Notable Alumni of Yeshiva University

Alan Dershowitz 1938–

Lawyer and former Harvard Law professor

Also attended: Yale University, CUNY Brooklyn College

Howard Dean 1948–

Former Vermont governor and DNC chair

Also attended: Yale University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Spouse: Judith Steinberg Dean (Princeton University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine)

Meir Kahane 1932–1990

Rabbi and founder of Israel's far-right Kach party

Also attended: CUNY Brooklyn College, Mirrer Yeshiva Cent Institute, New York Law School

Barbara Olson 1955–2001

Lawyer and TV commentator killed in September 11 attacks

Also attended: University of St. Thomas (TX)

Spouse: Theodore Olson (University of California-Berkeley, University of the Pacific)

Grace Meng 1975–

US representative for New York's 6th district

Juris Doctor · Class of 2002

Also attended: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

John Dalli 1948–

Maltese politician and former EU health commissioner

Eliezer Waldman 1937–2021

Israeli rabbi and former Knesset member

Also attended: CUNY Brooklyn College

Jean O'Leary 1948–2005

Lesbian and gay rights activist

Also attended: Cleveland State University

Shlomo-Israel Ben-Meir 1910–1971

Israeli rabbi, lawyer and Knesset member

Also attended: New York University

Child: Yehuda Ben-Meir (Columbia University in the City of New York, Yeshiva University)

Randi Weingarten 1957–

President of the American Federation of Teachers

Also attended: Cornell University

Jason Greenblatt 1967–

Lawyer and former Trump Organization chief legal officer

Bachelor of Arts · English · Class of 1989

Also attended: New York University

Yehuda Ben-Meir 1939–2025

Israeli academic and former Knesset member

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Father: Shlomo-Israel Ben-Meir (New York University, Yeshiva University)

Sheldon Silver 1944–2022

Former Speaker of the New York State Assembly

Bachelor of Arts

Also attended: Brooklyn Law School, Rabbi Jacob Joseph School

Dov S. Zakheim 1948–

Former U.S. Defense Department official and businessman

Attended until 1966

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Herbert Tenzer 1905–1993

Congressman, lawyer and philanthropist

Also attended: New York University

Scott McCoy 1970–

Former Utah state senator and attorney

Also attended: George Washington University, William Jewell College

Nathan Lewin 1935–

Attorney who has argued many Supreme Court cases

Also attended: Harvard University

Ralph Lauren 1939–

Fashion designer, founder of Ralph Lauren brand

Also attended: CUNY Bernard M Baruch College

Spouse: Ricky Lauren (CUNY Hunter College)

Child: Dylan Lauren (Duke University)

David Azrieli 1922–2014

Israeli-Canadian real estate developer and philanthropist

Hillel Furstenberg 1935–

Mathematician, Abel Prize and Wolf Prize laureate

Also attended: Princeton University

Fritz Klein 1932–2006

Psychiatrist, developer of the Klein Sexual Orientation Grid

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

David Rosenhan 1929–2012

Psychologist known for the Rosenhan experiment

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, Teachers College at Columbia University

Samuel J. Danishefsky 1936–

Chemist and Columbia University professor

Bachelor of Science · Class of 1956

Also attended: Harvard University

Harry Austryn Wolfson 1887–1974

Harvard philosopher and historian

Also attended: Harvard University

Michael Aizenman 1945–

Mathematical physicist at Princeton University

Also attended: New York University

Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi 1932–2009

Jewish historian, Columbia University professor

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Shlomo Sternberg 1936–2024

Mathematician known for symplectic geometry

Also attended: Johns Hopkins University

Paul Gottfried 1941–

Paleoconservative political philosopher and historian

Bachelor of Arts · Class of 1963

Also attended: Yale University

Yehuda (Leo) Levi 1926–2019

Rabbi, physicist and professor at Jerusalem College of Technology

Also attended: CUNY--City College, New York University

Herman Wouk 1915–2019

Novelist, author of The Caine Mutiny

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Chaim Potok 1929–2002

Rabbi and author of The Chosen

Also attended: Jewish Theological Seminary of America, University of Pennsylvania

Herb Edelman 1933–1996

Actor, twice nominated for an Emmy

Also attended: Cornell University, CUNY Brooklyn College

T. Carmi 1925–1994

American-born Israeli poet

John Taylor Gatto 1935–2018

Teacher and author on American schooling

Also attended: University of California-Berkeley, Columbia University in the City of New York, Cornell University

Elon Gold 1970–

Stand-up comedian and actor

Also attended: Boston University

Josh Saviano 1976–

Lawyer and former child actor in The Wonder Years

Also attended: Yale University

Lucy Kaplansky 1960–

Folk singer-songwriter

Also attended: University of Chicago

Father: Irving Kaplansky (Harvard University)

Jeff Marx 1970–

Composer and co-creator of Avenue Q

Also attended: University of Michigan-Ann Arbor

Yossi Klein Halevi 1953–

American-born Israeli author and journalist

Also attended: Northwestern University, CUNY Brooklyn College

Shalom Auslander 1970–

American novelist, memoirist and essayist

Eddie Huang 1982–

Chef, restaurateur, author and producer

Also attended: Rollins College, University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus

MODI Rosenfeld 1970–

Israeli-American stand-up comedian and actor

Also attended: Boston University

Ari Shaffir 1974–

Comedian, actor and podcaster

Also attended: University of Maryland-College Park

Velvel Pasternak 1933–2019

Musicologist and conductor specializing in Jewish music

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Baruch Goldstein 1956–1994

Physician who carried out the 1994 Hebron massacre

Also attended: Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Efraim Zuroff 1948–

Historian and Nazi hunter

Ahron Daum 1951–2018

Modern-Orthodox rabbi, former chief rabbi of Frankfurt

Norman Lamm 1927–2020

Modern Orthodox rabbi and Yeshiva University chancellor

Also attended: New York University

Isaac Ginsburgh 1944–

Israeli rabbi of the Chabad movement

Also attended: University of Chicago

Aharon Lichtenstein 1933–2015

Orthodox rabbi and Israel Prize laureate

Also attended: Harvard University, Rabbinical Academy Mesivta Rabbi Chaim Berlin

Michael Schudrich 1955–

Chief Rabbi of Poland

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York, Jewish Theological Seminary of America, Stony Brook University

Arthur Schneier 1930–

Senior Rabbi of New York's Park East Synagogue

Yitzchok Scheiner 1922–2021

Rabbi, head of Kamenitz yeshiva in Jerusalem

Shlomo Riskin 1940–

Modern Orthodox rabbi and educator

Also attended: New York University

Steven Greenberg 1956–

First openly gay Orthodox-ordained rabbi

Philosophy, Rabbi

Yechiel Eckstein 1951–2019

Rabbi who founded International Fellowship of Christians and Jews

Emanuel Rackman 1910–2008

Modern Orthodox rabbi, president of Bar-Ilan University

Also attended: Columbia University in the City of New York

Geoffrey Bowers 1953–1987

Attorney, plaintiff in early AIDS discrimination case

Also attended: Brown University

Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg 1910–2012

Haredi rabbi and rosh yeshiva in Jerusalem

Also attended: Rabbi Jacob Joseph School

Avi Weiss 1944–

Rabbi and founder of Open Orthodoxy