Volume 67, Issue 4  

Stanton Identifies Dr. Baruch Brody of Houston as Serious Presidential Candidate 
Reorganizes Search Process to Expedite Decision
by Yehoshua Levine and Zack Streit

Chairman of the Yeshiva University Board of Trustees Ronald P. Stanton has confirmed that Dr. Baruch A. Brody of Houston, Texas is being strongly considered to succeed Dr. Norman Lamm as Yeshiva President. Dr. Brody, who is Leon Jaworski Professor of Biomedical Ethics at Baylor College of Medicine and Professor of Philosophy at Rice University, has already met with various Trustees and will, within the next few weeks, meet with administrators and students as well. According to Yeshiva insiders, in fact, although Azrieli Dean Dr. David Schnall is still under consideration, Dr. Brody is the clear favorite for the position.

“Dr. Brody is pretty impressive,” Stanton said. “He’s not someone that you’d normally encounter, but he has very impressive credentials.” Besides for his academic appointments, Brody is the Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor and the Director of the Ethics program at the Methodist Hospital. He is also the author and editor of 25 volumes and 140 articles and chapters, and he has received numerous grants from Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress, NASA, and the NIH.

One Yeshiva Trustee acknowledged that Brody’s candidacy will very likely come as a surprise to many. “[Dr. Brody’s] an unknown soldier in the Yeshiva community,” the Trustee noted. “But we should all have the opportunity to get to know him over the next few weeks.”

What may come as an even greater surprise is the fact that Brody is not an ordained rabbi, and that his appointment as President would very possibly necessitate the appointment of another person as head Rosh HaYeshiva – the “splitting of the position” scenario that Rabbi Lamm cautioned against in his Chag HaSemicha speech last year. Stanton did stress, however, that Brody is “very learned” and was “very close” to actually being ordained.

The Chairman confirmed that as of Wednesday, November 6th, Brody and Schnall are the only two candidates. “At this juncture, they are both under consideration,” he said. “But we’re not ruling out anyone else. There’s still plenty of time.”

A New Search Protocol

Stanton has also revamped the Presidential search process. In contrast to the past nineteen months – when the search committee chaired by Board member Michael Jesselson submitted nominees to the Board’s Executive Committee, which was to select a President from that nominee pool – Stanton himself and a select group of Board members are currently in contact with the two candidates and are acting as both the search committee and the selection committee for Rabbi Lamm’s successor.

“We’re cutting out one step, to expedite the process,” Stanton said. Instead of having a separate search committee nominate candidates, Stanton established a new committee comprised of a small group of Board members, including Jesselson, who will search for and then select the next President directly. The Chairman stressed, however, that before the Executive Committee can further consider Brody as a serious candidate, Brody “will be meeting with administrators, trustees, and students” in order to insure that the decision is being reached through a consensus. 

Although he said that his committee is not ruling out other candidates yet, Stanton did acknowledge that Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, Rabbi Jacob J. Schacter, and Dr. David Shatz are not being reconsidered. He also confirmed that Stern College for Women Dean Dr. Karen Bacon was indeed offered the Presidency, but that she declined. Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary Rosh HaYeshiva Rabbi Michael Rosensweig has not been discussed as a possibility.

“We’re obviously not going to find someone with all the ideal qualities,” Stanton said. “Those [abilities] that he doesn’t have will be filled in by his staff. I believe in giving the President a relatively free hand, but he will get help from Board members and administrators to insure that he’s not alone.” 

Yeshiva insiders are optimistic, but cautiously so. “This policy overhaul will eliminate much of the bureaucracy [of the search], but it remains to be seen if the various elements of YU will [really] play a role, and whether it’s going to be an open process,” a longtime Yeshiva administrator pointed out.

Another administrator suggested that having a cadre of high-ranking Board members – who are in many cases “Lamm loyalists” – directly choosing the next President is akin to actually giving Rabbi Lamm the power to choose his successor.  “This is a big victory for Rabbi Lamm,” the administrator noted. It is unclear, however, if Brody was Rabbi Lamm’s choice.

Stanton explicitly expressed his confidence in the new search. “Last time it wasn’t so successful, but I think this time we will be,” he said. “I strongly believe that we’re going to have someone installed as President by the end of the year.”

All For the Students

This policy overhaul and consideration of Brody as our next President are the necessary first steps of a student-oriented University plan that Stanton hopes to soon implement.  “The relationship between Yeshiva University and its students is deplorable and must be changed,” Stanton stated. “We are absolutely going to change the current atmosphere.”

The Chairman explained that to fulfill this goal, he recently formed the Student Life Committee, chaired by Yeshiva College alum Sender Cohen. Meant to consist of Board members, Senior University Dean of Students Dr. Efram Nulman, students, and other administrators, this new committee will address school-wide student concerns and will most importantly force communication between the University and its constituents. Stanton also formed an alumni committee to keep Yeshiva graduates “more in touch than they are now” with their alma mater.

These other developments notwithstanding, Stanton stressed that the Presidential search is still his utmost priority. “We can’t do anything until we get a new President,” he said.

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