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March 13, 2001

Announcement by the President of the University (2001)

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Article

President Norman Lamm Announces Retirement (2001)

Editor’s Note: Next summer, YU President Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm will officially retire from his post, but will still be directly involved in the educational process at the world–renowned institution. Below is a biographical sketch of the erudite scholar. Next week, Jewish Press editor Steve K. Walz will unveil a fascinating multi–part interview with Rabbi Dr. Lamm. Dr. Norman Lamm, elected president of Yeshiva University in August 1976, has brought to the office a sensitivity to the University’s strengths and needs gained as a former student and faculty member – and as a parent and distinguished alumnus – whose leadership and scholarship have earned him a position of prominence in the Jewish community. A rabbi, philosopher, teacher, and author, Dr. Lamm’s wide scope of scholarship, and ,interests range from religious philosophy to the areas of human rights׳ and-thqse,?king of solutions to modern problems in the light of Talmudic law. The first American-born president of Yeshiva Universi-ty, Dr. Lamm succeeded Dr. Samuel Belkin (1943-1975) and Dr..Bernard Revel (1915-1940). Yeshiva University, in New York City, is America’s oldest and largest university under Jewish auspices, tracing its origins to 1886. A Tradition Nurtured In America Dr. Norman Lamm has brought to the presidency the vigor of Jewish tradition nurtured on American soil. Born in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, N.Y., December 19, 1927, the son of Samuel and Pearl Baumol Lamm, he re-ceived his elementary and high school education at Yeshiva and Mesivta Torah Vodaath. To further his Judaic scholarship and expand his own horizons through a liberal arts education, he entered Yeshi-va College, the liberal arts unit of Yeshiva University, in 1945, majoring in chemistry. The Israeli War of Indepen- dence in 1948 was to test his skills learned in the laboratory when, as a student, he was asked to work on a secret muni-tions project for the struggling state. The project was head-ed by Dr. Ernst D. Bergma…
Biographical Material

Speech

Report to Meeting of University Board Announcing Retirement from the Presidency (2001)

The following is an excerpt from my report to a meeting of the University Boards announcing my imminent retirement from the presidency. Permit me to share with you certain intimate information about my initiation into the presidency: Those first years were awful. I had no idea how to put my arms around this colossus. I remember with exquisite and frightening clarity two dreams during those early weeks and months in August 1976. Both had me on a ship at sea—and I certainly was "at sea.” In the first dream, early on, I was on a children's slide. I was sitting at the top of the slide high above the seas—and someone pushed me, and I felt myself being accelerated downward but had no idea where the bottom was and where I would surely drown in the waters raging ominously there below me. I awoke before I could learn the answer—which took a few years... The second dream, some weeks later, saw me as the captain of the ship. I was steering it. But a problem: the direction the ship was going had little to do with my steering. It simply went its own way, regardless of my directions. It was to be a nightmare that recurred every now and then for years afterward... You don’t have to be a Freud to interpret those dreams.But the most significant nightmare was not a dream at all—it was a series of events that bore the marks of a nightmare—and of heroism as well. I refer, of course, to the events of 1978-80: the threat of Chapter 11 and the redemption of Yeshiva from near-bankruptcy. Even during those dismal days, I considered it a privilege to serve Yeshiva—the cradle of Torah and Madda, the school where I was introduced to the natural sciences, where I read philosophy and, above all, where I studied at the feet of that Talmudic and Philosophical colossus, the Rav, of blessed memory.The cooperation of the Board of Trustees—and the other boards as well—was the most that any CEO can ask of his trustees. With just one vote short of unanimity—for fear of being associated with a bankrupt …
Biographical Material

Correspondence

Letter about Retirement from YU Presidency (2001)

Dear Rabbi Lamm, I have composed this letter in my mind numerous times, though inevitably my most eloquent phrasing comes either late Friday night or in the middle of class. When I heard of your impending retirement my first thought was to write to you. In the following satisfaction over my brilliant idea I conveniently avoided a few details. As reality sunk in, the difficulty of the task I had set for myself only moments earlier began to dawn upon me. What would I write? How could I say everything that I meant to? The doubts continued to accumulate and a trip to the local Hallmark looked increasingly appealing. But somehow, my thoughts continuously returned to the letter that I had firmly decided not to write. I felt compelled to try, even if the only product I would be able to offer was the silent tribute of discarded papers attesting to my effort. I will strive, as my English teacher often says, “to Strunk it.” Pithy and precise will be my goals, though I may, in my quest to include everything, bore you with mundane details. If this occurs feel free to skip ahead to the more exciting aspects of the letter. It is strange because I am literally the queen of brevity. Circumlocution annoys me and I cannot stand the use of a paragraph when a sentence or a word would suffice. Yet suddenly I find I cannot say enough, so I apologize in advance for any extraneous information I may include. My journey began at the start of my junior year. Inquisitive by nature, I found something lacking in the religious viewpoints that were supported by my school. I was unable to accept their position without first understanding it, though my teachers often refused to tolerate what they viewed as criticism of their belief system. An avid reader, I looked through my father’s library in search of relevant literature. I studied the Rav, Heschel, Wiesel, Buber, and more. I enjoyed some more than others, but there were none that I could wholly accept. Torah U’Madda was different. I can’t real…
Biographical Material