The Academic Department Administrator (ADA) has primary responsibility for administrative management of the History Department and reports to the Chair.  He is responsible for the organization and planning of the academic and administrative activities of the department, including matters of financial, personnel, and space management and the provision of student and faculty services.  The ADA has overall responsibility for the department's administrative budget and for supervision of the instructional budget in collaboration with the Chair.  He is responsible for the hiring, training, and supervision of all department staff.  The ADA processes all full-time faculty appointments and oversees faculty search activities.  He oversees departmental facilities and space utilization, coordinates planned capital projects, and approves requests for repairs and improvements to Facilities Management.  The ADA is a member of the department's Space Committee and prepares reports for faculty academic committees and the Chair as necessary.  He advises faculty and students concering University policies and procedures.

Sean is from the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont and received his B.A. summa cum laude from Princeton University in 1988, majoring in Art History & Archaeology.  In 1999 he received his Ph.D. from Columbia's Department of Art History & Archaeology with a dissertation on the work of Sir John Soane at the Palace of Westminster.  For six years Sean was the Executive Director of the Wyckoff House & Association, responsible for the operation of the Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum in Brooklyn, NY.  Sean writes and teaches in the areas of architectural history and museum studies and is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Cooper-Hewitt MA Progam in Decorative Arts & Design.  Sean and his partner, Michael Susi, live in Inwood near Baker Field and have an 11 year-old son.

Reporting to the Academic Department Administrator (ADA), the Business Manager has primary responsibility for the department's administrative and programmatic budgets and instructional and personnel expenses. He/she advises the Chair and ADA as to historical levels of spending, developing budgets and reports as needed. The Business Manager resolves financial problems and prevents overdrafts. He/she works with the Administrative Assistant for Financial Affairs to administer the department's participation in the Faculty Research Allowance Program and other reimbursement and special funding programs for faculty, including faculty research accounts. He/she processes appointments for all part-time, visiting and adjunct faculty as well as all student teaching and research appointments. The Business Manager allocates, approves payroll and is responsible for hiring, training, and supervision of the department's casual and work study staff.

The responsibilities of the Undergraduate Administrator & Curriculum Coordinator include:  maintaining records for undergraduate majors and concentrators; certifying graduating students; advising students concerning departmental requirements; assisting students and faculty with completion of Change of Grade and Plan of Study forms; coordinating the undergraduate seminar application process; coordinating undergraduate events with the Undergraduate Education Committee (UNDED) and the Undergraduate History Council (UHC); maintaining the undergraduate and curricular content of the department website; coordinating department curriculum in conjunction with the faculty Curriculum Coordinator; and coordinating teaching schedules in conjunction with faculty and the Registrar.

The Administrative Assistant for Faculty Affairs, Najila Naderi, reports to the Academic Department Administrator (ADA) and works closely with both the ADA and the department Chair in all matters related to faculty searches, appointments, and reviews.  Her responsibilities include: coordinating the planning and logistics of faculty searches in cooperation with the chairs and members of search committees; maintaining faculty files, databases, and online directories; and coordinating the faculty review process together with staff in the Office of the Vice President of Arts & Sciences.  This position also assists with other administrative duties, including office reception, photocopying, and event planning and implementation.

Sydney Schwartz Gross is the executive director of The Hertog Global Strategy Initiative, a summer research program run through the Department of History that employs historical analysis to confront present and future problems in world politics. In this role, she serves as the primary administrative coordinator of the program, which brings invited experts and select students to Columbia each summer for intensive study, independent research, and collaborative writing on a critical issue in international affairs.

The Hertog Global Strategy Initiative was initiated in the summer of 2010 by History Professor Matthew Connelly and Dr. Line Lillevik, Executive Director of the Dual Master's Degree Program in International and World History. It is made possible by a gift from the Hertog Foundation.

A native New Yorker, Sydney earned a B.A. in History from The University of Chicago and an M.S. in Print Journalism from Columbia. Before joining the department, she worked as a reporter for two daily newspapers, The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, Mass., and the Republican-American in Waterbury, Conn., and completed graduate coursework in American History at the University of Miami.