Post Pesach Program Is Largest in Three-Year History

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Learning a Lesson in Day-School Education

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YU Applauds Its Class of 2010 Graduates

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Young Scientists Spend Their Summer in the Lab

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YESHIvA UnIvErSITY

4fALL 2010

4voLUmE 14 • no. 4YUTodaYJim Joseph Foundation Invests $11M in Jewish Education

On the heels of a $4 mil-lion grant to Yeshiva University last Septem-

ber, the San Francisco-based Jim Joseph Foundation is mak-ing a new $11 million grant to bring its overall investment in the University’s training of Jew-ish educators to a historic $15 million over the next four years. With new grants in the same amount to the Jewish Theologi-cal Seminary (JTS) and Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC), the founda-tion has now committed a total of $45 million to increase the number of credentialed future Jewish educators and improve the quality of professional prep-aration and Jewish education they receive.

The initial grant last fall marked the beginning of what the foundation envisioned would be a multi-year investment and a partnership with the three institutions. “The investment in these training institutions directly addresses the future of Jewish education and is a part-nership that will greatly advance

this cause,” said Al Levitt, the president of the foundation, which was established in 2006. “We care deeply about the future of Jewish life in this country.”

At YU, the funding provides both financial aid for students pursuing education degrees or certification in programs that prepare them to work with Jew-

ish youth and young adults, as well as support for enhanced programs designed to attract more educators to the field. These programs include a new full-time master’s degree in Jewish education, a certificate in experiential Jewish educa-tion, advanced training and cer-tification for classroom teachers

in technology and differenti-ated instruction, and a robust investment in the induction and support of new teachers. Additionally, the grant sup-ports recruitment efforts that include experiential learning missions for undergraduate stu-dents and a new, full-time Jew-ish education and recruitment

manager to attract and guide future Jewish educators toward training opportunities at YU in formal and experiential educa-tion. “The Jim Joseph Foun-dation’s continued investment and partnership ensures that the community’s focus remains laser-like on the centrality of Jewish education,” noted Presi-dent Richard M. Joel.

As part of the grants to all three institutions, funding has been carved out for the explora-tion and implementation of new technologies for distance learn-ing that will make training and credentialing possible for stu-dents unable to take coursework on campus. The three institu-tions will work on projects to ensure creative new directions for the education of future Jew-ish educators in order to foster best practices in the field.

“The Jim Joseph Founda-tion is confident that partner-ing with these institutions is an effective way to impact the next generation of Jews,” added Chip Edelsberg, the foundation’s executive director. n

GrAnT STrEnGTHEnS YU’S AbILITY To DELIvEr THE bEST TrAInInG To morE STUDEnTS

Chaya Batya (C.B.) Neu-groschl, an educator with nearly 20 years of peda-

gogic, curricular and administra-tive experience in both Limudei Kodesh and general studies, has been named head of school of the Yeshiva University High School for Girls (Central). The appointment—effective July 1—is the culmination of a search that involved parents, faculty, board members and YU admin-istrators, spanning both the United States and Israel.

Prior to joining YUHSG, Neugroschl served as assistant principal and co-director of gen-eral studies at SAR High School since 2004, where she intro-duced innovative curricular initiatives and special program-ming. Before coming to SAR, Neugroschl was the director of

admissions and a teacher of Jew-ish history and Jewish philoso-phy at Ma’ayanot Yeshiva High School for Girls.

Neugroschl’s educational background is impressive. She studied for two years at Michlala in Bayit V’gan before earning her

BA at Stern College for Women in 1993. Neugroschl continued her studies at Bernard Revel Graduate School, and then at Harvard University, where she received her MA in Near East-ern languages and civilizations in 1998.

“Mrs. Neugroschl brings to our school a very well devel-oped and integrated educational vision,” said Miriam Goldberg, chair of the Yeshiva University High Schools Board of Trustees. “She has earned a well deserved reputation for working collab-oratively with faculty and par-ents. Mrs. Neugroschl brings an established and accomplished track record of creating dynamic environments for learning and true intellectual exchange, cou-pled with setting standards for high levels of student growth.” n

Stern Alum Tapped as Central’s New Head of School

C.B. Neugroschl will set the course for continued growth.

Yeshiva University students are training to be the Jewish educators of tomorrow.

® ChampionsGate Looks to Next PracticesOrlando, FL, was the backdrop for the fifth annual Champions-Gate National Leadership Conference, as more than 350 leaders converged to discuss some of the most pressing issues facing the community. Themed “From Best Practices to Next Practices: Tomorrow Begins Today,” the conference, held July 29–Aug.1, examined a slew of topics, including breakthrough ways to finance our communal institutions, innovative approaches to instilling family values, creative methods for cultivating and training the next generation of leaders, and inventive ideas to infuse Jewish life with greater passion. n

k Visit www.yu.edu/news for more information on ChampionsGate 2010.

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YUTodaY on The Web

www.yu.edu/news

Web exclUsive:

Ethics, Integrity and oil SpillsDean Michael Ginzberg shares his views on the lessons of the deepwater horizon disaster.

awww.yu.edu/ginzbergpov

video phoTo gallerY

Watch as students, faculty and members of the community make their presence felt at the Salute to Israel Parade.

awww.yu.edu/

nowyouknow/parade

Listen to Yeshiva University undergraduates Tzippora Kanal and Sam Weprin look back at their YU experience.

awww.yu.edu/classof2010

plUs

visit awww.yu.edu/news for up-to-the-minute University stories and information.

YESHIvA UnIvErSITY

4fALL 2010

4voLUmE 14 • no. 4YUTodaYDr. HEnrY KrESSEL

Chairman, YU Board of Trustees

rICHArD m. JoEL Dr. normAn LAmm President Chancellor

GEorGIA b. PoLLAK Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs

yuTOday

CorEEn bAILor borIS voLUnUEv Editor Art Director

Enrique Cubillo, Michael DiVito, Marc Fein, Karen Gardner, Norman Goldberg, Zachary Levine, Stephen Nickson, Peter Robertson, Ephraim Shoshani, V. Jane Windsor,

Matthew Yaniv, Larry ZeligsonContributors

yutoday@yu.edu

YUToday is published quarterly by the Office of Communications and Public Affairs and is distrib uted free to faculty, staff, students, alumni, donors and friends. It keeps them informed of news from across Yeshiva University’s undergraduate and graduate divisions and affiliates. The quarterly newsletter covers academic and campus life, faculty and student research, community outreach and philanthropic support. It showcases the University’s mission of Torah Umadda, the combina-tion of Jewish textual study and values with secular learning, through stories about the diverse

achievements of the University community.

© Yeshiva University 2010 • Office of Communications and Public Affairs Furst Hall Room 401 • 500 West 185th St. • New York, NY 10033-3201 • Tel.: 212.960.5285

Post Pesach Program Hits New HeightsInComInG UnDErGrADUATES GET A JUmP on THEIr YU ExPErIEnCE

The 2010 Post Pesach Pro-gram attracted a record number of participants as

more incoming students opted to get an early start on their Yeshiva University journey. This year’s program—for stu-dents who have registered full-time on-campus for fall 2010 and have returned from their second or third years of learning in Israel—saw enrollment soar to 59 students, climbing from 44 in 2009 and 38 in 2008, the pro-gram’s inaugural year.

For those students who choose to come home for Pesach, this program allows them to begin their academic experi-ence early. “The program allows them to spend a few weeks learning in a well-structured environment,” said Murray Sragow, associate director of undergraduate admissions.

Students on the Torah Only track attended a daily shiur

[lecture] by one of YU’s roshei yeshiva [professors of Talmud] and an afternoon and night seder [learning program], including vaadim [gathering] with sganei mashgiach [counselors]. The Torah Umadda option, however, allowed students to substitute the afternoon learning compo-nent with up to six credits (two courses) at Yeshiva College or Sy Syms School of Business. Both tracks began April 12 and con-cluded May 27.

“The Post Pesach Program is like a mini semester,” said Eli Hagler, assistant director of undergraduate admissions. This year’s program included stu-dents from eight states, 24 high schools and 15 Israel Yeshivas.

BJ Litwin attended the program because he felt the experience would enable him to smoothly transition into YU. “I have been able to familiarize myself with the campus and all that YU has to offer.” n

President Richard M. Joel met with the 59 participants of the 2010 program.

YU Welcomes 20 Faculty Members

Twenty undergraduate and graduate faculty members will join Yeshiva Univer-

sity’s diverse roster of scholars this fall.

Four professors—Drs. Doug-las Burgess, Alessandro Citanna, Andreas Hamel and Yuxi Zheng—will be teaching at both Yeshiva College and Stern Col-lege for Women.

Burgess joins the Univer-sity’s history department after positions as a postdoctoral fel-low at The New School for Social Research and New York Histori-cal Society. He obtained his JD from Cornell University and PhD from Brown University.

Citanna brings experience as a visiting professor of eco-

nomics and finance at Columbia University and as a professor of economics and finance at HEC Paris to YU’s economics depart-ment. Citanna earned a PhD in economics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Hamel and Zheng are addi-tions to the mathematics depart-ment. Hamel, who earned his PhD summa cum laude from Ger-many’s Martin Luther Univer-sity, has lectured in operations research and financial engi-neering at Princeton University. Zheng has served as professor and associate head of the mathe-matics department at Penn State University. He obtained a PhD in mathematics from the Univer-sity of California, Berkeley.

