OVERVIEW    Mission History   Facilities Libraries Technology Special Collections Affiliations Yeshiva University Museum Computer Facilities Facilities Improvement Programs Yeshiva University, in its second century, is an independent institution under Jewish auspices chartered by the State of New York. It is accredited by the Commission on Higher Education Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and by specialized professional agencies. It offers programs leading to associate's, bachelor's, master's, doctoral, and professional degrees. In addition to its extensive teaching programs, the University maintains a network of affiliates, conducts widespread programs of research and community outreach, and issues publications. It is also the original home of the Yeshiva University Museum, now located in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan. The University's thousands of graduates are found throughout the United States and overseas, in every profession. Among its alumni are judges, university professors and presidents, religious leaders, business executives, government officials, artists, writers, doctors, and scientists. The University's roster of honorary degree recipients includes Nobel laureates, world political leaders, philanthropists, and other individuals committed to the betterment of society. Mission The University's guiding vision is the confidence that the best of the heritage of contemporary civilization—the liberal arts and sciences—is compatible with the ancient traditions of Jewish law and life. On the undergraduate level, this belief is embodied in the dual curriculum under which students pursue a full program of Jewish studies while taking college programs in the liberal arts and sciences and business and receiving specialized preparation for advanced work in a discipline or profession. On the graduate level, this special mission is embodied in emphasis on the moral dimensions of the search for knowledge and the ethical principles that govern professional practitioners. Yeshiva University also is committed to the love of learning for its own sake (known in Jewish tradition as Torah Lishmah) and to teaching and research that stress a striving for excellence. A third goal of the University is to serve the general and Jewish communities of the city, the nation, and the world by preparing well-trained professionals in many fields and providing pioneering resources for community service. History Yeshiva University traces its origins to Yeshiva Eitz Chaim, founded in 1886 on New York's Lower East Side. In 1896, the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary (RIETS) was founded there; the New York State Board of Regents chartered it in 1897. In 1915, the two schools merged. Under the leadership of Dr. Bernard Revel, who served as president from 1915 until his death in 1940, the institution embarked on a plan of educational development and growth. In 1929, the institution moved to its Wilf Campus in Manhattan's Washington Heights. Liberal arts programs began with the establishment of Yeshiva College in 1928, and the first graduate curriculum (in Jewish studies) was introduced in 1935. The election of Dr. Samuel Belkin as president in 1943 inaugurated a new era of expansion. University status was granted in 1945 by the New York State Board of Regents. The institution initiated programs of general and professional studies, research, and special projects to benefit many constituencies. These included a college of liberal arts and sciences for women and graduate schools of medicine, law, social work and psychology. Dr. Norman Lamm was elected president in 1976, following Dr. Belkin's death. He undertook a complete review of the University's structure and operations, and significantly expanded undergraduate study opportunities to include, among other things, a new undergraduate school of business. He also has enriched graduate and professional school resources and has established a carefully monitored fiscal system and development program to further the University's goals. Facilities The University's undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools are located in Manhattan (Wilf Campus, 500 West 185th Street and 2495 Amsterdam Avenue; Midtown Campus, 245 and 215 Lexington Avenue; Brookdale Center, 55 Fifth Avenue) and the Bronx (Jack and Pearl Resnick Campus, Eastchester Road and Morris Park Avenue). All campuses have residence facilities; the Wilf, Midtown, and Resnick campuses have dining and athletic facilities as well. While part of a multifaceted University community, each school retains the intimate character of a smaller institution. Yeshiva University's frequent van service provides Wilf and Midtown Campus students ready access to transit connections and other YU campuses. Libraries The University's four-campus library system houses some 1.1 million volumes, 1.2 million microforms, and 10,350 journals and serial publications in the arts and sciences and Judaica. It is a selective depository for U.S. Government publications. At the Wilf Campus, the Mendel Gottesman Library—a six-story, block-long central library building—houses the Pollack Library, Landowne-Bloom Library, and Mendel Gottesman Library of Hebraica-Judaica. At the Midtown Campus, the Hedi Steinberg Library serves undergraduates, the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, and some programs of the Wurzweiler School of Social Work. The Dr. Lillian and Dr. Rebecca Chutick Law Library of Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law is at the Brookdale Center, and the D. Samuel Gottesman Library of Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology at the Resnick Campus. Special collections, including Rare Books and Manuscripts, the University Archives and the Sephardic Reference Room, are located in the Gottesman Library. All Yeshiva University students may take advantage of these resources in person or through interlibrary loan arrangement by making requests at the libraries serving their respective schools. Technology YULIS, the Yeshiva University Library Information System, serves the Wilf and Midtown Campus libraries. The YULIS catalog contains information about 278,000 titles held by the Pollack Library, Hedi Steinberg Library, Mendel Gottesman Library of Hebraica-Judaica, Landowne-Bloom Library, and University Archives. Data