On Sunday, May 6, Yeshiva University’s Alumni Office celebrated the 40-year career of men’s basketball Coach Jonathan Halpert ‘62YUHS, ‘66YC, ‘78F with a court-naming ceremony in his honor at the Max Stern Athletic Center on the Wilf Campus.The event included the unveiling of Halpert’s signature on the men’s basketball court, a tribute video and the launch of the Coach Jonathan Halpert Scholarship Fund, an endowment that will be awarded annually to children of YU alumni living in Israel wishing to study at the University.

Barbara Birch, YU’s Senior Director of Alumni Affairs and Annual Giving, declared, “The tribute to Coach Halpert was especially meaningful to the many alumni who came with their families to acknowledge the significant impact he had on their lives.  So many graduates see Coach as not just a basketball coach, but someone who taught them life lessons, served as a father figure and had a tremendous influence on their YU experience. This was their day to thank him for his dedication and contribution.”

The Coach Jonathan Halpert Scholarship Fund was established under his guidance to benefit YU alumni who have immigrated to Israel. Individuals interested in honoring Halpert’s significant contributions to YU and the Maccabees can contribute online. Donors to the Coach Jonathan Halpert Scholarship Fund will be recognized in the interactive display documenting the history of the Maccabees in the Max Stern Athletic Center and in an honorary book to be presented to Halpert later this year.

“There is no more rewarding feeling in the world than to feel appreciated,” said Halpert. “The outpouring of feelings by Yeshiva University, my friends, colleagues and former players was emotionally overwhelming and will be cherished forever.”

Graduating seniors of the Syms School of Business celebrated their upcoming Commencement at the Annual Syms School of Business Gala Awards Dinner on the evening of May 3rd.  New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg was featured as the keynote speaker at the Dinner, and gave his congratulations to the students as well as some career advice.

The event, which was held at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, celebrated the 25th anniversary of the business school, which now has over 3,000 alumni, and the graduating class of 2012. It also honored students and faculty who excelled within their fields and demonstrated exceptional character.

Drawing on his own experience as a young professional in New York, Bloomberg noted that success often comes in unexpected forms and recommended students embrace the twists and turns of a fledgling career. “The pathway to your dreams will not always be the one you’re imagining now,” he said. However, the mayor exhorted the new graduates to begin building their careers in the Big Apple. “You have the kinds of skills, desire and drive that this city, one of the most diverse cities in the world, needs,” he said. “Your education has given you all the tools you need to succeed.”

To read the entire article, click here.

YU’s Wall Street Group hosted “The Future of the Hedge Fund Industry” on May 2nd at Schulte Roth & Zabel LLP. Over 150 alumni and friends of YU attended the informative panel discussion featuring Daniel Arbess, partner, Perella Weinberg Partners; Jeffrey Aronson, co-founder & managing principal, Centerbridge Partners LP; Harvey Beker, co-CEO & co-chairma, Millburn Ridgefield Corporation; and Stephanie Breslow, partner, co-head of the Investment Management Group, Schulte, Roth & Zabel, LLP. The discussion was moderated by Greg Zuckerman, senior writer, Wall Street Journal, author, The Greatest Trade Ever.

Please click here to see the photo album for this event.

Dr. Edward Glaeser, a professor and economist at Harvard University, spoke to YU on May 2nd in the annual Alexander Brody Memorial Lecture.

Delivering a fact-filled and fast-paced address accompanied by detailed slides of graphs and pictures, Glaeser’s lecture, titled “Triumph of the City: Why Cities Are Our Best Hope for the Future,” offered selections of his research as found in his recently published and similarly titled book Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, ­Greener, Healthier, and Happier (2011, The Penguin Press).

Using a host of economic data along with historical and personal anecdotes, Glaeser delved deeply into an explanation of how cities help move humanity forward in beneficial ways.

To read the entire article, click here.

Daniel Hershkowitz, the Israeli Minister of Science and Technology, visited YU’s Wilf Campus on April 30th to meet with and speak to YU faculty and students.

Hershkowitz said, “It is my first time at Yeshiva University and I am very glad to be here. It would be wonderful if we had a similar kind of institution in Israel.”

Upon his arrival, Hershkowitz was greeted by President Richard M. Joel and proceeded to meet with Yeshiva College Dean Barry Eichler and a number of senior faculty members to discuss common issues of interest regarding university life and current research underway at YU.