Susan Crawford, who earned a BA summa cum laude and JD from Yale University, comes to Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law as a professor specializ-ing in communications, cyber, privacy and property law, and Brett Frischmann joins Car-dozo after a stretch as associate professor of law at Loyola Uni-versity School of Law. His edu-cational background includes a BA in astrophysics and an MS in earth resources engineering and applied sciences from Colum-bia University, along with a JD magna cum laude from George-town University Law Center. n

k See a complete list of new faculty at www.yu.edu/newfaculty2010

® “Now you Know” wants to Hear from youInnovation is happening across Yeshiva University, and that includes how YU highlights what makes the University unique. In May, YU unveiled “Now You Know,” a campaign that included the launch of www.yu.edu/nowyouknow, a Web site that features distinctive facts and trivia about the University, along with videos, quizzes and a chance to submit your own YU factoids. Now, it’s your turn. In late August, YU will roll out the second component of the cam-paign. We’re inviting the entire YU family—students, faculty, alumni, parents and supporters—to tell us what YU means to them. Maybe it’s an interesting factoid you know about

YU, or perhaps it’s the relationships you’ve built with the University community. Whatever it is, we want to hear from you. Visit www.yu.edu/nowyouknow and submit your own fact as either photo, audio or video. Submissions will be posted online, where visitors can vote for the clip that truly captures the YU spirit. The clincher? There will be giveaways and prizes for the highest-rated submissions. n

Stanley I. Raskas, Chairman, Board of Overseers, Yeshiva College; Shira Yoshor, Chairman, Board of Overseers, Stern College for Women; Josh Weston, Chairman, Board of Overseers, Sy Syms School of Business; Ruth L. Gottesman, Chairperson, Board of Overseers, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Kathryn O. Greenberg and Leslie E. Payson, Co-Chairs, Board of Overseers, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law; Robert Schwalbe, Chair, Board of Overseers, Wurzweiler School of Social Work; Mordecai D. Katz, Chairman, Board of Overseers, Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies; Carol Bravmann, Chair, Board of Overseers, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology; Moshael J. Straus, Chairman, Board of Overseers, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration; Julius Berman, Chair man, Board of Trustees, (affiliate) Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Sem i n ary; Miriam Goldberg, Chairman, Board of Trustees, YU High Schools; Theodore N. Mirvis and Michael Jesselson, Co-Chairs, Board of Directors, (affiliate)

Yeshiva University Museum. Board listing as of June 1, 2010 .

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Three professors at Wurz-weiler School of Social Work—Dr. Gary Stein, the

Rev. Frederick Streets and Dr. Rozetta Wilmore Schaeffer—have received the acclaimed distinction of being named Ful-bright Specialists. The Fulbright Specialist Program awards grants to U.S. faculty and pro-fessionals in select disciplines ranging from agriculture to urban planning to participate in two- to six-week projects at col-leges and universities in more than 100 countries.  

Stein will serve as a guest faculty member at Lancaster University’s International Obser-vatory on End of Life Care in England. Stein will conduct seminars on healthcare ethics, palliative care and disability, as well as advance-care plan-ning and end-of-life perspec-tives among the gay and lesbian community. In addition to these roles, he will serve as a resource and mentor for students devel-oping research proposals. 

Streets, The Carl and Doro-thy Bennet Professor of Pastoral

Counseling at Wurzweiler, will be based at the University of The Free State (UFS) in South Africa, which is establishing an International Institute for Diversity (IID). The institute is envisioned as a center of aca-demic excellence for studying transformation and diversity in society. Streets will advise and assist in the founding phase of the institute, including devel-oping policy and implementing objectives, defining strategies and enabling interactive dia-

logue and working with faculty and student groups.

While Wilmore Schaef-fer’s project will also take place at UFS, her work will focus on relationship building within, between and among racially diverse students and faculty in an institution whose history has been one of racial intoler-ance. She will, among other tasks, engage with the faculty to develop experiential class exer-cises and ways to develop and manage a safe environment that lets students and faculty explore their racial and ethnic history. 

Three other Wurzweiler professors—Drs. Joan Beder, Jonathan Fast and Norman Linzer, The Samuel J. and Jean Sable Chair in Jewish Family Social Work—have been named Fulbright Specialists and are in the process of being paired with a host institution.

“Being selected as a Ful-bright Specialist is a highly competitive process,” said Wurzweiler’s Dr. Sheldon Gel-man, The Dorothy and David I. Schachne Dean. “To have six

Wurzweiler faculty selected and three actual matches occur,

reflects on the caliber and status of our faculty.” n

Meet the 2010 Kressel scholars

Now in its third year, the Henry Kressel Research Scholarship has been

awarded to six elite undergrad-uate students—a unique oppor-tunity to undertake a year-long intensive research project under the supervision of YU faculty. Dr. Henry Kressel ’55YC, chair-man of the Board of Trustees and managing director of War-burg Pincus LLC, established the scholarship.

This year’s class includes Yeshiva College students Joseph Attias (Jewish studies major), Or Pikary (accounting major), Ben Rosenzweig (psychology major), Michael Turkel (English major) and Aaron Yevick (phys-ics major), and Stern College for Women student Dassi Shulman (physics major). The scholars will each receive a stipend of $7,500 for the year, along with travel money and appropriate research-support expenses. Fol-lowing their research tenure, they will present their work to the student body. 

scientific Pioneers in the MaKinG

Eleven Yeshiva University under-graduate students traded in time at the beach for a career-shap-ing chance to conduct cutting-edge biomedical research with

top scholars at Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

The students are a part of the overall 57 students from various colleges and universi-ties attending Einstein’s Sum-mer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), directed by Dr. Victoria Freedman, assis-

tant dean of biomedical studies. The 11 YU students are clus-tered into three programs. Eight students—Orli Haken, Tsipora Huisman, Hadassa Klerman, Jennifer Kraut and Danielle Lent of Stern College for Women and Yair Saperstein, Michael Siev and David Sweet of Yeshiva College—were awarded scholar-ships through the Roth Scholars Program, which is sponsored by the Ernst and Hedwig Roth Institute of Biomedical Science

Education at YU. Two partici-pants—Yeshiva College student Daniel Poliak and Stern student Rebecca Weiss—were selected for the University Summer Research Scholars Program, which is supported by fund-ing from the provost’s office. One student—Stern’s Dina Gol-

feiz—is participating through the Stern Einstein Research Connection (SERC), a program created by Stern alumnae to provide funding for a Stern freshman or sophomore to per-form scientific research dur-ing the summer. Each program provides students with a stipend and on-campus housing.

While students are flock-ing to Einstein to pursue research opportunities, several of its medical students earned

sought-after fellowships and awards for the 2010-11 academic year. From Boston to San Diego to New Delhi, Einstein students will travel the globe to enter research programs focusing on a range of subjects, including public health, neuro-oncology and infectious diseases.

scholars earn wexner fellowshiP

Michael Cinnamon, Michael Emerson and Avi Miller received the Wexner Foundation Gradu-ate Study Fellowship for the 2010–11 academic year. The fel-lowships are bestowed upon 20 candidates interested in pursuing graduate training for careers in the cantorate, Jewish education, Jewish professional leadership and the rabbinate.

As participants of the four-year leadership program, Cin-namon, Emerson and Miller will be awarded an annual sti-pend of $20,000 for a two-year term with the possibility to renew for  a third year. Emer-son is also a Davidson Scholar, bestowed upon Wexner Fellows who intend to pursue careers in Jewish education or Jewish communal leadership.

As part of the Jay and Jeannie Schottenstein Honors Program at Yeshiva College, Cinnamon ’10YC, of Atlanta, GA, double majored in history

and Jewish studies. In his senior year, he served as editor-in-chief of the YU student paper The Commentator. He is work-ing toward an MA in Talmudic studies at Bernard Revel Gradu-ate School and will begin his studies toward semikhah [rab-binic ordination] at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) in the summer.

Emerson, born in Boston, MA, and raised in Memphis, TN, completed his undergradu-ate work at Columbia University in 2009 with a major in medieval Jewish history. He is enrolled in RIETS’ semikhah program. He spent the year learning in the Gruss Kollel on the Yeshiva University in Israel campus. He will return to New York next year to complete his third year of semikhah study at RIETS while studying full-time in New York University’s dual master of arts program in education and Jewish studies and Hebrew and Judaic studies.

A North Woodmere, NY, native, Miller is a 2009 gradu-ate of Princeton University, where he majored in philosophy and minored in Jewish studies. Miller, who will begin his offi-cial semikhah study at RIETS in the fall of 2010, credits YU with offering an unparalleled Torah education that will provide him with the strong foundation he needs to become a rabbinic leader and Torah scholar. n

Wurzweiler Professors Land Fulbright Specialist Grants

Students Across the University Awarded Coveted Scholarships

Stein’s work will take place in the UK, where he will address healthcare issues.

The 11 students who participated in Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Summer Undergraduate Research Program worked in teams alongside graduate and post-doctoral students.

Streets had a previous six-month Fulbright Senior Scholar assignment at the University of Pretoria.

The core of Wilmore Schaeffer’s focus will be on relationship building.

From Research

To Jewish Education

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neWsRoundupdr. Matthew Gamble, assistant professor of molecular pharma-cology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, is one of 15 u.s. scientists to receive a $200,000 Kimmel scholar award created to advance the careers of promising young scientists involved in cancer research. Gamble is exploring two families of proteins that interact abnormally in cancer, leading to increased cell division. Meanwhile, dr. anne Bresnick, Einstein biochemistryprofessor, was named one of the six winners of the Bioaccelerate NyC Prize, designed to further research in life sciences to attract venture capital funding. Bresnick will receive $250,000 to develop new compounds to prevent or reduce metastasis.

YU’s Center for the Jewish Future’s inaugural Creating Connections weekend successfully inspired more than 80 Jewish communities globally to reach out and connect with local singles. Communities across the country have begun revamping existing programming and creating additional social networking and matchmaking opportunities. Several major Jewish organi-zations—including the Orthodox Union, the National Council of Young Israel, SawYouAtSinai, Gateways, MakeAShidduch Foundation, FutureSimchas, Sasson V’Simcha and the Shalom Task Force—participated in the weekend. Visit www.yu.edu/cjf/yuconnects to learn more about YUConnects, the program that initiated and sponsored the event.

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) has intro-duced the Huberfeld family semikha Leadership Initiative, a three-year fellowship at RIETS designed to mold future leaders of the American rabbinate. As part of the fellowship, students will receive crucial leadership and entrepreneurial training. The first cadre of Huberfeld Fellows include dovid Bashevkin, Rabbi yaacov feit and yechiel shaffer.

Scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and New York University School of Medicine have published a study that provides the first detailed genetic maps of the major Jewish subpopulations, a resource that can be used to study the genetic origins of disease. The findings appear in the June 3 online issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.

The University held its inaugural I.C.e. (Innovate. Collaborate. Explore.) poster session, a competition for Yeshiva College and Stern College for Women students to unveil research they are conducting or have completed. The conference is a reflection of the scientific accomplishments and potential research breakthroughs of YU’s students. Projects covered scientific disciplines, including chemistry, physics, psychology and biology. Read more about students’ projects at www.yu.edu/ice2010

CommEnCEmEnT

More than 5,000 family and friends of Yeshiva University’s graduating

students attended the 79th annual commencement ceremo-nies at The Theater at Madi-son Square Garden on May 26. Waves of emotion and antici-pation rolled through the cer-emony as students heard words to live and succeed by. But it wasn’t just the 2010 graduates who were excited.

“On behalf of all the fathers and mothers and family mem-bers and friends of today’s grad-uates, I am honored to offer a few words of prayer of gratitude,” said Senator Joseph Lieber-man of Connecticut and com-mencement invocation speaker, whose daughter, Hana Lieber-man Lowenstein, was gradu-ating from Stern College for Women. “This unique Univer-sity has educated these gradu-ates so well in timeless values of Torah Judaism, the thrilling opportunities of a modern secu-lar knowledge and the ways in which these two streams can be combined.”

This theme of Torah Umadda was expanded upon in nearly every word spoken dur-ing the day’s proceedings, and the importance of YU gradu-ates was made clear by com-mencement speaker Michael B. Oren, Israel’s ambassador to the United States.

“Historians are decision-makers because they are con fronted with masses of infor-mation and from those masses must select the most relevant

and compelling passages,” he said. “Whether in Israel or here, in America, you—Yeshiva grad-uates—will make the decisions and provide the answers.”

During the ceremony, Presi-dent Richard M. Joel conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree upon Ambas-sador Oren; Rabbi Moshe Got-tesman, a respected Jewish educator, received an Honor-ary Doctor of Divinity degree; Alfred Henry Moses, a phi-lanthropist, communal leader and former U.S. ambassador to Romania, received an Honor-ary Doctor of Laws degree; and Zygmunt Wilf, who serves on Yeshiva University’s Board of Trustees and Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Board of Overseers and is chairman of the Minnesota Vikings, received

an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

Dr. Sylvia Wassertheil-Smoller, professor of social med-icine at Einstein and a renowned researcher, was awarded the Presidential Medal lion in rec-ognition of her groundbreaking work in cardiovascular disease.

More than 2,000 graduate students in the fields of law, med-icine, social work, education, Jewish studies and psychol-ogy, as well as undergraduate students from Yeshiva College, Stern and Sy Syms School of Business, received degrees this commencement season. n

k For a video of Ambassador Oren’s and President Joel’s comments and a photo gallery of the ceremony and newly minted graduates, visit www.yu.edu/commencement2010

Yeshiva University cele-brated its inaugural class of students who earned

a Master of Science degree in accounting from Sy Syms School of Business, a clear indication of the University’s commitment to ensuring that its students are prepared for careers as CPAs.

This class, comprised of nine students, has set the tone for the future of the master’s degree program, according to Margie Martin, associate direc-tor of program recruitment for the MS in accounting program.

The master’s degree pro-gram launched last summer with coed classes on the Beren Campus, conveniently located for those working in account-ing firms in Midtown. Students had the option to take courses on a full- or part-time basis, but were required to complete a total of 10 courses to earn their degree. This summer, the cur-riculum featured added courses so that students who majored in a business discipline other than accounting can enroll in the graduate program.

Students who have suc-cessfully completed the Mas-ter of Science program are already enjoying the benefits. For in stance, Montreal native Dan-iel Newman ’09SB landed a job as a tax associate in Deloitte’s accounting department; he intends to take the CPA exam next year. “My master’s degree makes me more competitive,” he said. “In addition to nuts-and-bolts accounting courses, I got to take general business courses as well, which has helped me to prepare for the CPA exam.” n

Graduates Look to the Future

Ambassador Oren implored YU graduates and the community to stand with Israel.

Business Leaders of TomorrowSY SYmS CELEbrATES ITS fIrST GrADUATInG mASTEr’S CLASS

This year’s historic YU in Canada convocation and dinner held in Toronto netted more than 600 attendees and raised $1.2 mil-lion in scholarships for Canadian students who attend Yeshiva University. President Richard M. Joel conferred honorary degrees upon five illustrious members of the Canadian Jewish commu-nity. They were: Supreme Court Justice Rosalie Silberman Abella (Doctor of Laws); Senator Linda Frum of Ontario (Doctor of Humane Letters); Samuel Belzberg (Doctor of Humane Letters), an industrialist and philanthropist from Vancouver; and Rabbi Morton Green (Doctor of Divinity), Rabbi Emeritus of Hamilton’s Congregation Adas Israel. Alan Litwack, a prominent Toronto law-yer, was the recipient of the University’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. Barbara Bank and Renée Rubinstein, leaders in Toronto’s philanthropic community, co-chaired the event. n

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Alishya Mayfield ’10E, recipient of the Dr. Albert S. Kuperman Award for

Outstanding Field Work in Global Health, completed another step in her journey to becoming a masterful global health physi-cian—a journey that began with a fateful trip to the southeastern coast of Africa in 2004.

Prior to her acceptance at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Mayfield traveled to Mozambique and worked with a nongovernmental organiza-tion (NGO) at a rural boarding school, helping to manage a clinic and serving in a capacity much akin to that of a school nurse. The future medical stu-dent also taught English to stu-dents during her three-month visit. “It was a life-changing

experience,” she exclaimed. “It was this trip that really ignited my passion for global health and confirmed my decision to enter medical school.”

On her first global health fellowship trip, just prior to her second year at Einstein, she returned to Africa, this time going to a refugee camp in

Ghana where she participated in an HIV/AIDS educational ini-tiative involving young students.

Mayfield earned a spot work-ing with renowned NGO Part-ners in Health (PIH) in Rwanda in July 2007. She worked at a rural clinic with Rwandan staff who spoke French and Kin-yarwanda. PIH and Mayfield’s goal was to further develop and improve the capacity of the clinic and their efforts to pre-vent, test and treat diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and to provide the clinic with the resources to thrive under existing Rwandan man-agement. She enjoyed her role so much that she asked for and received permission to return for a second year.

Success in Rwanda allowed

her to work with PIH once more when they sent a team to Haiti to treat trauma victims suffer-ing from compound fractures and open wounds, among other injuries, after the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12, 2010.

Mayfield plans to continue her mission, moving on to a combined residency program at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Children’s Hospital in Bos-ton, where she will work toward becoming double board certified in pediatrics and internal medi-cine. And, while she plans to sharpen her care-giving skills in the United States, the world has not seen the last of Mayfield. “I plan on going back to Rwanda,” she said. “There is still so much more that needs to be done in the developing world.” n

Einstein Graduate’s Journey to Global Health Excellence

Mayfield at the Church at Zamni Lasante in Cange, Haiti, which is being used as a hospital ward for earthquake victims.

Shining Stars1. Professor Martin Leibowitz celebrated

the graduation of his fourth son, Benjy ’10YC, from Yeshiva University. His three other sons are Aryeh ’02YC, ’04BR and ’06R; Sammy ’04SSSB; and Yoni ’08SSSB.

2. Dr. Melba Vasquez, president elect of the American Psychology Association, served as keynote speaker at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology’s commencement.

3. Wurzweiler School of Social Work’s Spring 2010 commencement included 87 MSW and four PhD graduates.

4. Nine undergraduates (eight are shown) were recognized as valedictorians. Learn how YU has impacted their lives at www.yu.edu/valedictorians2010

5. Josh Jay, who recently graduated from YU with honors and will begin at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the fall, doesn’t let Tourette’s Syndrome get in the way of pursuing his dreams. Visit www.yu.edu/joshjay to learn more about his story.

6. Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law’s 32nd commencement was the first for Dean Matthew Diller.

7. Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration graduate Steven Eisenberg received an EdD degree.

8. (L–R) Three generations of Lamms: Shalom Lamm ’81YC, member of Yeshiva College’s Board of Overseers, with son, Fulbright Fellowship recipient, Ari Lamm, and father, Rabbi Norman Lamm.

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Dr. Mark Apfelbaum ’74YUHS, ’77YC was part of a team involved in caring for Presi-

dent Bill Clinton earlier this year. For Apfelbaum, an interven-

tional cardiologist, the opportunity to treat any patient is a dream ful-filled. “For as long as I can remem-ber, I always wanted to be a doctor,” he said. “When anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, that was my answer.”

Apfelbaum came to YU because it was one of the few places where he could follow both his dreams and his faith. “I knew that medical school and life as a doctor were going to be pretty rigorous and wouldn’t leave me a lot of free time to continue with my Judaic studies,” he said. “I saw YU as my last chance for intensive Judaic studies for a while—at least until I was established professionally.”

The dual curriculum prepared him for the strenuous demands of

medical school by inculcating in him a habit of rigorous study, said Apfel-baum. “I spent the first part of the day studying Talmud, the Bible and Jewish history, philosophy and lit-erature, and then I had a full course load of secular studies including sci-ence and labs beginning at 4 or 5:30,” he recalled.

“So I was going to school five days a week and getting home late in the night, every night. It taught me early on that I had to structure my time and get things done effi-ciently or I’d get flooded with work. When I got to medical school [at

Columbia University], I remember other students complaining that we had to be in class until 3:30. There were several other YU graduates at Columbia, and we thought it was great—we had all this time we hadn’t had before.”

Among the many YU professors who influenced him was Dr. Moshe Sokolow, who taught a Tanakh class that stayed with him over the years as particularly outstanding. “I’ve often told my wife and children what a great professor I had in Dr. Sokolow,” he said, “and then recently, he was a scholar-in-residence at my synagogue. After hearing him give a talk, my wife turned to me and said, ‘I finally understand what you’ve been talking about all these years. He’s absolutely fascinating.”

