Leading Scholars Present their Work at YU’s Inaugural Dead Sea Scrolls Conference

Yeshiva University hosted its first annual Dead Sea Scrolls Seminar at the Wilf Campus on Sunday, May 19, showcasing the work of four Dead Sea Scrolls scholars from YU and beyond.

Dr. Moshe Bernstein offers opening remarks at YU’s inaugural Dead Sea Scrolls Conference.

“The Dead Sea Scrolls is one of those things that people hear about and talk about, and it’s important that people’s talking about it should be based on real knowledge, rather than rumors and misconceptions,” said Dr. Moshe Bernstein, David A. and Fannie M. Denenberg Chair in Biblical Studies, who organized the seminar along with Dr. Lawrence Schiffman, vice provost for undergraduate education and professor of Judaic studies at YU. Read the rest of this entry…

Interdisciplinary Behavioral and Social Sciences Student Research Conference Highlights Diverse Fields of Study at YU

On May 10, Yeshiva University’s Ferkauf Graduate School for Psychology and Center for Public Health Sciences hosted their 10th annual Behavioral and Social Sciences Student Research Conference Program. Known as YU Research Day, the interdisciplinary event highlights the work of students at Stern College for Women, Yeshiva College and the Sy Syms School of Business alongside presentations from students at YU’s Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Wurzweiler School of Social Work and Ferkauf.

“I am constantly reminded that people go into the field of psychology because they want to build civilization, they want to explore ideas and they’re wise enough to know that they don’t want to live in an enclosed bubble,” said YU President Richard M. Joel in his opening remarks to students. “They want to break down silos, bring their disciplines to play with other disciplines and inspire young people to explore their dreams and make those dreams come true.”

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Yeshiva Wins Conference Sportsmanship Trophy for Fourth Time in Six-Year History of Award

For the second consecutive year, Yeshiva University has captured the Skyline Conference’s Sportsmanship Trophy for displaying outstanding team sportsmanship during the 2012-13 academic year. The Skyline Conference instituted the Sportsmanship Trophy in 2007-08 to gauge team sportsmanship among its member schools.

YU has been awarded the conference sportsmanship trophy for the second straight year, its fourth overall.

“At Yeshiva we believe that proper sportsmanship is a cornerstone of competition,” said Joe Bednarsh, YU director of athletics, physical education and recreation. ”It’s important to our student-athletes that they be seen as fiercely competitive, determined and tough, all while keeping to a high standard of fair play. It says volumes that our teams can be successful and also be recognized as good sportsmen.” Read the rest of this entry…

Four-Year $720,000 Grant will Enable Stern College’s Marina Holz to Investigate Breast Cancer Cell Growth

The American Cancer Society, the largest non-government, not-for-profit funding source of cancer research in the United States, has awarded Dr. Marina Holz, assistant professor of biology at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women, a $720,000 Research Scholar Grant. The four-year grant will be used to continue her work researching how the mTOR pathway affects the growth of estrogen-receptor positive breast cancer.

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Graduate Profile: Eli Shapiro, Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education and Administration

A common spirit runs throughout Yeshiva University: the mandate to matter.

Students of all ages and backgrounds come here to pursue a range of professional and personal dreams, from scientific research and medicine to law, Jewish education or public policy. Our students seek to harness their unique talents and YU education to make a lasting impact on the world around them. This spring, when they graduate from YU, these new alumni will hit the ground running.

In the weeks leading up to Commencement, YU News will feature one remarkable graduate from each school, reflecting, in their own words, on their time here, their passions and their dreams for the future.

Meet the Class of 2013.

Azrieli’s Eli Shapiro hopes to professionalize the Jewish education landscape.

Name: Eli Shapiro

Hometown: Far Rockaway, NY

School: Azrieli Graduate School for Jewish Education and Administration

Passion: Professionalizing Jewish education

Why Jewish education?

Jewish education is the foundation of our community and the basis of our future, but we often approach it in a “this is what’s done” fashion that causes us to miss out on best practices. I feel very strongly that if in some way I can effect a positive change and bring more deliberate practices to such a significant component of Jewish life, I have an obligation to do so. To quote Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Read the rest of this entry…

Inter-Institutional Collaboration Between HUC-JIR, JTS and YU Offers Opportunity for More Innovation

To cultivate creativity and knowledge-sharing surrounding the effective use of educational technology in Jewish higher education, Hebrew Union College– Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS) and Yeshiva University (YU) have launched an inter-institutional eLearning Faculty Fellowship. On May 7, the 20 faculty members of Cohort 1 participated in the first of five live sessions to learn strategies, tools and approaches for using educational technologies to improve student engagement and learning. All five live sessions and five additional online workshops will be created and led by the Columbia Center for New Media Teaching and Learning (CCNMTL) at Columbia University. Read the rest of this entry…

Gavriel Brown’s Essay on Hurricane Sandy Awarded First Place

Gavriel Brown, Yeshiva College junior and member of YU’s Jay and Jeanie Schottenstein Honors Program, won first place in the Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity Prize in Ethics Essay Contest. The annual competition challenges college students across the country to submit thought-provoking personal essays that raise questions, single out issues and are rational arguments for ethical action.

Gavriel Brown was awarded the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics

Brown’s winning essay, “Losing Self, Finding Self,” focuses on lessons he learned while volunteering, and eventually coordinating many services, at a Washington Heights shelter after Hurricane Sandy.

“Hurricane Sandy taught me that you don’t need to fly half-way around the world to do meaningful and urgent community service. Sometimes, the most pressing needs are right under our noses, in local schools, in shelters, in community centers,” said Brown, an English major from Silver Spring, Md. Read the rest of this entry…

Rabbi Joshua Fass to Keynote May 30 Commencement; Honorees Include Tony Gelbart, Abraham Naymark and Merryl Tisch

Rabbi Joshua Fass, Yeshiva University alumnus and executive director of Nefesh B’Nefesh, will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary doctorate at YU’s 82nd Commencement Ceremony on Thursday, May 30, at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey. YU President Richard M. Joel will also confer honorary doctorates upon entrepreneur Tony B. Gelbart; businessman and philanthropist Abraham Naymark, and Merryl H. Tisch, chancellor of the New York State Board of Regents. Read the rest of this entry…

Eli Grunblatt and Gilad Barach Receive Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship

Yeshiva College juniors Gilad Barach and Eli Grunblatt have been awarded the Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, a highly competitive grant that supports undergraduates who intend to pursue careers in science, math or engineering.

Gilad Barach and Eli Grunblatt of Yeshiva College have been awarded the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship.

“Our track record of recipients of the prestigious Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for scientific research clearly indicates the excellence of the science education at Yeshiva College, which can be favorably compared with undergraduate college experiences at larger research universities,” said Yeshiva College Dean Barry Eichler. “The quality of our student body and that of our science faculty’s commitment to mentor undergraduates in the sciences is truly impressive.”

Only 271 college sophomores and juniors across the country are selected for the scholarship Read the rest of this entry…

Seeking Green Energy Solutions, Students and Faculty from Stern College and UNH Join Forces

As part of a new educational experience designed to restructure the way undergraduates are trained in science and engineering, students at Yeshiva University’s Stern College for Women participated in hands-on advanced nanoscience and nanotechnology research at Brookhaven National Laboratory on April 11.

Students toured the Brookhaven lab and used its National Synchrotron Light Source, a ring in which electrons are accelerated and also a source of powerful x-ray radiation, to study why platinum and other expensive noble metals are efficient as catalysts in chemical reactions and how new and better catalysts could be designed. The research has implications for the development of important alternate fuel sources.

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