President Richard M. Joel of Yeshiva University has named David Shatz the Ronald P. Stanton University Professor in Philosophy, Ethics and Religious Thought, effective July 1. He will succeed Dr. Adam Zachary Newton, who had held the Ronald P. Stanton Chair of Literature and the Humanities.
The Stanton Chair is named for Ronald P. Stanton, who in 2006 gave $100 million to Yeshiva University to establish the Stanton Legacy, from which funds are used to enhance undergraduate and Jewish education.
“Ronald Stanton brought me to Yeshiva, led Yeshiva at a critical time of transition and had a vision of Yeshiva as an inspiring place that would resonate with students,” said President Joel. “So it was unquestionably logical that as the chair became available, it be awarded to David Shatz, a gifted academic, teacher and scholar; a human being of sensitivity and warmth and a critical component of philosophy at Yeshiva University as well as to the Jewish people and to the thought of philosophy everywhere.”
Shatz has a lifelong connection to YU. He graduated from YU High School for Boys in 1965 and from Yeshiva College in 1969 (where he was valedictorian). He continued at Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and Bernard Revel Graduate School of Jewish Studies, graduating from both in 1973, and obtained his PhD in general philosophy with distinction from Columbia University in 1977.
As a scholar, Shatz has edited, co-edited or authored 15 books and over 80 articles and reviews on general and Jewish philosophy. As a YU professor, he has been chosen as “outstanding professor” numerous times by the senior class at Stern College of Women, where he is based, and in 2009 he was awarded the Presidential Medallion in recognition of his achievements as a scholar and teacher.
Shatz is both moved and excited at the appointment. “I’ve long been aware of Ronald Stanton’s immense generosity and service to YU. His philanthropy, as expressed through the Stanton Legacy and many other outstanding gifts, such as the annual support of two Ronald P. Stanton Presidential Fellows and the naming of Stanton Hall at Stern College, has made a genuine difference in the quality of education at YU. Holding this chair is deeply meaningful and opens up new opportunities for research and writing.”
