List of Yeshiva University people explained

This is a list of notable people associated with Yeshiva University, a private university in New York City. The list includes alumni, attendees, and faculty members past and present of the university.

Notable alumni

Academia

• David Berger (born 1943), Dean Emeritus at Bernard Revel Graduate School of Judaic Studies
• Michael Broyde (born 1964), law professor
• Shaye J. D. Cohen (B.A. 1970), Professor of Hebrew Literature & Philosophy at Harvard ^{[1] [2] [3]}
• Samuel J. Danishefsky, Professor of Chemistry at Columbia University and the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York
• Professor Laurence Dreyfus, Bach Scholar and Fellow of Magdalen College, Oxford
• Ari L. Goldman, Columbia University professor and journalist
• Paul Gottfried, former professor at Elizabethtown College
• Gary Gruber, author, physicist, testing expert, educator
• A. Leo Levin (1919–2015), University of Pennsylvania Law School law professor
• Matthew Levitt, counterterrorism expert
• Emanuel Rackman (1910–2008), Modern Orthodox rabbi; President of Bar-Ilan University
• Michael Rosenak, Israeli philosopher of Jewish education
• Leonard Susskind, Felix Bloch professor of physics at Stanford University
• Steven Winter, Walter S. Gibbs Professor of Constitutional Law at Wayne State University Law School

Law

• Jeff Ballabon, lawyer
• Noach Dear (1953–2020), New York Supreme Court judge
• Alan Dershowitz, attorney, attended BTA
• Sandra J. Feuerstein, Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York
• Jason Greenblatt, U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations, executive vice president and chief legal officer to Donald Trump and The Trump Organization
• Nat Lewin, attorney
• Abraham David Sofaer, Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
• Shalom David Stone, attorney; nominee for the Third US Circuit Court of Appeals

Government and politics

• Howard Dean, Governor of Vermont, physician (medical degree)
• Philip Ensler, member of the Alabama House of Representatives
• Louis Henkin, jurist
• Daniel Kurtzer, former Ambassador to Egypt and Israel
• Olga A. Mendez, Chairwoman of the New York State Senate Labor Committee
• Grace Meng, Congresswoman from New York (J.D.)
• Sheldon Silver, Speaker of New York State Assembly 1994

Arts and media

• Elon Gold, actor and comedian of Stacked fame, attended MTA
• Eddie Huang, chef, writer, and television personality (J.D. 2008)
• Lucy Kaplansky, singer-songwriter
• Aaron Klein, reporter, radio personality, author
• Yaakov Lemmer, chazzan
• Barbara Olson, television commentator
• Chaim Potok, author, most notably of The Chosen^[4]
• Violet Ramis Stiel, daughter of actor/writer/director Harold Ramis and author of Ghostbuster's Daughter: Life With My Dad Harold Ramis
• Josh Saviano, actor (law degree)
• Nachum Segal, radio host
• Ari Shaffir, comedian, actor, podcaster, writer, and producer
• Laura Sydell, National Public Radio

Religion

• Nachman Bulman, rabbi
• Shlomo Einhorn, dean of Yavneh Hebrew Academy
• Chaim (Howard) Jachter, rabbi
• Meir Kahane, Orthodox rabbi and Knesset member, attended BTA
• Ezra Labaton, rabbi
• Aharon Lichtenstein, rabbi
• Haskel Lookstein, rabbi
• Dr. Moses Mescheloff, rabbi
• Avigdor Miller, Haredi rabbi
• Shlomo Riskin, rabbi
• Joseph Telushkin, rabbi, lecturer, and author
• Moshe David Tendler, rabbi
• Moshe Weinberger, Haredi rabbi
• Mordechai Willig, rabbi
• Chaim Zimmerman, rabbi
• Meir Soloveichik, rabbi and public thinker
• Hershel Schachter, rabbi
• Harold M. Schulweis, rabbi

Medicine and sciences

• Raymond Damadian, pioneer of MRI technology
• Samuel J. Danishefsky, chemist, winner of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry in 1995/96
• Hillel Furstenberg, mathematician
• Rudolph Leibel, medical researcher^{[5] [6]}
• David Macht, pharmacologist
• Daniel Wise, mathematician
• Martin L. Yarmush, biomedical engineer and physician

Business

• Stan Kasten, President of the Los Angeles Dodgers, attended MTA
• Ralph Lauren, designer, attended MTA
• Mark Nordlicht, hedge fund manager
• David Samson, Miami Marlins executive (J.D. 1992)
• Ahmed Zayat, owner of American Pharoah, winner of the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes

Other

• Ryan Turell, professional basketball player
• Randi Weingarten, President of the United Federation of Teachers (law degree)
• Baruch Goldstein, Perpetrator of the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre.

