New York—Touro College recently announced that Henry (Hillel) Abramson, Ph.D., has been appointed academic dean of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences in Flatbush (LAS). Dr. Abramson had previously served as dean of academic affairs and student services for Touro College South in Miami, Fla. since 2006.
“Over the last eight years Dr. Abramson has demonstrated his ability to improve the student experience while strengthening the academic quality at Touro College South,” said Dr. Alan Kadish, president and CEO of the Touro College and University System. “We look forward to seeing Dr. Abramson bring those same talents to LAS.”
In his new role, Dr. Abramson will be tasked with improving the overall educational product at LAS. Initially he will concentrate on academic issues, in particular faculty development and training, working closely with Dr. Robert Goldschmidt, executive dean of LAS and Touro’s vice president for planning and assessment.
“I welcome Dr. Abramson to our leadership team and look forward to his assistance in expanding our programs and introducing new honors options at our campus,” said Dean Goldschmidt. “LAS has transformed the lives of thousands of men and women over the past 38 years, enabling graduates to support Torah families with dignity. Together with Dr. Abramson, we look forward to extending our reach and continuing to serve the educational needs of the Jewish community.”
Dr. Abramson will remain at Touro College South through the 2014-15 academic year and assume the position of dean at LAS in July of 2015. Besides tending to his responsibilities at Touro College South, he will use the year in between to learn more about LAS and ensure a smooth transition.
Dr. Abramson earned his Ph.D. in History from the University of Toronto in 1995, writing a dissertation on the Jews of Ukraine. Before joining Touro College as the dean of the Miami Beach campus, Dr. Abramson held post-doctoral and visiting appointments at Harvard, Cornell, Oxford, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and was a tenured Associate Professor of History and University Scholar of Judaica at Florida Atlantic University of Boca Raton.
He has published several books on Jewish history and thought, including A Prayer for the Government: Ukrainians and Jews in Revolutionary Times, 1917-1920 (Harvard, 1999); Reading the Talmud: Developing Independence in Gemara Learning (Feldheim, 2006); and the forthcoming The Kabbalah of Forgiveness: The Thirteen Attributes of Mercy in Rabbi Moshe Cordovero’s Date Palm of Devorah. Dr. Abramson has received many distinguished awards for his research and teaching, including fellowships from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and the National Endowment for the Humanities, and he received the Excellence in the Academy Award from the National Education Association.
The only child of the last Jewish family in a small milling town in northern Ontario, Dr. Abramson has been married to Ilana Abramson for more than 25 years. They will be moving to New York with their six children: Raphaela, Danit Malka (both Touro graduates), Aliza, Alexander, and Aryeh.
