speaker:

  • Julie Ann Freischlag, MD, The William Stewart Halsted Professor; Chair, Department of Surgery; Surgeon-in-Chief, The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions

Please visit the Calendar of Events for upcoming program dates. 

For more information, please email: Office_Acad_Affairs@cumc.columbia.edu.