Stu Halpern and Ari Lamm Join Rabbi Berman’s Presidential Transition Team

President-Elect Rabbi Ari Berman has recruited personnel to facilitate his transition into the YU presidency. As of March 1, Dr. Stu Halpern has been serving as Rabbi Berman’s Transition Chief of Staff, responsible for coordinating the Office of the President-Elect. He oversees Rabbi Berman’s schedule, and will arrange a wide range of meetings with the university’s various stakeholders over the next few months.

Dr. Halpern holds a Masters in Psychology in Education from Columbia Teachers College, a Masters in Bible from Revel, an MBA in Nonprofit Management from Touro, and an EdD from Azrieli. Prior to becoming Transition Chief of Staff, Dr. Halpern held a number of positions within YU. He served as Assistant Director of YU’s Straus Center for Torah and Western Thought, the Assistant Director of Community Outreach and Student Activities of the Bernard Revel Graduate School, and the Deputy Managing Editor of YU Press. Halpern told The Commentator that he “put those positions on pause” when he assumed his current role.

Also beginning March 1, Rabbi Ari Lamm has been serving as Advisor to the President-Elect for Research and Strategy. A graduate of YU, Rabbi Lamm received a Fulbright Scholarship to complete a Masters in Hebrew and Jewish Studies at University College London. He completed his semichah at RIETS and is pursuing a PhD in the religions of Mediterranean antiquity at Princeton University. He also currently serves as Resident Scholar at the Jewish Center of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, the synagogue that previously saw President-Elect Rabbi Berman serve as its Rabbi. According to Transition Chief of Staff Halpern, Lamm “is assisting Rabbi Berman on a number of fronts, including exploring new initiatives.”

Rabbi Berman officially began his transition into the YU Presidency on March 1. He is currently living on the Wilf Campus, though his family remains in Neve Daniel for now while his children finish their respective school years.  Though Rabbi Berman was originally slated to take over the presidency on July 1, President Joel sent out an email on March 1 announcing that Rabbi Berman will actually become president on June 5.

Pictured: Ari Lamm, left; Stu Halpern, right.