President Clinton and Dr. Apfel-baum’s other patients may not realize it, but the intricacies of the Talmud and those of the heart have more in common than they think. “More

than anything [else], YU helped shape my analytical abilities,” Apfel-baum said. “Learning Talmud is one of the more difficult things I’ve ever done in any academic segment of my life. It takes sharp critical thinking and analysis, both of which are also an [essential] part of being a doctor. I learned those skills during my years at Yeshiva.” n

Torah Umadda Is at Heart of Alumnus’ Success

Dr. Mark Apfelbaum

Your news is our news!

ClassNotes is where YU celebrates the milestones and accomplishments of our alumni. In this section, you can catch up on everything your classmates have been up to over the years, from marriages and births to professional and personal achievements.

You can submit your class note by e-mailing alumni@yu.edu with the subject line “ClassNotes,” or by visiting www.yu.edu/alumni. We hope that you enjoy reading about your fellow alumni and friends, and we look forward to hearing about your achievements.

1940srabbi irving “Yitz” Greenberg ’45YUHS spoke in March at the Osher Marin Jewish Community Center in San Rafael, CA, on “A New Age for Humanity and Judaism: Coming to Grips with Power, Freedom, and Choice.” Rabbi Greenberg is the founding president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership.

Sylvia and rabbi william Herskowitz ’48YC, ’50W, ’55R, ’74BR announce their first great-grandchild, Amiel David, born to Tova Katz and Ithamar Jotkowitz, the children of Amy (’72YUHS, ’76S, ’78W) and nathan Katz ’77YC.

Dr. samuel A. weiss ’44YC, ’46R published “An Analysis of the Two Versions of the Ten Commandments” in the spring 2010 issue of Mindstream, a quarterly Jewish review.

1950srabbi Julius (’56YC, ’59R) and Dorothy Berman ’59S, ’60F celebrated the bar mitzvah of their grandson, Chanoch Amisky, son of Simcha and Myra Aminsky.

Dr. Lawrence i. Bonchek ’59YC, ’63E was elected chair of the Franklin & Marshall College Board of

Trustees. A trustee since 2005, he served as chair of the academic investments com mittee and vice chair of the advance-ment committee.

Dina and Dr. Herbert Dobrinsky ’50YUHS, ’54YC, ’57R, ’80F announce the marriage of their granddaughter, Adina Elyssa Dobrinsky, to Andy Feuerstein-Rudin of Teaneck, N.J.

rabbi Hersh Moses (’51YUHS, ’55YC, ’58R) and sarah Galinsky ’58YUHS announce a great-grandaughter born to Binyamin and Hodaya Galinsky in Jerusalem. The Galinskys also celebrated the bar mitzvah of their grandson, Yishai Naphtali Shtul, son of Nechama and Lior Shtul of Eli, Israel.

Claire and rabbi Joshua Hertzberg ’51YC, ’55R announce a great-grandson, Moshe, born to Dr. Chaya and rabbi Michael “elimelech” rosenthal ’98YUHS, ’02YC, ’09R.

Arnie (’52YUHS, ’56YC, ’60BR, ’60R) and Gita Hoffman ’63S announce the engagement of their grandson, Netanel Rosenstein, son of Pinchas and Naomi Rosenstein, to Nechama Paul, daughter of Lynn and Jerry Paul of Karne Shomron, Israel.

Rosalind and rabbi Alvin Poplack ’58BR announce the birth of twin great-granddaughters.

Freida and elihu schatz ’50YUHS, ’54YC, ’57R and Barbara and Dov Gilor ’67F announce two great-grandsons: Roee, born to Shilo and Yael Gilor, and Akiva, born to

Ariel and Fraydel Gilor. Elihu and Freida also announce a granddaughter, Tamar, born to Pinchas and Tzippie Schatz.

The March 2010 issue of Library Journal reviewed There’s a Word for It: The Explosion of the American Language Since 1900 (Crown

Publishing Group, 2010) by lexicographer rabbi sol steinmetz ’53YC, ’56R.

Dr. Zvi “Herman” (’54YUHS, ’58YC) and Tasya (steinhorn) stone ’60S and Malka (schrieber) Friedberg ’65S, all of Har Nof, Jerusalem, announce a grandson, Hillel Dov, born to Avi and Ita Tzur of Ramat Bet Shemesh, Israel.

Libby (’55YUHS) and rabbi Aharon “eric” Ziegler ’67F announce a great-granddaughter born to Yehoshua and Racheli Teller.

1960sCheryl (’64YUHS) and rabbi Moshe Abramowitz ’67YC, ’70R, ’70F celebrated the bar mitzvah of their grandson, Shlomo.

Pam (Forman) (’68S) and Ya’akov (Jerrold) Aronson, a member of the MTA faculty from 1964–68, announce three grandchildren

born to parents Bracha and Yisroel Weinman, Chana and Eliezer Meier, and Shira and Moshe Anaki.

Tzivia (rosen) Bieler ’68S celebrated the bar mitzvah of her grandson, Gershon Avigdor Kwalbrun, in Israel; the birth of a grandson, Yitzchak Elro’I, born to Drs. Mark and Lara Kwalbrun of Neve Daniel, Israel; and the marriage of her daughter Debra to Eric Klein.

Antoinette “Toni” (’69S) and Philip Chernofsky ’65YUHS, ’69YC announce the birth of a new granddaughter.

rabbi Herbert J. Cohen, PhD ’64YC, ’70F, ’70R published Walking in Two Worlds: Visioning Torah Concepts through Secular Studies, a project of the Community Kollel of Dallas, TX.

Zvi and Carole Fink (Levine) ’68S announce three grandchildren all born within 17 days of each other during Kislev 5770.

rabbi Louis Lippy Friedman (’66YC, ’69BR, ’69R) and Dr. Maureen Friedman ’75E announce a new

granddaughter, Levonah, born to Rabbi Simcha and Efrat Friedman of Yad Binyamin, Israel.

Two of a Kind

Michael (Mechy) J. (’64YUHS, ’68YC, ’71BR, ’71R) and sheila (Belove) Frankel ’68S have each made significant contributions in their fields throughout their long and distinguished careers in civil service. Michael is a physicist and has been a leading subject-matter expert on nuclear weapons at the Department of Defense. A former congressional fellow, he served as executive director of the Congressional Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP Commission). His paper “The New Triad: Diffusion, Illusion, and Confusion in the Nuclear Mission” was recently published by Johns Hopkins University. Sheila is a senior computer scientist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology. A researcher and government-wide technical consultant on computer security and IPv6 related matters, she is the author of the book Demystifying the IPsec Puzzle (Artech House Computer Security Series) and serves as a member of NIST’s Internet Engineering Task Force. Their five children, Dr. Shlomit Rivka Edinger, Sara Malka Longchamps, Dr. Naomi Rachel Schnittman, Dr. shoshana Leah Posy ’02S, and Aryeh Leib have produced 11 grandchildren. The Frankels live in Silver Spring, MD.

rabbi shmuel Goldin ’69YUHS, ’73YC, ’76F, ’76R published Unlocking the Torah Text: An In-Depth Journey into the Weekly Parsha (Gefen Publishing House, 2010). He and his wife, Barbara, announce a granddaughter born to Yehuda and noa Goldin’08S, and a grandson, born to rabbi Yossi (’00YUHS, ’06YC, ’09A, ’09R) and shifra Goldin ’06S. Rabbi and

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Mrs. Goldin were guests of honor at the 26th anniversary dinner of Congregation Ahavath Torah of Englewood, N.J.

Judith and rabbi sigmund Handelman ’66YUHS, ’70YC, ’80R were honored by the Yeshivas Ohavei Torah in Riverdale, N.Y., and announce a new granddaughter born to Yosef (’98YUHS, ’05R) and esther Polinsky ’07W. Mazal tov to grandparents Nina and rabbi elimelech (Milton) Polinsky ’69YC, ’73BR, ’73R and great-grandparents Trude Kahn and Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Kahn.

a winning profile The March 12 edition of the New York Daily News profiled longtime Maccabees coach Dr. Jonathan Halpert ’62YUHS,

’66YC, ’78F as he served his 38th season as YU’s head basketball coach—the longest tenure of any current college coach in New York City. Dr. Halpert was also named Skyline Conference’s 2009–2010 Coach of the Year.

shalom (’65YC) and Dvora Kidorf ’70S of Jerusalem announce the births of three grandchildren: a daughter to Beryl and Navah Thomas, a daughter to Moshe and Chefzi Machlis, and a daughter to Dov Ber and Sivia Brener.

Rabbi Shaya and nechie Kilimnick ’66YUHS, ’70S celebrated the bar mitzvah of their grandson, Doni.

Phyllis Kornspan ’69S announces a grand-daughter, Oshrit, to Yishai and Yael Kornspan of Kiryat Arba, Israel.

rabbi eliezer (’68YC, ’75BR, ’75R) and Lucy Langer ’69S announce a granddaugh-ter, Malka, born to Baila (Rosenblum) and Naftali Langer.

Chanoch and Aviva Lazarus ’69S and Leibel and Shoshana Katz announce a granddaughter born to Baruch and Chagit Lazarus.

Barbara and Dr. Joel Luber ’68YC, ’68JS of Alon Shvut, Israel, celebrated the bar mitzvah of their first grandson, Matanya Chaim Huri, son of

Ahuva and Gili Huri of Karmei Tzur, Israel.

