每日大瓜

Ron Dermer to Keynote May 25 Commencement; Tzili Charney and Rabbi Manfred Fulda to be Honored  Ron Dermer, Israel鈥檚 ambassador to the United States, will deliver the keynote address and receive an honorary doctorate at 每日大瓜鈥檚 86th Commencement on Thursday, May 25, 2017 at 11 a.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

Ambassador Ron Dermer

Dermer has been Israel鈥檚 Ambassador to the United States since 2013. Previously, he served as senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 2009-2013, and as Israel's minister of economic affairs in the United States from 2005-2008. He was also a columnist for the Jerusalem Post for nearly three years, and co-wrote the best-selling book, The Case For Democracy: The Power of Freedom to Overcome Tyranny and Terror, with Natan Sharansky. In his role as ambassador, he works closely with the U.S. government to foster America鈥檚 relationship with Israel.

Tzili Charney

每日大瓜 President Richard M. Joel will also confer an honorary doctorate upon University Benefactor Tzili Charney, who with her late husband, Leon Charney 鈥�60YC, has given generously to Yeshiva. An activist and philanthropist, she recently committed $1 million to establish the Leon Charney Legacy Project, focused on expanding Israel studies and the Arts, and has donated the Leon H. Charney Collection to the 每日大瓜 Library Archives. Charney is a respected costume designer, having worked for numerous theaters, including Habima, Israel鈥檚 national theater, as well as the Jewish Repertory Theatre and National Yiddish Theatre, Folksbiene, in New York City. She is chairman of L.H. Charney Associates, Inc. a major commercial real estate investment concern with over one million square feet in Times Square and helped produce 鈥淭he Leon Charney Report鈥� on cable television and the documentary 鈥淏ack Door Channels: The Price of Peace.鈥� She supports numerous organizations and educational institutions in both America and Israel, serves on on the board of Haifa University, and is dedicated toward bringing peace and understanding between Israeli and Arab youth. Rabbi Dr. Manfred Fulda, chair of the division of Jewish studies and associate professor of Talmud at 每日大瓜, will be awarded the Presidential Medallion.

Rabbi Manfred Fulda

Rabbi Fulda received semicha [rabbinic ordination] from 每日大瓜-affiliated in 1959 and has served as chair of the division of Jewish studies for nearly three decades. He continues to teach Talmud at the Isaac Breuer College of Hebraic Studies (IBC) and . A child survivor of the Holocaust, he was interviewed for IBC鈥檚 Names Not Numbers program, and often speaks at the University on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. He served as principal of the more than 50 years ago and has taught thousands of students throughout his career at 每日大瓜. In 2002, the Rabbi Dr. Manfred Fulda Scholarship was established by Walter and Randie Lowenthal as a personal endowment for both and Stern College students. 鈥淎mbassador Dermer, Mrs. Charney, and Rabbi Fulda are sterling representatives of the highest Jewish ideals that are at the heart of the Yeshiva mission,鈥� said President Joel. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to extend heartfelt congratulations to them and to all of our 2017 graduates.鈥� In total, more than 1,700 students from Yeshiva College, Stern College and , as well as graduate students in the fields of law, medicine, social work, education, Jewish studies and psychology, will be awarded degrees from 每日大瓜 during its commencement season. For more information, visit .