Melanie Huff, Guiding Force and Beloved Dean at Columbia Journalism School

Melanie Greer Huff, the Dean of Student Affairs at Columbia Journalism, who for almost 40 years nurtured the academic and professional careers of thousands of aspiring journalists, died on November 3 after an extended battle with cancer. She was 62 years old.

Huff came to the Journalism School as an office assistant after graduating from Barnard College in 1986. Over the years, she served in admissions, career and academic services and student life, ultimately becoming Dean of Students. In this position, she oversaw the offices of Student Life, Career Services, the Columbia News Service, and International Programs. 

In addition to being a Barnard graduate, she earned a Master's in the teaching of writing from Teachers College. Huff understood the workings of the university like few others and she used that knowledge to shepherd students through everything from orientation to graduation to the job search.

“She was a beloved presence at the Journalism School, guiding generations of students and taking joy in watching them grow into accomplished journalists,” said Dean Jelani Cobb. “It is hard to imagine the School without her.”

“Melanie wasn’t a journalist in the classic sense,” added Professor Bill Grueskin, a former academic dean, “but she has nurtured several generations of the world’s best journalists. No one cared more for our students than Melanie.”

As word about her death spread, students from around the world reacted on social media with sorrow mixed with warm memories. Many wrote about her kindness, generosity and outsized impact. Several called her office on the first floor of Pulitzer Hall a “sanctuary” and a “safe haven” where she would dispense advice and comfort and occasional tough love. It was a place with area rugs, a comfortable couch, pictures of her travels with students, boxes of Kleenex and bowls of candy. 

Huff sometimes worked directly alongside students in the field. For years, she managed logistics on international reporting trips for the school's Covering Religion seminar, traveling with students to India, Ireland and Northern Ireland, Israel and Palestine.

“Inevitably our students got into problems – travel sickness, lost documents, missed connections – and, just as inevitably, Melanie got us out of problems,” said Professor Emeritus Ari Goldman, who taught the religion class for many years. “She could handle any crisis, domestic or international.”

One student, Omar Kasrawi, '10 M.S., a Palestinian from Jordan, wrote how Huff helped him secure a visa to Israel. “Thank you Melanie for that,” Kasrawi, now a documentary film producer in New York, wrote on WhatsApp. “Your help got me back to the West Bank to see family. And she not only helped get me there but came with me to see my family there. She was family after all.”  

He added, “She was more than a dean. She was more than a friend. She was family.” 

As dean of students, Huff helped coordinate the various student and professional organizations, but none was more dear to her than SAJA, the South Asian Journalists Association. “She was an honorary desi,” said Anusha Shrivastava, the dean of Career Development. “In a sari, she was one of us.” Huff was the longtime convention coordinator for SAJA and also worked to nurture the Columbia chapter of AMEJA, Arab and Middle Eastern Journalists Association.

Her own heritage was Scots-Irish. Her full name was Melanie Greer Huff and she was born in Denver on June 20, 1962. Her family traced its ancestry to a Robert Greer who came to the United States from Templepatrick, now in Northern Ireland, in the early 1800s.

On a trip to Ireland with the Covering Religion class in 2025, Melanie traveled to Templepatrick with two volunteers from a genealogical organization called Irish Reaching Out. She visited the Old Presbyterian Church where her family worshiped and visited the cemetery where so many family members were buried. 

Certain details, like why Robert left Ireland, went unanswered but she came away happy she made the journey. She concluded: 

“What I do know for certain is that several hundred years ago, a son of a farmer made a brave choice to take a chance on a new life in an unknown place. That decision, generations later, put me in my office as a dean at Columbia Journalism School and in the position to travel back to where it all started.”  

Huff is survived by her mother, brother and two cats, Cleo and Sebastian.  

To join the WhatsApp group where alumni and friends are posting photos and tributes, please go to http://tinyurl.com/melaniegroup.