Graduating Film and Media Studies MA fellow Ann Wang ’25 is among the winners of Columbia University's prestigious Campbell Award.
Established in 2016 by the Columbia University Trustees and the Columbia Alumni Association (CAA), the Campbell Award is presented to a graduating student at each School who shows exceptional leadership and Columbia spirit as exemplified by the late Bill Campbell ’62CC, ’64TC, University Trustee Chair Emeritus and CAA co-founder.
"I'm deeply grateful to be recognized alongside 18 brilliant and inspiring peers (and many more!) across the university, and I'd like to express my sincere gratitude to the School of the Arts, the Interdisciplinary Arts Council, and most importantly, the Film & Media Studies program," Wang said. "It's been a wild yet beautiful two years here."
A Malaysian-Chinese-American scholar and arts practitioner from Tallahassee, Florida, Wang has taken on multiple leadership roles during her time at Columbia. She served as the MA fellow in the Film and Media Studies program and chair of the Diversity & Equity Committee within the School of the Arts Interdisciplinary Arts Council. She also worked as a social media assistant at the Institute of Latin American Studies, where she supported political and climate justice initiatives across the region.
Wang has been instrumental in organizing campus-wide contemporary East Asian film screenings and has led numerous community-centered events that bridge artistic, academic, and political dialogue. Her inclusive approach to leadership and commitment to amplifying diverse voices exemplifies the spirit of the Campbell Award.
Before coming to Columbia, Wang worked in the tech industry. This experience has informed her research and artistic practice, which foreground regions, voices, and infrastructures often excluded from dominant Anglo-American and Western European media frameworks—particularly in East Asia and the Nordic Arctic. Her work has already gained recognition in the field, having been presented at the Lofoten International Arts Festival and published in Metode.
Wang's academic accomplishments and leadership at Columbia have prepared her for the next step in her journey. In Fall 2025, she will begin her PhD in Cinema and Media Studies at the University of Pennsylvania, where she plans to continue her focus on underrepresented media landscapes and further develop her research on the intersection of technology, culture, and artistic expression.