Sandy and rabbi eddie Mittelman ’66YUHS, ’70YC, ’73BR, ’73R shared news of the marriage of their son, Dov Mittelman

’96YUHS, ’02YC, to Dr. Nechama Blatt and announce grandsons, Akiva Eliezer, born to parents Avigail and Michael Gordon, and Eitan Shlomo, born to parents Racheli and rabbi Josh waxman ’06R. Mazal tov also to Eitan Shlomo’s grandparents Lorri and rabbi Zishe waxman ’72R.

nava rephun ’69YUHS,’76W presented a program at Congregation Shomrei Torah in Fair Lawn, N.J., on “Enhancing Loving Relationships.” Nava is

a licensed clinical social worker and certified imago relationship therapist who works with couples and individuals in her New York City private practice and leads workshops in the U.S. and Israel.

rabbi shimon (’65YUHS, ’69YC, ’71BR, ’71R) and Hennie (Lesin) wolf ’70S celebrated the bar mitzvah of their grandson, Yaakov Moshe Shmidman, named for the late Rabbi Yaakov Moshe Lesin zt’l, who served as Mashgiach Ruchani of RIETS from 1942–1975.

1970sAviyam and Donna Apelbaum ’77S of Beit HaKerem, Jerusalem, celebrated the marriage of their daughter, Ayala, to Shmuel and the bat mitzvah of their youngest daughter, Naama.

Charnie and rabbi Azarya Berzon ’70YUHS, ’78R announce a grandson, Rafael Shalom, born to Mariam Levitanus and Baruch Berzon ’10E.

Laya and rabbi Asher Bush ’78YC, ’81R announce a grandson, Yisrael Zev Bush, born to Donny and Yehudis Bush.

Herby and Faye Debbie (Klaff) Dan ’71S celebrated the marriage of their son, Meir Chaim, to Yona Chana Maierovitz of Toronto.

Joel Dinkin ’79W was appointed executive vice president of the Jewish Community Center of Houston.

Tobi and rabbi Zvi Friedman ’77YC, ’81W, ’81R of Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel, announce a grandson, Akiva Chaim, born to Daniella and Raphael Tatelbaum of Kiryat HaYovel, Jerusalem.

rabbi Basil (’70YC, ’73R, ’78BR) and sherri Herring ’72S celebrated the marriage of their daughter, Yael, to Eli Fischman of Brooklyn. In addition, Rabbi Herring is republishing his book, Jewish Ethics and Halakhah for Our Time: Sources and Commentary (Jewish Theological Seminary of America, 2010).

Gail and william Hochman ’77YC announce two grandchildren, Binyamin Simcha, born to rebecca (Mandel) ’05SB and rabbi Avi

Hochman ’05SB, ’07A, ’09R in Boca Raton, FL, and Shlomo Mendel (Mendy), born to Shifra and Daniel Hochman in Ramat Eshkol, Israel. William also acquired the Joel Paul Group, an executive search and consulting firm specializing in non-profit organizations.

rabbi Avrohom (’78YUHS, ’83YC, ’86R) and rena Kanarek ’84S celebrated the marriages of their sons, Yehuda and Shmuel, to Miriam Feinstein and to Sora Perel Jacobs, respectively.

Carrie and Morrie Klians ’76YC celebrated the birth of their granddaughter, Danna Atara Rosenberg, born to Nachman and Sharona Rosenberg in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel.

rabbi sholom (’73YUHS, ’77YC, ’82R) and shifra Kurz ’78S, ’80W celebrated the marriage of their son, Eliezer, to Rinat Weitzof Elkana. Mazal tov to the grandparents, Sarah and rabbi Moshe Gorelik ’53YC, ’55R of Jerusalem.

Dr. eric Levine ’79W, ’94W was named vice president for institu-tional advancement at Touro College following his tenure as senior vice president for

development at The Jewish Federations of North America.

rabbi Dr. Marc (’79YUHS, ’83YC, ’88R, ’88W) and Jacqueline (Klausner) Mandel ’86S celebrated the bar mitzvah of their fifth child, Amitai Mandel, and were also recently honored by Beth Jacob Congregation in Los Angeles for their 14 years of service.

rabbi Meyer (’78R) and shulamith (Filler) May ’70YUHS, ’78TI announce two grandsons, Yitzchak May, born to Rabbi Yehuda and Nechama May, and Yosef May, born to Rabbi Yitzchak and Tova May.

rabbi Gary (’74YUHS, ’78YC, ’81R) and Beaty Menchel ’74YUHS, ’77TI announced the marriage of their son, Dovid, to Emily Scharfman.

Peshi (’73YUHS, ’77S) and RIETS Rosh Yeshiva rabbi Yaakov neuburger ’77YC, ’79R celebrated the marriage of their daughter, Chaya, to Aryeh Weistreich. Mazal tov to grandfather rabbi Zevulun Charlop ’47YUHS, ’51YC, ’54R.

Rachel and Dr. shlomo Pick ’71YC announced the marriage of their daughter, Yehudit Ariella, to Gavriel Yair and the birth of their first grandson to

Shulamit and Shmuel Russ. Pick also published a new sefer, Ahavat Shlomo, Chidushei Torah and Maamarim on Masechet Brachot and Seder Moed.

rabbi Asher (’72YC, ’77F, ’78R) and rashie reichert ’70YUHS, ’74S announced the marriage of their daughter, Miriam, to Avi Stiefel.

Mignone (’72YUHS) and ezra rosenfeld ’77B announced the birth of their fifth grandchild, Carmel, born to Hadas and Amchai Rosenfeld.

Zhava rudomin ’78S, ’82W attained Seminar in Field Instruction (S.I.F.I.) status, which qualifies him to supervise the fieldwork of social work students, from Long Island University, New Seminary and Touro College Schools of Social Work.

Bracha (osofsky) (’77S) and rabbi nahum schnitzer ’78YC, ’81R of Maale Adumim, Israel, announced the birth of a grandson, Betsalel, to Temima and Amichai Perlman.

Edna and Yehuda singer ’73YC of Mitzpe Yericho, Israel, announce a grandson, Roi Yedidya, born to Yair and Nili Singer.

Michele Chabin and rabbi sidney slivko ’74YC, ’80BR, ’80R announce a grandson, Asher Josef, born to Ellie and Dave Beatus.

rabbi Mark urkowitz ’74YC, ’76BR, ’78R announce a grandson, Ezra Yeshaya, born to Michelle (’08S) and Tzvi urkowitz ’08YC.

Lee and steven A. weinstein ’71YUHS, ’75YC shared news of the marriage of their son, Moshe weinstein ’08YC, to Michelle Schwartz and announce a grandson, Yehuda Simcha, born to rabbi Avi (’09R) and sarah Fried ’04S.

Phyllis and Dr. Dan wiener ’71YC, ’74E celebrated the marriage of their daughter, Rahel, to Eyal David of Netanya.

rabbi Howard (’70YUHS, ’74YC, ’77F, ’77R) and Annette wolk ’74S celebrated the marriage of their son, Gavriel “Gavi” Aharon ’07SB, to Talia Volk ’08S, daughter of Jerry (’75YC) and sharon Markowitz Volk ’75YUHS, ’79S. Rabbi and Mrs. Wolk are active leaders in their Dallas community.

rabbi Moshe (Jordan) Yasgur ’73YUHS, ’77YC, ’81R , ’82F married Yedida Schaffner Sachs.

1980sa disTingUished award

Dr. Jeffrey Barnett ’81F, ’84F recently received the Distinguished Psychologist Award for Contributions to Psychology and

Psychotherapy from the American Psychological Association.

rabbi Alan Brill ’82YC, ’87BR, ’90R published Judaism and Other Religions: Models of Understanding (Palgrave Macmillan, February 2010).

rabbi David Derovan ’83F published You Shall Tell Your Son … Essays on Pesach and the Haggadah (French Creek Press, 2010). With rabbi Yehuda singer ’73YC, he also designed and launched a web site, www.israeltravelplanner.com, which provides travel tips and information on Israel.

Bluma and rabbi Joel Finkelstein ’81YUHS, ’85YC, ’89R, ’96BR celebrated the bar mitzvah of their son, Asher.

Rick and rachel Fishbein ’83W shared news of their son, Mike, making aliyah and serving in the Israeli Defense Force.

etana (’80S) and Dr. Alan Friedman ’80YC shared news of the engagement of their daughter, Nava, to Tzori Weider. Mazal tov to grandparents rabbi Macy Gordon (’49YUHS, ’53YC, ’56R, ’77F) and Dorothy and Simmy Friedman.

rabbi nathaniel Helfgot ’81YUHS, ’85YC, ’89A, ’89R served as a scholar-in-residence at Beit Chaverim Synagogue of Westport/Norwalk, CT, in May. He is head of the Bible and Jewish Thought Departments at YCT and has written dozens of essays in Hebrew and English, and edited a number of volumes including Community, Covenant and Commitment: Selected Letters and Communications of Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (Ktav, 2005).

Adina and richard Krasna ’83YC celebrated the bar mitzvah of their son, Hanan Elimelech, and the bat mitzvah of their daughter, Michal Haya. Mazal tov to the grandparents, Anne and Dr. irwin Krasna ’50YC and Mimi and Dr. Herb Danzger ’56YC.

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The February 28 edition of The New York Times referenced Dr. Philip s. Ledereich’s ’85YC, ’89E medical expertise in diagnosing cataplexy, a rare disease which leads to sudden and transient episodes of loss of muscle tone, often triggered by emotions.

saul Lubetski ’87YUHS,’90YC was named vice chairman of Harbor Group International; prior to this appointment, Saul served as managing director and director of investor relations.

Pesach (’81YC) and nancy (israel) Mehlman ’83S announced the engagement of their daughter, rivka Mehlman ’09S, to Tani

Friedman, son of Allen and Lisa Friedman.

Tova (Auerbach) (’85S) and Aharon naiman ’83YC (son of the late Dr. Charles “Yechiel” naiman ’56YC) celebrated the bar mitzvah of their son,

Yechiel, and the marriage of their daughter, Avital, to Tzuri Dotan of Jerusalem. Mazal tov to the grandparents Vivien (Seif) (’53YUHS) and Dr. Bernhard Auerbach ’41YUHS, ’45YC, ’49R, and Tzivi and Dr. Robert Segal.

rabbi Yonason sacks ’84R published Chazon L’Yomim (Feldheim, 2009), a Hagadah commentary that blends halachah, midrash and history.

rabbi Morey schwartz ’85YC, ’89R, ’91BR published Where’s My Miracle? Exploring Jewish Traditions for Dealing with Tragedy (Geffen Publishing House, 2010) in which he

provides a look at the way the sages dealt with suffering and tragedy.

