Nochimson to Chair English Department

Dr. Joan Haahr recently announced plans to spend the upcoming year on sabbatical and subsequently resigned from her post as Chair of Yeshiva's English Department. After serving in that capacity for more than twenty years, Haahr passes her responsibilities on to Dr. Richard Nochimson, who will assume the post this coming fall.

Haahr began teaching at Yeshiva in 1969 and took on leadership of the English department a decade later, in 1980. Although primarily noted as a Middle English scholar, Haahr has lectured on a variety of subjects from Arthurian Legends to James Joyce. Under her direction, the department has increased its number of full-time professors and branched out to offer a broad selection of introductory and advanced level courses. Haahr has adapted the department to support the Honors program, and she has taught a few Honors courses herself.

Haahr brought Dr. Nochimson to Yeshiva in 1986 as the founding director of the Uptown and Midtown Writing Centers. Dr. Nochimson earned his A.B., M.A. and Ph.D. at Columbia University and specializes in Shakespearean studies. Nochimson teaches at both Yeshiva College and Stern, and he also acts as the general editor for the Pegasus Shakespeare Bibliographies, a series of annotated critical essays. Nochimson is in the process of directing an English Department self-study committee. He hopes that the department can employ student feedback to "continue improving the faculty's communication with all the students taking English courses."

The English faculty selected Nochimson as Haahr's replacement by general consensus. He will lead the department for a minimum of three years, when his term will be reevaluated. Yeshiva College Dean Norman Adler echoed this opinion, remarking that he "looks forward to working with Dr. Nochimson" and "expects the English department to maintain its high standards."