From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Richard Joel
Richard Joel
Richard M. Joel (born 1950) is the fourth president of fined as "immeasurable" by its past and present leader-
Yeshiva University (YU), a Modern Orthodox Jewish uni- ship.[5]
versity with some 7,000 students at its undergraduate
and graduate divisions in New York City. In addition, Joel
has traveled the globe giving talks on topics of Jewish
Investigating abuse
leadership and identity at numerous universities and During his tenure at Hillel, Joel served as the head of the
Jewish Federations.[citation needed] special commission impaneled by the Orthodox Union
(OU) to investigate allegations that community leaders
had ignored charges against the abusive outreach rabbi
Academic and professional cre- Baruch Lanner, an executive with the OU’s National Con-
dentials ference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY). The commission
concluded that many OU and NCSY leaders had made se-
Richard Joel received his BA and JD from New York rious errors in judgment.
University where he was a Root-Tilden law scholar, and
has received honorary doctorates from Boston Hebrew
College and Gratz College. He was an assistant district At Yeshiva University
attorney in New York, and Deputy Chief of Appeals in
Bronx, NY. His career continued as associate dean and
professor of law at YU’s Benjamin N. Cardozo School of
Law. President Joel is an at-large member of the Com-
mission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU)
Board of Trustees.[1]
At Hillel
From 1989 to 2003, Joel served as President and Interna-
tional director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Cam-
pus Life, an organization which supports Jewish life for
college and university students throughout the world. In
1994, Joel orchestrated Hillel’s independence from B’nai
B’rith, its parent organization since 1925. Joel also in-
creased the organization’s financial stability and prestige
by bringing on board major philanthropists such as
Michael Steinhardt, Edgar Bronfman, and Lynn Schuster-
man and Charles Schusterman. During his tenure, Hillel
partnered with Birthright Israel, and launched the Stein-
hardt Jewish Campus Service Corps, a group of recent
college graduates tasked with engaging unaffiliated Jews
and drawing them to Judaism and Jewish events. Hillel al-
so expanded to the former Soviet Union and South Amer-
ica.[2] Joel’s tenure at Hillel has been criticized by some as
providing stylish instead of substantive Judaism.[3] (More
on criticism of Hillel.) However, Joel has also been cred-
ited for his “skilled management, magnetism, personal
warmth” and “clarity of vision.”[4] Joel is credited as the
one who "transformed this movement (Hillel) and put
Jewish renaissance at the forefront of the community’s
agenda," and his contributions to Hillel have been de-
President Joel at YU Commencement
1
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Richard Joel
Joel became president of YU in 2003, succeeding Rabbi Dr. in the song "Shaleshudis Medley" on the Maccabeats CD,
Norman Lamm, who had been president since 1976. Since Voices from the Heights, which debuted in March 2010.[cita-
assuming the presidency, President Joel has appointed tion needed]
new deans for Yeshiva College, Albert Einstein College
of Medicine, Sy Syms School of Business, and the Rab-
bi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS), added
References
faculty positions throughout the university, and spurred [1] Yeshiva University, the president
wide-ranging improvements to campus life, including [2] http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=36746
the construction of YU’s newest building, the Jacob and [3] Tikkun: "Hillel Incorporated: The Franchising of
Dreizel Glueck Center for Jewish Study, which opened in Modern American Jewry"
August 2009. [4] http://www.ujc.org/page.aspx?id=36746
As president of RIETS, he has spearheaded efforts to [5] http://www.hillel.org/about/news/2002/
reinvigorate professional education for rabbis, continu- 20021205_richard.htm
ing education and rabbinic placement. [6] McNeil, Kate. ’For Yeshiva’s president, life can
President Joel speaks often of a Yeshiva University imitate television", The Riverdale Press, January 3,
education as "ennobling and enabling" a generation of 2008. Accessed May 3, 2008. "Riverdale resident
leadership. Additionally, President Joel has established Richard Joel compares his job - president of
various centers and programs including the university’s Yeshiva University - to the presidency of the
centers for Ethics, Israel Studies, Public Health and the United States."
Jewish Future. [7] Sheer, David. ’Billy Joel discusses Jewish origins",
He has also established a Presidential Fellowship pro- YNet News, September 3, 2011. Accessed January 10,
gram that provides training and professional develop- 2012. "Billy Joel discusses Jewish origins."
ment to recent graduates to further their path toward
communal leadership.
External links
• Richard Joel’s biography on yu.edu
Personal life • President Richard Joel’s web page on yu.edu
Joel and his wife Esther (née Ribner), who holds a PhD Persondata
from YU’s Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, have Name Joel, Richard
six children all of whom have attended Yeshiva Univer-
sity schools. They currently reside in Riverdale, NY.[6] He Alternative names
is the first cousin to musician Billy Joel.[7] Short description
Date of birth 1950
Maccabeats Performance Place of birth
Joel’s son Nachum is a member of Yeshiva University’s Date of death
a cappella group, The Maccabeats, known for their viral Place of death
Hanukkah hit Candlelight. Ironically, while Nachum only
joined the Maccabeats in late 2010, Richard was featured
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Richard_Joel&oldid=473297264"
Categories:
• 1950 births
• Living people
• Presidents of Yeshiva University
• People from the Bronx
• Riverdale, Bronx
• American university and college presidents
• New York University alumni
• American Jewish community activists
This page was last modified on 26 January 2012 at 07:39. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-
ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of
the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.Contact us
Privacy policy About Wikipedia Disclaimers
2