TesTifYing on CapiTol hill Moshe schwartz ’87YUHS, ’92YC, ’95C appeared before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform

to give his expert testimony on allegations that U.S. contractors have been paying Afghan warlords protection money to transport goods to American troops stationed in Afghanistan. Schwartz is a specialist in defense acquisition at the Congressional Research Service.

Vardit “wendy” (’89S, ’89W) and Avi spiegelman ’87YC celebrated the bat mitzvah of their daughter, Adi Rachel. Mazal tov to grandpar-

ents Naomi and rabbi Mordechai spiegelman ’55YC, ’59R and Dr. Isaac and Isabel Boniuk.

rabbi Ben-Tzion spitz ’86YUHS, ’90YC received semicha through Pirchei Shoshanim in Har Nof, Israel.

Alan (’82YUHS, ’86SB) and stephanie (schechter) strauss ’85YUHS, ’89S shared news of the engagement of their daughter, Meira, to Doni Lerner. Stephanie is the assistant director of YU’s S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program and Alan is the treasurer of the YU Israel Alumni Association.

Sheryl and rabbi Michael susman ’83YC, ’86A, ’86R announced the marriage of their daughter, Tamar, to Tzuriel Edri.

Joseph (’80YUHS, ’83YC) and Deborah weisblatt ’85S celebrated the marriages of their sons, Ben and Avi, to Chava Kenner of Beit Shemesh and to Esther Gewirtz of Jerusalem, respectively.

Donna and rabbi Joel Zeff ’85BR,’86R celebrated the bar mitzvah of their son, Benzi Zev, the marriage of their daughter, Chana, to Uri Biran on Isru Chag, and the birth of a granddaughter, Matar, born to Aharon and Nitzan Zeff.

1990sBetty and Jake Arjang ’97SB announced the birth of their first child, Yonatan.

shoshana (Levitz) (’91SB) and steven Arnold ’91YC cel-ebrated the bar mitzvah of their son, Naftali.

Cheryl Berman ’95S, ’95BR published Reasonable Doubts: A Religious Skeptic Learns a Thing or Two About God (Urim Publication, April 2010). YU

Professor of Philosophy David Shatz reviewed the book on Amazon.com and called it “warm, poignant and witty, as well as philosophically astute and informed.”

Adina Bloomberg ’98S is engaged to Rabbi Aviv Meles of Kiryat Ekron, Israel. Mazal tov to parents Miriam and rabbi Jon Bloomberg ’69YC, ’74R.

rabbi Yehuda (’98YUHS, ’03YC, ’07A, ’09R) and elissa Chanales ’04A announce the birth of a daughter, Tova Adina. Mazal tov to grandparents Suri and sheldon Chanales ’72YUHS, ’76YC.

rabbi Ariel (’98YUHS, ’05YC, ’09BR, ’10R) and Yael (Zemelman) Davis ’04S announce a son, Moshe Yitzchak. Mazal tov to the grandparents, YU Vice President for University Life rabbi Dr. Hillel (’73YC, ’75BR, ’75R) and rachayl (eckstein) Davis ’75S and to Moshe’s great-grandpar-ents Belle and rabbi Dr. simon L. eckstein ’44YC, ’44BR, ’46R.

Congregation Ohav Shalom in Merrick, N.Y., appointed rabbi ira ebbin ’92YUHS, ’01R as its new rabbi.

rabbi rafi (’98YUHS, ’03YC, ’05R, ’06A) and Atara eis ’03S, ’09A and Naomi and ira sved ‘79YUHS were honored at Stern Hebrew High School’s

10th Annual Banquet in Philadelphia.

Hudi (’99YUHS, ’03S) and rabbi nachman (Michael Judah) elsant ’03YC, ’07R announce the birth of a son, Elchanan Yechezkel. Mazal tov to grandparents Abby (’70YUHS) and rabbi Yaacov Lerner ’71YC, ’73R, ’74F.

rabbi Amichai (’94YUHS, ’99YC, ’02R) and Jody Chaya erdfarb ’03S announced the birth of a daughter, Rosa Avigayel.

Daniel Faizakoff ’93YC, ’96C married Debra Dickstein, daughter of Allen Dickstein ’69W.

rabbi efrem Goldberg ’97YC, ’01R was listed in the April 20 edition of The Jewish Journal as one of the “33 Top Jewish People”

who have made an impact in South Florida.

Dr. Lucille “Lucy” Kaplansky ’92F performed in the Performing Arts Studio’s Winter Wind concert at the Santa Fe Depot. Her latest CD, 2007’s Over The Hills, recounts the story of how her family came to America and the struggles they endured.

Chaya and rabbi Jonathan Krimsky ’98YC, ’02R announced the birth of a son, Yeshaya Simcha.

emily (’97S) and Ben Menasha ’93YC, ’96C announce the birth of a daughter, Aviva Miriam, who joins older sister Sarah Menasha.

rabbi shelley (’95YUHS, ’99YC, ’04R, ’04A) and Dina Morris announce the birth of a son.

Nava and rabbi uri orlian ’98YC, ’02A announce the birth of a son, Netanel.

Alyssa and Dr. Arie Pelta ’96YC announce the birth of a son, Shalom Dovid. Arie also was inducted as a fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

Abigail and rabbi elie rothberger ’93YUHS, ’97YC, ’02R, ’03A announce the birth of a daughter, Geula Bracha.

YC Psychology Professor rabbi eliezer (’95YUHS, ’00YC, ’02F, ’03R, ’06F) and shira schnall ’04S announce the birth of a son, Yonatan Tzvi Hirsch. Mazal tov to grandparents Tova and Azrieli Dean David schnall (’65YUHS, ’69YC, ’72R) and Rosalyn and Dr. Irvin Hirsch ’67YUHS, and to great-grandparents Bertha and rabbi solomon shoulson ’43YUHS, ’47YC, ’49R.

Tova serkin ’98YUHS and Yair Yehuda of Herzliya, Israel, announce the birth of a son, Noam Robert. Mazal tov to grandparents Paul (’79YC)

and Marcy serkin ’82S.

rabbi reuven (’94YC, ’97A, ’97R) and rena spolter ’97S, ’97A announce the birth of a daughter, Moriyah Rachel.

Jeremy (’94SB) and Liza (Joffe) steiger ’95S announce the birth of Eliana Pearl, sister to Ranan, Gavri and Natanel.

Yafa and rabbi elly storch ’94YC, ’97AZ, ’98R celebrated the bar mitzvah of their oldest son, Shmaryahu, and the bat mitzvah of their daughter, Henna Rus. Mazal tov also to grandparents Shimi and Shirley Storch and rabbi stuart (’67YUHS, ’72YC, ’78BR, ’78R) and Chana (reifman) Zweiter ’72S.

rabbi Chaim strauchler ’99YC, ’05BR, ’05R published his article “The New North American Zionism” on Jewishinfonews.com on March 15. Rabbi Strauchler is also the rabbi of Toronto’s Shaarei Shomayim Congregation and the first alumnus ever to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar.

rabbi Daniel Yolkut ’99YC, ’02R was selected to be the rabbi of Congregation Poale Zedeck in Squirrel Hill, PA.

A March 31 article in The Jewish Daily Forward, “Triangle Fire Chalking Links a Shul to Its Past,” profiled rabbi Josh Yuter ’99YC, ’03R for his leadership of the

Stanton Street Shul.

2000sJason and Tova (Holowinko) Appleson ’07S announce the birth of a daughter, Zoe Marsha.

Zahava (’01YUHS, ’05ST, ’06GPATS, ’07A) and rabbi elichai Bitter ’06YC, ’08BR, ’09Rof Alon Shvut, Israel, announce the birth of

a daughter, Shalva Tzivia. Mazal tov to grandparents Abby (’70YUHS) and rabbi Yaacov Lerner ’71YC, ’73F, ’74R.

Avi Cooper ’07YC received a fellowship from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for immunosup-pressive drug develop-ment. A valedictorian at

YU in 2007, he is currently matriculating at Harvard Medical School.

Yael and rabbi elie Farkas ’04YC, ’07A, ’07R announce the birth of a daughter, Shira Temima.

rabbi Avi (’08R) and sarah Fried ’04S announce the birth of a son, Yehuda Simcha.

Liz and rabbi Josh Frohlich ’02YC, ’07W announce the birth of a daughter, Shira Devorah. Josh is an Israel advisor for YU’s S. Daniel Abraham Israel Program.

36 Under 36 lisT honors alUmnae

The Jewish Week included YU alumnae in its annual “36 Under 36” section profiling Jewish leaders under the age of 36. Clockwise from top L, Gilah Kletenik ’09S was recognized for her work as a congregational intern at the Hebrew Institute of White Plains, N.Y., where she gives classes and tutors bat mitzvah girls. The paper cited Hindy Poupko’s ’05S innovative work as director of Israel/International Affairs at the Jewish Community Relations Council, and executive director of the Council of Young Jewish Presidents, which is based at the JCRC. naomi (Liss) Maryles ’96S was hailed for her accomplishments as case manager and attorney at the Beth Din of America. susanne Goldstone rosenhouse ’02S was dubbed a “social media rock star” for garnering 8,000 followers on Twitter as social media coordinator at the National Jewish Outreach Project.

Adam J. Glanzman ’04SB joined Sills Cummis & Gross as an associate in the Creditors’ Rights and Bankruptcy

Reorganization Practice Group. He was previously a law clerk to the Honorable Rosemary Gambardella, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the District of New Jersey.

