Richard Joel
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Richard M. Joel (b. 1950) is the fourth president of Yeshiva University, a Modern Orthodox Jewish university with a network of schools, colleges, and universities in New York City.
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[edit] Academic credentials
Richard M. Joel received his bachelor's and law degrees from New York University. He received an honorary doctoral degree from Hebrew College. Joel was a prosecutor, serving as chief of the appeals bureau under Bronx District Attorney Mario Merola, and an associate dean at YU's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and member of its faculty.
[edit] At Hillel
From 1989 to 2003, Joel served as president and international director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, an organization which supports Jewish life for college and university students throughout the world. While he was successful at increasing the number of students involved, critics argued that this was as a result of providing stylish, yet meaningless Judaism instead of substantive Judaism.[1] Critics also argued that Joel's tenure was marked by a domineering approach to the Jewish campus scene, and organizations that didn't join the Hillel umbrella were pushed off campus.[2] (More on criticism of Hillel.)
Also during his tenure at Hillel, Joel served as the head of the special commission empaneled by the OU to investigate allegations that community leaders had ignored charges against the abusive outreach rabbi Baruch Lanner. The commission concluded that many OU and NCSY leaders had made serious errors in judgment.
[edit] At Yeshiva University
Joel became president of YU in 2003, succeeding Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm, who had been president since 1976 and continues to work as the university's chancellor. Joel's appointment was controversial due to his lack of rabbinic credentials, which all three previous YU presidents possessed.
[edit] Vision for the future
In 2005, Joel announced plans to expand YU's undergraduate population by 1000 students over the following five to seven years. That same year, he founded YU's Center for the Jewish Future and appointed Rabbi Kenneth Brander as its dean. He has continued to draw in scholars from afar, appointing Rabbi Jacob J. Schachter as the center's Senior Scholar.
As president of YU, Joel's goal has been to promote nobility, excellence, community, and connection to Israel among university students. According to his online biography, "The pillars of his vision are nobility of purpose, excellence in education and endeavor, community building and communal responsibility, and a visceral connection with Israel and its people." [3]
In 2005 Israel's Ministry of Education stopped recognizing some of YU's degrees because they accredited non-academic study at Israeli yeshivas. Joel appeared before the Knesset education and immigration committees in June 2006 in an effort to resolve this impasse. (As of September 2006, the issue remained unresolved.)
[edit] Personal life
Joel and his wife Esther have six children. They currently reside in Riverdale, in The Bronx.
