Richard Joel

Richard M. Joel (born September 9, 1950) is the fourth president of Yeshiva University (YU), a Modern Orthodox Jewish university 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 leadership and identity at numerous universities and Jewish Federations.

Academic and professional credentials

Richard Joel received his BA and JD from New York 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 attorney in New York, and Deputy Chief of Appeals in the Bronx. 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 Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities (CICU) Board of Trustees.

At Hillel