The Search iS On

Follow us on Facebook (search “Yu office of Alumni Affairs”) and Linkedin (search “Yeshiva university Alumni”) o

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Events from Coast to Coast Bring Alumni Together

Yu on THe wesT CoAsTIn May, a Lag B’Omer barbecue hosted by Judy (’01S) and Aryeh Goldberg ’01SB, and a dessert reception hosted by Helena and Steven Usdan ’92YC, launched an L.A. Regional Council. Guests enjoyed the company of their fellow graduates while learning how to get more involved with local alumni efforts.

reunion oFFers A DAY To reMeMBer Old friendships were rekindled and new ones were sparked during the reunion for the classes of 1960, 1970 and 1985. Highlights of the day included a tour of the Yeshiva University Museum followed by a celebratory dinner. President Richard M. Joel shared updates with the crowd and enjoyed an open dialogue with Tirtza Spiegel ’11S and Joseph Offenbacher ’10YC, discussing their time at YU and their future plans.

YU’s Office of Alumni Affairs was buzzing with activity throughout the spring. From coast to coast, there was plenty of opportunity for alumni to come together to renew their connections with each other and with the University.

k We want to hear your ideas for programming in your region. Contact Illana Feiglin at feiglin@yu.edu or 212.960.5247.

o Members of the YC class of 1985 are, L–R, Morey Wildes, Phillip Ledereich, Benjamin Kaufman, Alan Berger, Albert Mosseri, Lee Lasher, Zev Skolnick, David Papier, Jonathan Thurm and Shlomo Gottesman

o Professor Louis Feldman (second from left), a YU faculty member for more than 50 years, with

’60YC alumni ( from L–R) Chaim Charytan, Abraham Gafni and Yitzchak Rosenbaum

o Professor Peninnah Schram (second from left), a YU faculty member since 1969, catches up with ( from L–R) Celeste Maier ’70S, Nechie Kilimnick ’70S and Judi Stein ’70S

m Alan Willner ’82YC enjoys his copy of YUToday

m Alex Katz ’01YC and planning committee members Aryeh Goldberg ’01SB and Shimmy Steinmetz ’01SB

President Joel (third from left) k receives the class gift, which by evening’s end totaled more than $52,000, from (L-R) Paula Weber ’60S, Shlomo Gottesman ’85YC and Siggy Handelman ’70YC

o Planning committee member Steven Usdan ’92YC and Israel Bick

’55YUHS, ’59YC

Father and daughter k Joseph Stern’60 YC and Lisa Rubin ’85S celebrate together

rabbi Maury (’01YC, ’04R, ’07A) and Malka Grebenau ’04S announce the birth of a daughter, Noa.

Rivkie and rabbi Micha Greenland ’00YC, ’02R, ’10A announce the birth of a son, Daniel Yaakov.

rabbi Gary (’04YC, ’08R) and Leba Guttenberg ’02S announced the birth of a daughter, Esther Elka. Mazal tov to grandparents Aryeh (’72YUHS, ’76YC, ’79C) and sandy Guttenberg ’79S and Dr. Benzion (’73YUHS, ’77YC) and rayla Krupka ’75YUHS, and great grandparents Fay and rabbi Yitzchak sladowsky ’50YUHS, ’54YC, ’56R.

Zachary Helprin ’06YC passed the New York State Bar examination.

rabbi Aaron Kaplan ’01YC, ’07A, ’08R married Anna Avery of Atlanta.

Ahuva and Michael Kolat ’01SB announce the birth of a daughter, Ilana. Mazal tov to grandparents Anita

(Brotsky) (’73S) and David Kolat ’74YC and Frances (Greenberg) schreiber ’63C.

Zev (’07YC) and shari (shanin) Koller ’07S announce the birth of a son, Akiva Yosef, grandson to Richard and susan shanin

’73YUHS, ’77S and Norman and Ellen Koller.

Dr. Dina and rabbi Barry Kornblau ’01R celebrated the bar mitzvah of their son, Yoni, and bat mitzvah of their daughter, Rachel.

rachel (Krug) (’05SB) and Daniel Kraus ’07SB announce the birth of a son, Eitan.

elana (’00YUHS, ’04S) and rabbi naphtali Lavenda ’04SB, ’09R announce the birth of a son, Akiva Yehuda. Mazal tov to grandparents Michael and Shaindy Gross and rabbi stuart (’78YC, ’80W, ’80R) and Karen Lavenda ’79S.

rabbi Gil (’07R) and Melissa Perl ’01S, ’02BR announce the birth of a son.

rabbi uriel (’05YC, ’10R) and Aviva (stroh) rabinovitz ’08S announce the birth of a son, Yonatan Shalom.

Ayol samuels ’08YC presented his research and education project at the annual Global Health Education Consortium conference in Cuernavaca,

Mexico. Active with Physicians for Human Rights in Tel Aviv and the West Bank, Ayol received the Distinguished Service Award for his volunteer efforts to coordinate housing for families of patients at Ben-Gurion University’s Soroka University Medical Center in 2009.

rachel (’03S) and rabbi simcha schaum ’05YC, ’06BR, ’07R announce the birth of a daughter, Ayelet Rut.

scott shulman ’09S of Columbus, OH, married Deena Rendel of Forest Hills, N.Y.

siliCon ValleY meeTs The shUl

rabbi Josh strulowitz ’01YC, ’05R was recognized in the March 4 edition of The Wall Street Journal for his leadership at Adath

Israel in San Francisco. Using outreach efforts like Super Bowl parties, a “Jewish Ethics and the Internet” conference held at the headquarters of Twitter and lunchtime shiurim, his shul’s congregation has more than tripled in size.

rabbi Abraham “Avi” robinson ’08YC, ’08R received the Loretta Smith Scholarship from Boston University

School of Law. The scholarship is awarded to a single summer intern at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and reserved for a second-year law student with high academic achievements who is committed to public service.

The February 18 edition of JWeekly highlighted simone wolk’s ’09SB leadership of the San Francisco Shabbat Connection, an

organization she started that hosts large Shabbat social events for Jews in their 20s and 30s.

In MemoriumWe mourn the loss of the following:

rabbi Moshe Carmilly-weinberger, former professor of Jewish studies

Daniel Chernikoff ’08SB

rabbi Bernard “Baruch” Poupko ’39YC, ’41R

rabbi samuel w. rubenstein ’40YC, ’41R

The Spring 2010 edition of Class Notes incorrectly noted the loss of Rabbi David Blum ’95YC, ’01R. Rabbi Blum is alive and well and extraordinarily understanding!

“The class gift is Hakorat Hatov,” said Weber, “a thank you, for all that we were able to draw upon at YU and for all the wonderful memories. Everyone donated generously and we’re so honored to be able to give back to our alma mater.”

legend for school abbreviations: A : Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration • Br : Bernard Revel Graduate School • Bs: Belfer Graduate School of Science • BZ: Philip and Sarah Belz School of Jewish Music • C: Cardozo School of Law • e : Albert Einstein College of Medicine • F: Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology • iBC: Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies • Js: James Striar School of Jewish Studies • MY: Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies • r: Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary • s: Stern College for Women • sB: Sy Syms School of Business • sBM: Stone Beit Midrash Program • Ti : Teacher’s Institute • w: Wurzweiler School of Social Work • YC: Yeshiva College• YuHs: Yeshiva University High Schools

Save the dateJoin us for an evening of fashion and glamour, hosted by Teri Jon and Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry, in support of the

Stern College for Women scholarship campaign.

oCTober 12, 2010 • 7 p.m. YeshiVa UniVersiTY mUseUm • The CenTer for Jewish hisTorY

15 wesT 16Th sTreeT • new YorK, nY 10016

For more information call 212.960.5422.

6 YUTodaY

s www.yu.edu/News faLL 2010

Educating the EducatorsfELLoWSHIP ProGrAmS fILL voID In CLASSroomS

In just two years, the Legacy Heritage Teacher Training Fellowship and GiveBack Fel-

lowship at Yeshiva University’s Institute for University-School Partnership have altered the landscape of Jewish education by creating a new pipeline of talented teachers in the United States. Almost 30 new teachers are instructing in 20 schools and communities, including Chi-cago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phila-delphia and Phoenix.

These programs are help-ing to meet an important need. “Day schools today yearn for young, passionate teachers who can serve as role models and help make content engaging, relevant and meaningful,” said

Joey Small, associate director of teacher recruitment and place-ment at the institute.

Legacy Heritage Teacher Fellows receive a full-tuition scholarship for three summers of coursework culminating in a Master of Science in education from Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Admin-istration. They must also com-mit to teaching at a Jewish day school for two years. Each fel-low is partnered with a men-tor at their school and Yeshiva University provides continu-ous support and guidance to the mentors and the fellows throughout the school year.

Concurrent with the Leg-acy Heritage Teacher Training

Fellowship, the institute coordi-nates the GiveBack Fellowship program, which seeks dynamic college graduates who would like to participate in a Peace Corps type of experience after college by working in a Jewish day school for a year. The Give-Back Fellows, however, are not yet ready to make the same two-year commitment to teaching and graduate school as the Leg-acy Heritage Teacher Fellows.

These fellowships have recruited fresh talent into the classrooms of Jewish day schools. Montreal native Aaron Kogut ’09YC was searching for a “meaningful way to contrib-ute to the Jewish community,” and deferred dental school to

teach as a GiveBack Fellow at SCY High in San Diego. “The GiveBack Fellowship gave me the confidence and structure to become a teacher,” he said.

Day schools are reaping the programs’ rewards. “Our Legacy Heritage Teacher Train-ing Fellow shaped our school in a positive way and [showed] that

a student can look at a Modern Orthodox guy as a role model,” said Rabbi Ari Leubitz, princi-pal at Shalhevet High School in Los Angeles and mentor in the program. “The Legacy Heritage Teacher Training Fellowship established Yeshiva University as a place committed to the edu-cation of educators.” n

Creativity in the Heights Community

Summer Missions Bring Learning to Life

Yeshiva University stu-dents joined local ele-mentary school children

in the Progressive Dominican Alliance After-School Program for the first in a series of arts workshops aimed at engaging Yeshiva students with the local community by creating mean-ingful learning opportunities through shared cross-cultural artistic expression.

