Columbia College Chicago history

Anticipating a strong need for public speaking at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, Blood and Riley were inspired to open their school in the exposition city, Chicago, and adopt the exposition's name.

On May 5, 1904, the school incorporated itself again in order to change its name to the Columbia College of Expression, adding coursework in teaching to the curriculum.

When Blood died in 1927, George L. Scherger assumed the office of presidency after serving as a former member on the board of directors.

Under his leadership, Scherger signed the paperwork at the board's annual meeting on April 14, 1928, to change the school's name to the Mary A. Blood School of Speech Arts.

As the president of the Pestalozzi-Froebel Teachers College, Bertha Hofer Hegner assumed the role as the fourth president of Columbia College of Expression in 1929 when Scherger resigned to become an assistant pastor of St Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church.

By 1934, College curriculum also focused on the growing field of radio broadcasting.

When Bertha Hofer Hegner retired in 1936 due to health reasons, she was made president emeritus of the institutions and Herman Hofer Hegner became the institutions' official president.

As the radio program gained prominence, Alexandroff was named as the vice president of the Columbia College of Expression and became a member on the board of directors at both institutions by 1937.

The college left its partnership with the Pestalozzi-Froebel Teachers College, named Norman Alexandroff as its president, and filed the Columbia College of Expression as a not for profit corporation on December 3, 1943.

On February 5, 1944, the college re-filed as a not for profit corporation and changed its name to Columbia College.

Mike Alexandroff had worked at the college since 1947 and as president, he created a liberal arts college with a "hands-on minds-on" approach to arts and media education with a progressive social agenda.

The college was originally established in 1953 as a Los Angeles satellite campus of Columbia College Chicago.

In 1959, the Los Angeles campus separated from the Chicago institution to operate as Columbia College Hollywood, an independent, nonprofit, private institution.

In 1961, Mirron (Mike) Alexandroff, became president and created a liberal arts college with a progressive social agenda.

In 1963 Mirron “Mike” Alexandroff became president, envisioning Columbia as a school of arts and communications in a liberal arts context.

Columbia was awarded full accreditation in 1974 by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools and purchased its first building in the South Loop at 600 S. Michigan Ave.

In 1992, Doctor John B. Duff was named president and during his tenure, the school changed its name to Columbia College Chicago, expanded its educational programs, and added to its physical campus in the South Loop.

On October 28, 1997, the college changed its name to Columbia College Chicago, and the institution continued to expand its educational programs and add to its physical campus by purchasing available buildings in the South Loop.

On May 9, 2012, President Warrick Carter announced he would retire a year earlier than expected, stepping down at the end of the 2012–13 academic year.

On July 1, 2013, Doctor Kwang-Wu Kim became Columbia College's 10th president.

In 2018, the college established the Flashpoint Chicago branch campus and expanded its program offerings when it acquired the former Tribeca Flashpoint College, a private creative media institution located in Chicago, Illinois.