Bernard Lander (June 17, 1915 – February 8, 2010), founder and first president of Touro College, was a

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

, social scientist and educator, a leader in the Jewish community and a pioneer in Jewish and general higher education.

Biography

Lander was one of three associate directors of the Mayor's Committee on Unity, established in 1944 by former

New York City Mayor The mayor of New York City, officially Mayor of the City of New York, is head of the executive branch of the government of New York City and the chief executive of New York City. The mayor's office administers all city services, public property ...

Fiorello La Guardia, which became the city's first Commission on Human Rights. The commission prepared the first civil rights legislation for New York state. An ordained Orthodox rabbi, he held a doctorate in sociology from Columbia University. He served as a professor of sociology for over two decades at

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools. It also admi ...

and at Yeshiva University, where he established the university's graduate schools of education, psychology and social work and served as dean of its Bernard Revel Graduate School. In 1971, he founded Touro College and presided over its growth into a multi-campus, international university with approximately 18,000 students at campus locations in New York, California, Florida, Nevada, Israel, Russia and Germany.Official enrollment figures
Lander College for Women jeh

Lander has served as a consultant to three United States Presidents and was part of the seven-member commission that established the historic " War on Poverty" program in the U.S. He served as a consultant to the White House Conference on Children and Youth; on an advisory council on public assistance established by Congress; and was a member of the President's Advisory Committee on

Juvenile Delinquency Juvenile delinquency, also known as juvenile offending, is the act of participating in unlawful behavior as a minor or individual younger than the statutory age of majority. In the United States of America, a juvenile delinquent is a person ...

and Youth Crime under the Johnson and Kennedy administrations. For eight years he served as a senior director of a national study for the University of Notre Dame of South Bend, Indiana on the problems of youth. He is the author of a book and numerous articles in the field of sociology. He also served as a consultant to the

Maryland State Commission on Juvenile Delinquency Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; ...

. Lander has been honored by the

Council of New York State College Presidents A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

for his lifetime contributions to higher education. A former Rabbi of Beth Jacob Congregation of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

and former president of the

Queens Jewish Center The Queens Jewish Center, also known as Queens Jewish Center and Talmud Torah or QJC, is an Orthodox synagogue in Forest Hills, Queens, New York known for its significant contributions to the Jewish community. The synagogue was established by a d ...

Forest Hills, Queens Forest Hills is a mostly residential neighborhood in the central portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. It is adjacent to Corona to the north, Rego Park and Glendale to the west, Forest Park to the south, Kew Gardens to the southeast, ...

(NY), Lander was also an Honorary Vice President of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America. Lander was the recipient of the landmark ruling by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein concerning the Orthodox position on Christian-Jewish dialogue in a 1967 letter published in Igros Moshe. His son, Rabbi

Doniel Lander Rabbi Doniel Lander is the chancellor of Touro University and the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Ohr HaChaim, Mesivta Yesodei Yeshurun in Queens, NY, Mesivta Yesodei Hatorah in Waterbury, CT, and Mesivta Yesodei Yisroel in Elkins Park, PA (which will b ...

, is the

rosh yeshiva Rosh yeshiva ( he, ראש ישיבה, pl. he, ראשי ישיבה, '; Anglicized pl. ''rosh yeshivas'') is the title given to the dean of a yeshiva, a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primar ...

Yeshivas Ohr HaChaim Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim is a Haredi yeshiva located in Kew Garden Hills, Queens, New York City. The yeshiva also has a kollel, and operates in conjunction with its high school Mesivta Yesodei Yeshurun which is located next door to Yeshivas Ohr Hachai ...

in Queens, New York. He died on February 8, 2010.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lander, Bernard 1915 births 2010 deaths Heads of universities and colleges in the United States American Orthodox rabbis Columbia University alumni Touro College people University of Notre Dame faculty 20th-century American rabbis 21st-century American Jews University and college founders

Biography

See also

Bibliography

References