Lander College for Men

The Lander College for Men (LCM) is a private, men's honors division of Touro College located in Kew Gardens Hills, New York, known for its programs in accounting, biology, political science, and rabbinical ordination. It is the major Jewish college in Queens, NY. The accounting program is one of the top ranked programs in the nation. The Lander College for Men was created in response to dissatisfaction with the liberalization of Yeshiva University by some of the more right-wing religious members of the rabbinical faculty, including Rabbis Abba Bronspiegal and Yehuda Parnes. With the assistance of Rabbi Dr. Bernard Lander, they created an alternative Orthodox Jewish college with the goal of providing a more religious and more challenging Yeshiva environment than the one they had left behind. As opposed to espousing a thesis of Torah Umadda (Torah and General Knowledge/Science), the Lander College aims to provide a rigorous college curriculum while maintaining a traditional yeshiva environment.

Lander's rabbinical staff now includes: Rabbi Abba Bronspiegel, Rosh HaYeshiva ; Rabbi Yehuda Parnes, Rosh Yeshiva ; Rabbi Yehuda Shmulewitz, Menahel; Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveitchik ; Rabbi Moshe Bamberger, a talmid chacham of note and skilled writer and orator, who serves as a much beloved Mashgiach Ruchani; and Rabbi Dovid Mirsky. The college is also host to a number of well known educators, among them, Rabbi Dr. Moshe Sokol (Ph.D., Philosophy, University of Pennsylvania), Dean as well as professor of literature.

The College has a vibrant student life with an active student government currently led by student body president Seth Faigen, with notable former presidents being Ari Lustig, Moshe Orenstein, and David Lasker. The Director of Student Life is Matt (Mordechai) "The Chozer" (literally "The Reviewer") Burg, who is also a member of its elite Kollel Elyon.

LCM's recruitment division is currently led by Rabbi Barry Nathan, the former director of Long Island NCSY.

History and status

The Lander College for Men opened its doors in the fall of 2000 on a beautiful 7-acre campus in Kew Gardens Hills, NY and graduated its first class in 2003.

Academic Environment

Landers College offers a wide range of degrees through its affiliation with Touro College. In the business school there are majors in Accounting, Economics, Finance, Marketing, and a program combining Management and Marketing. There is also a Pre-Medical track which includes degrees in Biology, Psychology, or a combination of the two. The Computer Science and Mathematics faculty offers degrees in Information Services, Computer Science, Data Communications, Mathematics, and a track for pre-Actuarial students. There is also a major in Political Science with or without a concentration in Economic Political Science, intended as a pre-Law degree.

The small size of the school and its selectivity allows for rigorous classes with very small class sizes, as well as a seminar setting for many courses, emphasizing discussion and understanding over lectures. Many courses are offered based on student requests. Because Landers College is a liberal arts institution and not a research university, teaching is the faculty's priority.

Rebbeim

Rabbi Abba Bronspiegel (B.A. & M.A., Jewish History, Yeshiva University) - Rosh HaYeshiva

Rabbi Yehuda Parnes (B.S., Mathematics, Yeshiva University; M.S., Mathematics, Columbia University) - Rosh Yeshiva

Rabbi Yehuda Shmulewitz (M.A., Education, Georgia State University) - Menahel

Rabbi Eliyahu Soloveitchik (B.S., Mathematics, Roosevelt University in Chicago)

Rabbi Moshe Bamberger (B.S., Business, Touro College) - Mashgiach Ruchani

Rabbi Dovid Mirsky (B.S., Mathematics, Touro College)

Rav Moshe Stav will be visiting from KBY for the 2006/7 (5767) School Year, to teach a shiur.

Notable Faculty

Dr. Ann Shinnar (B.S., M.S., & Ph.D., Biochemistry, Princeton University) - Professor of Chemistry

Dr. Ross Zucker (B.A., Political Science, Bennington College; M.Phil, Ph.D., Political Science, Yale University) - Professor of Political Science

Dr. Kenneth Bigel (B.A., Philosophy, City College; MBA & Ph.D., Business Ethics, New York University) - Professor of Finance

Dr. Kenneth Danishefsky (B.S., CUNY; M.S., Biochemistry, Columbia University; Ph.D., Biochemistry, CUNY) - Professor of Biology

Dr. Jonathan Robinson (B.S., M.S., & Ph.D., Computer Science, Queens College - CUNY) - Professor of Computer Science

Dr. Nouri Levy (M.S., Mathematics, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology; Ph.D., Applied Mathematics, Brown University) - Professor of Mathematics

Dr. Ira Teich (B.S. & MBA, Marketing, Long Island University; Ph.D., Marketing, New York University) - Professor of Marketing and Management

Dr. Dean Mendell (B.A., English, Queens College; M.A., English, Columbia University; Ph.D., English, Washington University in St. Louis) - Professor of English Composition

Prof. Arthur Budick (B.A., Literature, Cornell University; M.A., Literature, John Hopkins University) - Professor of Literature

Notable Alumni

Natan Fink, '03

Daniel Fruchter, '05 - UMDNJ

Yitzy Fuchs, '03 - Fordham Law School

Jay Goldstein, '04 - Brooklyn Law School

Gabe Hershman, '05 - NYU College of Dentistry

Suchi Hornung, '03

Avi Horowitz, '03 - IDT Corp.

Ari Lasker, '04

Ari Lustig, '06 - Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP

Daniel Nottes, '05 - Hofstra Law School

David Rabinowitz, '06 - Yale Law School

David Taub, '05 - RSM McGladrey

David Yudkowitz, '05

Jon Zahtz, '03 - Northrop Grumman

Trivia

While LCM was created in response to dissatisfaction with Yeshiva University, they jokingly poke fun at their owns roots. For instance, Yeshiva University's student body is known as SOY which is short for "Students of Yeshiva". LCM has a similarly named student body called YOS which stands "Yeshiva of Students".

See also

• Bar-Ilan University – a Tel Aviv based university which aims "to blend tradition with modern technologies and scholarship, and teach the compelling ethics of Jewish heritage to all”.

• Hebrew Theological College - a Chicago based institution, "preparing its graduates for roles as educators and Rabbis", while providing "broad cultural perspectives and a strong foundation in the Liberal Arts and Sciences."

• Yeshiva University - a New York City based university, whose undergraduate programs operate according to the Modern Orthodox philosophy of Torah U'madda.

• Jerusalem College of Technology - a Jerusalem based college, founded to "educate students who see the synthesis of Jewish values and a profession as their way of life".

External links

• Lander College
• The blog of a current student about his experiences at Lander College