Notable faculty and staff

• Danny Ayalon
• Samuel Belkin
• David Berger^[7]
• Saul J. Berman, author
• Benjamin Blech, author (also alumnus)^{[8] [9]}
• J. David Bleich^[10]
• Elisheva Carlebach
• Shalom Carmy, theologian and Jewish historian (also alumnus)
• Pinkhos Churgin (1894-1957), first President of Bar-Ilan University
• Bernard Epstein
• Louis Feldman
• Steven Fine
• Joshua Fishman, linguist
• Jekuthiel Ginsburg
• Jason Greenblatt
• Paul Greengard, Nobel Prize winner
• Lawrence Hajioff, Judaic studies faculty
• Elazar Hurvitz, historian^[11]
• Richard Joel, president
• David Alan Johnson
• Ephraim Kanarfogel, dean and historian (also alumnus)
• Arthur Komar
• Joy Ladin, Gottesman Chair in English at Stern College for Women (2003-2021)
• Norman Lamm, chancellor (also alumnus)^[12]
• Joe Lieberman, US Senator
• Bernard Madoff, former Chairman & Treasurer of the Board of Directors of the Sy Syms School of Business
• Rachel Mesch, scholar of French literature, history, and culture
• Marysa Navarro, historian
• Adam Zachary Newton^[13]
• Michael Rosensweig
• Oliver Sacks, neurologist
• Hershel Schachter, rabbi (also alumnus)^[14]
• Jacob J. Schachter^[15]
• Barry Scheck, lawyer
• Lawrence Schiffman
• Shimon Shkop
• Eli Baruch Shulman^[16]
• Nahum Slouschz
• Joseph B. Soloveitchik, The Rav, (deceased), rabbi and talmudist
• Telford Taylor (deceased), lawyer
• Moshe Tendler, rabbi and medical ethics authority (also alumnus)
• Mayer Twersky, rabbi
• Abraham Weiss (1895–1970), professor of Talmud
• Mordechai Willig, Rosh Kollel (also alumnus)
• Rachel Wischnitzer
• Herman Wouk, author
• Benjamin Yudin, rabbi^[17]
• Dov Zakheim, political adviser
• Solomon Zeitlin
• Bob Tufts, former MLB pitcher^{[18] [19] [20]}

Notes and References

1. Book: Cohen . Shaye J. D. . Why Aren't Jewish Women Circumcised?: Gender and Covenant in Judaism . 2005 . University of California Press . 978-0-520-24458-0 . en.
2. News: Gewertz . Ken . Identity politics in late antiquity . Harvard Gazette . 1 November 2001.
3. Encyclopedia: Encyclopaedia Judaica . Cohen, Shaye J.D. . Encyclopedia.com.
4. Web site: Chaim Potok dead at age of 73, was literary pioneer and scholar . Ephross, Peter . June 23, 2002 . . August 27, 2010.
5. Book: Shell E . The Hungry Gene: The Inside Story of the Obesity Industry . Atlantic Monthly Press . January 1, 2002 . Chapter 4: On the Cutting Edge . 978-1422352434 .
6. Book: Shell E . The Hungry Gene: The Inside Story of the Obesity Industry . Atlantic Monthly Press . January 1, 2002 . Chapter 5: Hunger . 978-1422352434 .
7. Web site: Rabbi David Berger: Professor of History, Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY . Rabbi David Berger . November 23, 2005 . Rabbinical Council of America . August 27, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20091227054746/http://www.rabbis.org/news/article.cfm?id=100627 . December 27, 2009 . dead .
8. Web site: YU Professor Publishes Ninth Book: Taking Stock: A Spiritual Guide to Rising Above Life's Financial Ups and Downs . Rabbi Benjamin Blech . October 13, 2003 . Taking Stock . August 27, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110720125209/http://spider.mc.yu.edu/news/articles/article.cfm?id=100064 . July 20, 2011 .
9. http://www.benjaminblech.com/bio.html Benjamin Blech bio
10. Web site: J. David Bleich . Herbert and Florence Tenzer Professor of Jewish Law and Ethics . Profile . Cardozo . August 27, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100605163311/http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/MemberContentDisplay.aspx?ccmd=ContentDisplay&ucmd=UserDisplay&userid=10490&contentid=1250 . June 5, 2010 .
11. Web site: Core Faculty . Bernard Revel, Gradual School of Jewish Studies . August 27, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100705184900/http://www.yu.edu/revel/index.aspx?id=1003 . July 5, 2010 .
12. Web site: Interview with YU president Norman Lamm . 2005-12-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20060212193310/http://www.cardozo.yu.edu/life/spring1999/lamm/ . 2006-02-12 . dead .
13. Web site: ? . Dr. Adam Zachary Newton . Yeshiva University Faculty . August 27, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20100527181240/http://www.yu.edu/faculty/newton/page.aspx?id=36868&ekmensel=15074e5e_2762_0_36868_1 . May 27, 2010 .
14. http://www.yutorah.org/bio.cfm?teacherID=80153 Herschel Schachter bio
15. Web site: Rabbi Dr. Jacob J. Schacter University Professor of Jewish History and Jewish Thought and Senior Scholar at the Center for the Jewish Future at Yeshiva University, New York, NY . June 6, 2006 . Rabbinical Council of America . August 27, 2010.
16. Web site: Rabbi Eliahu Baruch Shulman of Brooklyn Joins Faculty of Yeshiva University's Yeshiva Program/Mazer School of Talmudic Studies . October 6, 2005 . Yeshiva University News . August 27, 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110720124937/http://spider.mc.yu.edu/news/articles/article.cfm?id=101033 . July 20, 2011 .
17. http://www.shomrei-torah.org/ravyudin.htm Rabbi Benjamin Yudin
18. Web site: Robert Tufts '77 . Princeton Alumni Weekly . en . 3 February 2020.
19. News: Diunte . Nick . Bob Tufts Fought Cancer With An Arsenal Of Brushback Pitches Until His Final Inning . Forbes . 2019 . en.
20. News: Bob Tufts . www.huffpost.com . en.