“As the day progressed, it was clear that YU had made a new friend with whom we could cooperate in our close relationship with the State of Israel as academics devoted to our teaching and research, and in the continued quest for strengthening Jewish life here and abroad,” said Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, vice provost for undergraduate education, who took part in a number of meetings with the minister throughout the evening.

To read the entire article, click here.

The Azrieli Foundation has made a $10 million donation to Yeshiva University in honor of foundation founder David Azrieli’s 90th birthday.

The donation is the largest in the foundation’s history and is earmarked for the university’s Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, David Azrieli announced Tuesday. It will be used primarily to offer scholarships to the school and help attract more men and women to the field of Jewish education.

Dr. Naomi Azrieli, David’s daughter and chair of the foundation, declared, “My family and my father can think of no better way to celebrate a 90th birthday. Seeing young people graduate from this school and move on to teach Judaism to the next generation has been one of my father’s greatest joys.”

Azrieli, who escaped the Nazis and landed in prestate Israel in 1942, has been a Yeshiva University trustee since 1987. He studied at YU for a year. He is the father of the modern shopping mall in Israel; he owns 14 throughout the country.

Gary Rosenblatt, editor and publisher of The Jewish Week, covers “Religion and the 2012 Election,” which took place on Monday evening at YU’s Stern College for Women. To read the entire article, click here.

Hundreds of students filled the Wilf Campus’ Lamport Auditorium on April 25 for Yeshiva University’s Yom Hazikaron (Israel Memorial Day) ceremony honoring the memories of Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror.

The student-organized event featured readings by the Yeshiva College and Stern College Dramatics Societies, an a capella performance by the Y-Studs, a video presentation and a memorial candle lighting service. President Richard M. Joel delivered an emotional El Male Rachamim [memorial prayer] and was followed by keynote speaker Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer ‘71YC and Rabbi Meir Goldwicht, Joel and Maria Finkle Visiting Israeli Rosh Yeshiva at RIETS. The ceremony concluded with a Yizkor prayer led by Rabbi Yosef Blau, senior mashgiach ruchani [spiritual advisor], and closing words from Avital Chizhik ‘12S, president of the YU Israel Club.

The moving program was followed by song and dance at the annual Yom Ha’atzmaut (Israel Independence Day) Chagigah in the Max Stern Athletic Center, celebrating Israel’s 64th birthday. Yom Ha’atzmaut festivities continued on April 26 with more dancing, a barbecue and carnival on the Wilf Campus.

The Rabbi Norman Lamm Yadin Yadin Kollel of RIETS has co-published a journal with the Beth Din of America (BDA) for spring 2012. The Journal of the Beth Din of America, sponsored by the Michael Scharf Publication Trust of RIETS/Yeshiva University Press, contains articles on Jewish jurisprudence and beth din practice, with a particular emphasis on the policies and practices of the BDA—North America’s most active rabbinical court.

Each issue will include actual din torah or decisions rendered by the BDA (appropriately anonymized and approved for publication by the involved parties), exposing readers to the practices of contemporary beth din and the intellectual foundations for its work. The journal will primarily feature articles by dayanim [judges] of the BDA.

Topics covered in the inaugural issue range from “The Prenuptial Agreement: Recent Developments” by Rabbi Mordechai Willig, Rabbi Dr. Sol Roth Professor of Talmud and Contemporary Halacha at RIETS and Segan Av Beit Din at BDA, to “Jewish Law, Civil Procedure: A Comparative Study” by Rabbi Yona Reiss, Max and Marion Grill Dean of RIETS and Chaver Beth Din at BDA.

“It is our hope that this journal and the study it enables will serve as a vehicle for the clarification and dissemination of the Torah’s laws relating to the beth din process,” said Rabbi Yaacov Feit’02YC, ’06R, ’06A, who along with Rabbi Shlomo Weissmann ’92YUHS, ’96YC, ’03R, serves as co-editor of the journal.

YU students Daniel Simkin and Leon Franco recently attended the 15th World Business Dialogue in Cologne, Germany—winning two of only 300 coveted slots available to students across the globe in a rigorous selection process.

The conference is the world’s largest student-run business convention. Featuring 60 high-profile personalities and executives from top companies such as British Petroleum, General Electric Europe and North Asia, and Ford of Europe, it engaged students and speakers in conversation about topics that will have economic and social impact on the future.

Simkin, a YC sophomore majoring in mathematics, said, “We met students from all around the world who want to do something in life, change something. They run profit or nonprofit organizations around the world. We all had this ambition and desire to share ideas and concerns.”

To read more about Simkin and Franco, their journey to YU from Venezuela, and their thoughts on YU, click here.