Touro College and OU Announce Lander Scholarships for Outstanding NCSY Graduates

03 Feb 2011

TOURO COLLEGE AND ORTHODOX UNION ANNOUNCE SARAH RIVKAH AND DR. BERNARD LANDER ZT”L FULL TUITION SCHOLARSHIPS FOR OUTSTANDING NCSY GRADUATES

Dr. Bernard and Sarah Rivkah Lander zt”l

Touro College, known for its close working relationship with the Orthodox Union, is offering full-tuition scholarships to outstanding NCSY | Jewish Youth Leadership graduates who choose to attend one of Touro’s Lander Colleges in New York City. NCSY is the international youth arm of the Orthodox Union. The colleges are Lander College for Men in Queens; the Lander College for Women/The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School in Manhattan; and the Lander College of Arts & Sciences in Flatbush.

The scholarships, in memory of Touro’s Founding President Dr. Bernard Lander zt”l and his wife Sarah Rivkah, were announced last Sunday by Touro President and CEO Dr. Alan Kadish and Orthodox Union President Dr. Simcha Katz, at the Ben Zakkai Honor Society’s (BZHS) Annual Scholarship Reception in Manhattan. The event paid tribute to Dr. Lander, a pioneer in Jewish and general higher education, a leader in the Jewish community in New York City, and a director and officer of the OU since 1938.

“Dr. Lander always insisted that Touro offer scholarship opportunities to outstanding NCSY leaders,” Dr. Kadish said. “We have presented over $2 million dollars in such scholarships over the years, and it is only appropriate that these new full tuition scholarships bear Dr. Lander’s name and the name of his beloved wife, Sarah Rivkah.”

Dr. Katz added that “these scholarships represent yet another significant link between the Orthodox Union and Touro College.” He also noted that NCSY’s Ben Zakkai Honor Society will provide assistance to help these leaders attend school in Israel for their first year after high school graduation before enrolling in one of the Lander Colleges.

BZHS is an alumni “Hall of Fame” whose new members are nominated by, and voted on, by its current members based on the nominees’ service to NCSY and the Jewish community. The Society’s main function is to raise funds for scholarships for high school NCSYers for summer programs in North America and Israel and for teens to continue their Jewish education after high school. The Society has helped pay tribute for more than forty years to esteemed NCSY alumni and community leaders who have demonstrated their dedication to Torah and their service to the Jewish people. The January 30 event was the 15th Annual Scholarship Reception. Isabelle Novak of Los Angeles served as Chair of Ben Zakkai.

Dr. Bernard Lander served as president of Touro for almost 40 years, until his passing on February 8, 2010 at the age of 94. He built Touro from a fledgling institution with only 35 students in 1971 to an educational powerhouse with more than 18,000 undergraduate and graduate students across the United States and in Israel, Germany, France and Russia, making Touro the largest not-for-profit independent institution of higher and professional education under Jewish auspices. Touro and its affiliates offer superior yeshiva and other Torah educational opportunities, along with myriad of undergraduate, graduate, and professional degree programs for the general population.

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Touro is a system of Jewish-sponsored non-profit institutions of higher and professional education. Touro College was established in 1971 primarily to enrich the Jewish heritage, and to serve the larger American community. More than 18,000 students are currently enrolled in its various schools and divisions. Touro College has branch campuses, locations and instructional sites in the New York area, as well as branch campuses and programs in Berlin, Jerusalem, Moscow, Paris, and Florida. Touro University California and its Nevada branch campus, as well as Touro College Los Angeles, are separately accredited institutions governed in common by the same Board of Trustees as Touro College. For further information on Touro College, please go to: http://www.touro.edu/media/.

The Orthodox Union, now in its second century of service to the Jewish community of North America and beyond, represents the fastest growing segment in Jewish life. The OU is a world leader in community and synagogue services, adult education, youth work through NCSY, political action through the IPA (Institute of Public Affairs), and advocacy for persons with disabilities through Yachad and Our Way. Its kosher certification label, the , is the world’s most recognized kosher symbol and can be found on over 500,000 products manufactured in 80 countries around the globe.