The arts workshops, con-ceived of by Yeshiva College stu-dent Marlon Danilewitz, were born out of a broader Heights Initiative spearheaded by Dr. Gabriel Cwilich, associate pro-fessor of physics at YC and director of the Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program.

The unique opening work-shop was led by artist JT Wald-

man—whose critically acclaimed comic book rendering of Megil-

lat Esther [Book of Esther] was recently featured at the YU Museum. The program opened with a lively presentation intro-ducing the participants to the Jewish story of Purim through illuminated manuscripts, comic books and a discussion on the important role of storytelling in stitching together communities and cultural preservation.

After a brief lesson cover-ing the elementary components of storytelling and drawing, the students were given the oppor-tunity to build on what they had learned by creating their own personal megilla as a mini-comic book with a real or imagi-native story about themselves or their community. In their nar-

ratives, students explored issues of identity, social justice and liv-ing as a minority culture within a larger society.

“The workshop succeeded in initiating a meaningful rela-tionship between YU and the greater community,” explained Danilewitz. “It was a thrill to see how eager the local students were to learn about the story of Esther and use their imagina-tion to generate their own comic book stories.”

Ginerys, a fifth-grader who lives near the University, was happy to participate in the pro-gram. “I really enjoyed working with the pictures,” she said. “It was the first time I had the chance to do something like this.” n

This summer, Yeshiva Uni-versity’s Center for the Jewish Future launched

a series of service and learn-ing missions that strengthened students’ academic experiences while enriching communities stateside and abroad.

Among these initiatives was CJF’s New Orleans Service Mission, a week-long opportu-nity for students to contribute to a city that’s still struggling to rebuild after Hurricane Katrina by participating in extensive service projects, meeting with community representatives and learning about challenges plagu-ing the city. Germany Close Up was a program that enabled students to hear distinguished guest speakers discuss a vari-ety of topics ranging from the Shoah to Germany’s Nazi terror

and its continuing effort to come to terms with its past. Students participating in Quest II Israel Mission, in partnership with the Jewish National Fund, traveled to southern Israel to volunteer in Chalutza, formerly a Gush Katif community. Meanwhile, Counterpoint Israel 2010, CJF’s flagship Jewish service learning program, trained 20 students to run a summer camp for teens from low socio-economic back-grounds in Southern Israel.

CJF also facilitated its Sum-mer Kollels—intensive Torah and Talmud study programs in various locations, including Chicago, Denver, Israel, Kansas City, Los Angeles and Tean-eck, NJ. The kollels comprised YU undergraduates, students from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS),

rabbinic faculty and local rab-bis and lay leaders. Each kollel offered distinct programming. For instance, the Kansas City Kollel featured panel discus-

sions about contemporary reli-gious and Halacha [Jewish law] issues, while the Chicago Kol-lel included MidweSTERN, a special program for high school

girls run by Stern College for Women students.

“The Summer Kollel pro-gram serves as an opportunity for our students and Yeshiva’s Torah personalities to engage with communities around the country,” said Rabbi Kenneth Brander, The David Mitzner Dean of CJF. “These experi-ences serve as incubators for our students in their quest to learn about community responsibility and pedagogic development.”

The New Orleans Service Mission is supported by Repair the World. Counterpoint Israel 2010 is supported by the Zus-man Family, Sharon and Avram Blumenthal and Repair the World. n

k Read students’ own words about their experiences at www.yu.edu/news

Mentors work closely with Fellows to ensure that they nurture the future educators, administrators and leaders of Jewish education.

In addition to the MidweSTERN program, the Chicago Kollel included chavruta (traditional learning), shiurim (lectures) and special Shabbat activities.

YC student Marlon Danilewitz helped organize the art workshop, bringing in children from the local Washington Heights area.

YUTodaY 7

faLL 2010 www.yu.edu/News ß

seen & Heard

“This is a new world, in which a district attorney would seek the ongoing advice of the defense bar, and in which two leading members of that defense bar would give so generously of their time to a prosecutor’s office,” said ManhattanDistrict Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law commencement speaker. As the first new DA in nearly four decades, Vance noted that, both past and present, the DA’s office has had a “special relationship with Cardozo,” hiring 89 graduates, 30 of whom are now on staff. As the new DA, Vance called upon that special relationship, asking Professors Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld to work on his “conviction integrity initiative.” n

q “school leaders need the opportunity to step back, reflect on their own practice and plan for improvement,” said Dr. Scott Goldberg, director of the Yeshiva University’s Institute for University-School Partnership. “Put a small group of leaders together to reflect on what each is doing and the learning is raised exponentially.” He spoke during a Critical Friends Group retreat on May 9–10 that convened 14 principals of Jewish day schools from across the country. The Critical Friends Group model is supported by research indicating that optimal professional and personal development is achieved through professional learning communities and action research. n

“Post-racial america? That’s nonsense,” said Theodore Shaw, Columbia Law School professor and former president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. “Color blindness? No. It’s too rich a history to give in to some simplistic notion that we should gouge out our eyes and pretend not to see what we can all see.” Shaw served as keynote speaker for a seminar featuring 22 scholars at Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law titled “Acknowledging Race in a Post-Racial Era.” Of President Barack Obama’s ascendency to the White House, he noted, “Everybody is conscious of the fact that we’re living in a time we couldn’t have imag-ined, [but still] we don’t know how to talk about racism. I respect [Obama] and I support him, but he’s a politi-cian. He can’t bear the burden of race, and I don’t want him to.” n

k Go to www.yu.edu/news for more on these events, including videos.

> s p e a K e r s o n c a M p U s

“although it [Iran] has the most capable military in the Middle east, besides Israel, it is incredibly vulnerable … their domestic econ-omy is their own greatest enemy,” said Robin Wright, senior fellow of the U.S. Institute of Peace and noted journalist. She was a panelist in a discus-sion “What to Do About Iran’s Nuclear Program?” hosted by YU’s Dr. Marcia Robbins-Wilf Scholar-in-Residence Program. The discussion also fea-tured Elliott Abrams, senior fellow of the Council of Foreign Relations, former deputy national secu-rity advisor and assistant secretary of state, and David Albright, former nuclear weapons inspector for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Bryan Daves, clinical assistant professor of political science at Stern College for Women, moderated the panel. n

Dr. Marina Holz, assis-tant professor of biol-ogy at Stern College

for Women, has received a National Institutes of Health (NIH) Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) R15 grant for identification and characterization of S6 Kinase 1 (S6K1) targets in mammary cell proliferation. S6K1 is a therapeutic target in breast cancer treatment.

Holz’s research will attempt to provide a compre-hensive assessment of the ther-apeutic potential of the S6K1

signaling pathway by identify-ing and characterizing down-stream effectors of the S6K1 pathway in breast cancer cells.

“Breast cancer is the sec-ond leading cause of cancer death in women,” explained Holz. “Current chemothera-pies are indiscriminate, have toxic side effects and, in about half of the patients, do not prevent cancer progression or recurrence. We are hoping to identify new therapeutic tar-gets against which new che-motherapy agents could be developed.” Holz added that these new drugs could be then used in the clinic in combina-tion with other regiments to achieve greater response.

The AREA grant, sup-ported by funds provided to the NIH under the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009, supports small research projects in the biomedical and behavioral sciences conducted by faculty and students. The funds provided by this grant—totaling $408,000 over three years—will be used to support student research that will take place during the academic year and the summer semester in Holz’s lab.

This summer, Stern Col-lege students Faygel Beren,

Miriam Steinberger and Tirtza Speigel, as well as research fellow Myriam Maruani ’09S, worked in the Holz lab on this and various other projects.

This award represents a historic milestone for the Uni-versity, according to Holz, who received her PhD from Harvard Medical School. “Receiving an NIH grant is a rite of passage for most biomedical research-ers,” she said. “I view this as a validation that the research environment at YU is nationally competitive and on par with the best research colleges.” n

First NIH Grant Awarded to YU Undergraduate SchoolmArInA HoLz WILL USE THE nIH GrAnT To STUDY THErAPEUTIC TArGETS In brEAST CAnCEr

Holz has supervised undergraduate honors projects at Stern since 2007.

YUTodaYYESHIVA UNIVERSITY • 500 WEST 185TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10033 • FALL 2010 • VOLUME 14 NO. 4

YU Museum Presents Home Movies from Pre-WWII Poland; Stern Student Exhibition

Yeshiva University Museum has collaborated with fac-ulty and students from

Stern College for Women on two exhibitions. One show, “16 mm Postcards: Home Movies of Jewish Tourists in 1930s-Era Poland,” brings to life 1930s-era Poland through the home mov-ies of Jews who immigrated to America early in the 20th cen-tury and traveled to Poland in the 1920s and 1930s to visit fami-lies, friends and former commu-nities. Through compilations of more than two dozen amateur films originally meant to be viewed by families, friends and fellow landsmen, the exhibi-tion offers a rare, intimate and—quite literally—moving picture of Jewish families, towns and society in pre-World War II Poland.

On view Aug. 29–Jan. 2, this exhibition was developed in cooperation with the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, one of the museum’s partner organizations within the Cen-ter for Jewish History and the archive for this material.  Rebecca Palgon ’10S, a recent graduate of the Stern studio art program, edited the films into the collections of clips that com-prise the bulk of the artifacts on display. Professor Traci Tullius from Stern’s art department designed the exhibition.

This past May, Tullius, in

collaboration with Professor Susan Gardner and YU Museum curators, was instrumental in the success of “The Stern Senior Art Show,” currently on view until Aug. 29. This inaugural exhibition presents a selection

of works by 16 of this year’s 18 graduating studio art majors. The exhibition sparkles with a diversity of artistic forms, mate-rials and subject matter. There are more than 100 ink, paint, photography and three-dimen-

sional works, including video pieces and samples of graphic-design work created as promo-tional media for YU student organizations. Preparations are underway for a second Senior Art Show in 2011. n

NONPROFIT ORG

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PERMIT #299

More photos from the Stern Senior Art Show are online at www.flickr.com/yeshivauniversitymuseum

www.yu.edu/nowyouknow

These films capture Jewish families, towns and society during the early 20th century.

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