YESHIVA UNIVERSITY

Yeshiva University, in its second century, is an independent institution under Jewish auspices chartered by the State of New York. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and by specialized professional agencies. It offers programs leading to associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, doctoral, and professional degrees.

Beyond its extensive teaching programs, the university maintains a network of affiliates, conducts widespread programs of research and community outreach, and issues publications.

The university’s thousands of graduates are found throughout the United States and overseas, in every profession. Among its alumni are judges, university professors and presidents, religious leaders, business executives, government officials, artists, writers, physicians, and scientists. The university’s roster of honorary degree recipients includes Nobel laureates, world political leaders, philanthropists, and other individuals committed to the betterment of society.

MISSION

Yeshiva University is a top-tier national research institution with the guiding vision that the best of the heritage of contemporary civilization and knowledge is compatible with the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life. On the undergraduate level, this is embodied in the dual curriculum under which students pursue liberal arts, sciences, and business in conjunction with comprehensive Jewish studies. On the graduate level, the university’s mission emphasizes the moral dimensions of the search for knowledge and the Jewish ethical values and principles that govern professional practitioners. Both are linked by a common quest: to ennoble students’ deepest human needs for purpose and discovery, and to enable them to transform their communities and society through meaningful action.
Yeshiva University is committed to the love of learning for its own sake (known in Jewish tradition as Torah Lishmah) and to teaching and research that emphasize excellence.

HISTORY
Yeshiva University traces its origins to Yeshiva Eitz Chaim, established in 1886 on New York’s Lower East Side. In 1896, Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) was founded; it was chartered in 1897 by the New York State Board of Regents. In 1915, the two schools merged.

Under the leadership of Dr. Bernard Revel, president from 1915 until his death in 1940, the institution pursued educational development and growth. In 1929, the institution moved to its Main Campus in Manhattan’s Washington Heights. Liberal arts programs began with the establishment of Yeshiva College in 1928, and the first graduate curriculum (in Jewish studies) was introduced in 1935.

The election of Dr. Samuel Belkin as president in 1943 inaugurated a new era of expansion. In 1945, the New York State Board of Regents granted the school University status. The institution initiated programs of general and professional studies, research, and special projects to benefit many constituencies. These included a college of liberal arts and sciences for women and graduate schools of medicine, law, social work, and psychology.

Dr. Norman Lamm was elected president in 1976, following Dr. Belkin’s death. He undertook a complete review of the university’s structure and operations and significantly expanded undergraduate study opportunities to include a new undergraduate school of business. He also enriched graduate and professional school resources and established a carefully monitored fiscal system and development program to further the university’s goals. After 27 years of service to the university, Norman Lamm became the school’s chancellor and retains the title of Rosh HaYeshiva (dean) of the university’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary.

Richard M. Joel was inaugurated on September 21, 2003 as Yeshiva University's fourth president in its 117-year-history. In assuming the leadership of one of the nation's top academic research universities at his investiture, he put forth a vision that embraces time-honored values in a 21st century context. That includes his desire to ennoble YU students' deepest human needs of intellectual curiosity and discovery, and to educate and enable them to care for others and contribute to society. The pillars of his vision are nobility of purpose, excellence in education and endeavor, community building and communal responsibility, and the centrality of Israel and its people.

President Joel's success in revitalizing Jewish campus life and activism defined his 14 years as president and international director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, where he greatly expanded programs, activities, and branches in the nation and around the world.

President Joel is known for his accessibility to and advocacy for students and is highly influential leader and educator in the Jewish community, key qualities in the strengthening of Yeshiva University as a premier center of Jewish and worldly learning. He received BA and JD degrees from New York University, where he was a Root-Tilden scholar. Before leading Hillel, President Joel was assistant district attorney in New York, and an associate dean at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law as well as a member of its faculty. President Joel’s wife, Esther (Ribner), earned her PhD from Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology in 1983.

FACILITIES
The university’s undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools are located in Manhattan (Wilf Campus, 500 West 185th Street; Israel Henry Beren Campus, 245 Lexington Avenue; Brookdale Center, 55 Fifth Avenue) and the Bronx (Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, Eastchester Road and Morris Park Avenue). All campuses have residence facilities; the Wilf, Beren, and Resnick campuses have dining and athletic facilities as well. While part of a multifaceted university community, each school retains the intimate character of a smaller institution.

LIBRARIES
The university’s four-campus library system houses some 1.1 million volumes, 1.3 million microforms, and provides access to well over 20,000 journals and serial publications in paper and/or electronic format. It is a selective depository for US Government publications.
The D. Samuel Gottesman Library of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology is at the Resnick Campus. The Dr. Lillian and Dr. Rebecca Chutick Law Library of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is at the Brookdale Center.
The Mendel Gottesman Library—a six-story, block-long central library building at the Wilf Campus—houses the Pollack Library, Landowne-Bloom Library, and Mendel Gottesman Library of Hebraica-Judaica.
The Hedi Steinberg Library, serving undergraduates, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, and some programs of Wurzweiler School of Social Work, is at the Beren Campus. Electronic resources at the libraries include bibliographical and statistical databases, indexes and abstracts, journals on line, and journal article full-text services.

Special Collections
The University’s Rare Books and Manuscripts Division contains several thousand rare Judaica and Hebraica volumes, 39 Hebrew incunabula (books printed before 1500), and more than 1,000 literary and historical manuscripts. The archives document the university’s history as well as the activities of important Jewish organizations and individuals.

Affiliations
Since 1974, the university’s libraries have participated in OCLC, a computerized bibliographic network of more than 30,000 libraries in 65 countries. Members of this online system have access to 38 million catalog records and borrow materials from OCLC libraries online requests.

The library system is a member of METRO, the Metropolitan Reference and Research Library Agency. Students with legitimate research needs gain entry to all METRO member-libraries by requesting a METRO card.
Through special membership in the Research Libraries Group, the libraries participate in RLIN, the Research Libraries Information Network, in cooperative projects among libraries with Hebraica collections and in programs for preservation of library materials.
Each University library maintains affiliations with agencies devoted to its particular specialty, such as psychology, medicine, law, social work, and Jewish studies.

YESHIVA UNIVERSITY MUSEUM
The Yeshiva University Museum moved in 2000 from the Wilf Campus to a new home at the Center for Jewish History, 15 West 16th Street. The museum presents innovative exhibits reflecting Jewish life through the humanities—art, architecture, music, literature, science, history, and anthropology. It fulfills its mission as a teaching museum through community outreach programs, satellite galleries, and cultural events, including crafts festivals, concerts, and children’s workshops. YUM branch galleries at the Wilf Campus continue to offer exhibitions and children’s art education programs.

COMPUTER FACILITIES
Yeshiva University continually enhances its computer facilities and services. A wide area network (WAN) links computer resources on all YU campuses, yielding access to such resources as the online catalog and mini-MEDLINE systems at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as well as all Internet-based resources worldwide, with library computers offering menu-driven search capabilities.
A scientific/educational computer center on the Resnick Campus provides an excellent research-oriented educational environment for students, faculty, and researchers.