Top 10 Awkward Moments

#1. Adding Insult to Introduction

College presidents generally don't slam their guest speakers, but when Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accepted an invitation to speak at Columbia University, critics excoriated the school for giving a dictator such a lofty platform. But instead of rescinding the invite, Columbia president Lee Bollinger introduced Ahmadinejad by noting that Mahmoud resembles a "petty and cruel dictator" and that his denial of the Holocaust is "ridiculous." Bollinger's remarks outraged chancellors of Iranian universities, one of whom said, "Insult, in a scholarly atmosphere, to the president of a country...is deeply shameful." Many in the U.S. agreed.

Connect to this TIME Story