about newly acquired items is added continually, and information from catalog cards for older materials is being converted. Undergraduate and graduate programs, in general as well as Judaic studies, are supported by a wide range of CD-ROM and Web resources accessed via YULIS computers in the libraries. Electronic resources include bibliographical and statistical databases, indices and abstracts, and the full texts of articles. Among these are the MLA Bibliography, Social Work Abstracts, databases of First Search, UMI Proquest, Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, Stat-USA, Judaic Classics, Responsa, and Talmudic Encyclopedia, to name a few. Media collections, microfilm, microfiche, audiocassettes, compact discs, and videocassettes supplement the libraries’ print and online resources. In 1997, the Hedi Steinberg Library acquired the Jewish Heritage Video Collection—approximately 200 videos on Jewish issues. Although located there, the videos may be used by students throughout the University. Special Collections The University's Rare Books and Manuscripts Division contains several thousand rare Judaica and Hebraica volumes, 39 Hebrew incunabula (books printed before 1500), and over 1,000 literary and historical manuscripts. The University has acquired an illuminated Bible manuscript completed in Prague in 1489. Through the beneficence of the Jesselson Family Trusts, the University has acquired a number of rare materials (including Jewish Americana), published a catalog of its incunabula and, in general, made its Judaica collections more accessible to students and scholars. In addition to Yeshiva University records, the University Archives contain private and organizational papers relating to modern Jewish history and culture. The archives focus on records of Jewish institutions and individuals, and include files, letters, memoirs, clippings, posters, and photographs. Some important collections:[ESL1]  Central Relief Committee, Vaad Hatzalah, Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry, Jewish Defense League and National Council of Jewish Women. Affiliations Since 1974, the University's libraries have participated in OCLC, a computerized bibliographic network of more than 40,000 libraries in 76 countries. Members of this shared on-line system have access to 46 million catalog records and can borrow materials from OCLC libraries by generating on-line requests. The library system is a member of METRO, the Metropolitan Reference and Research Library Agency. Students with legitimate research needs may gain entry to all METRO member libraries by requesting a METRO card. Through special membership in the Research Libraries Group, the libraries participate in RLIN, the Research Libraries Information Network, in cooperative projects among libraries with Hebraica collections in the RLG Shares program for interlibrary loan and in programs for preservation of library materials. Each University library maintains affiliations with agencies devoted to its particular specialty, such as Jewish studies, social work, law, and medicine. Yeshiva University Museum The Yeshiva University Museum, in its new Greenwich Village location, presents innovative exhibits reflecting Jewish life through the humanities—art, architecture, music, literature, science, history, and anthropology. It fulfills its mission as a teaching museum through community outreach programs, satellite galleries, and cultural events, including crafts festivals, concerts, and children's workshops. Computer Facilities Recognizing the increasing role of high technology, Yeshiva University continually enhances its computer facilities and services. Through IBM and IBM-compatible computer workstations located in the Hirsch/Polackoff Computer Centers, undergraduate students have access to software applications in business, computer science, humanities, mathematics, and the natural, physical, and social sciences on a local area network (LAN), and a number of CD-ROM–based databases on workstations in the Gottesman Library building and the Hedi Steinberg Library. A wide area network (WAN) links computer resources on all YU campuses, yielding access to such resources as the on-line catalog and mini-MEDLINE systems at Albert Einstein College of Medicine as well as all Internet-based resources worldwide, with library computers offering menu-driven search capabilities. A University-wide computer network infrastructure supports all academic and administrative computing services and is designed to meet the institution’s computer technology needs well into the 21st century. A network of fiber-optic cables and high-speed telephone lines connects buildings on each campus and bridges the campuses themselves. The cabling will make possible the operation of a new automated, networked information system—with Internet access—at the Mendel Gottesman and Hedi Steinberg libraries, and the BANNER system for registration, financial aid, and other administrative departments. It also will support systems providing access to e-mail, the World Wide Web, and the University’s academic applications and internal general-purpose servers. Facilities Improvement Programs Through ongoing renovations, the University offers state-of-the-art facilities and technologies—providing a supportive environment for each student’s academic and personal growth. Many recent renovation projects have added, upgraded, and redecorated buildings; refurbished common areas; and expanded security services. Most recently, the University has taken significant steps in the expansion and enhancement of facilities  for undergraduate women as part of a master plan to develop the Midtown Campus. Students living on campus reside at Brookdale Residence Hall, Jerome and Geraldine Schottenstein Residence Hall, 36th Street Residence Hall, and in nearby apartments overseen by the Independent Housing Program, all Internet-wired. Brookdale Residence Hall, at 50 East 34th Street, is the primary midtown dormitory. The Jerome and Geraldine Schottenstein Residence Hall—two connected buildings at 119–121 East 29th Street—houses 200 students and contains a beit midrash, synagogue, and campus convenience store as well as airy public spaces including a solarium, courtyard, and roof garden. It is named in recognition of a major gift from the Schottenstein family of Columbus, Ohio. The five-story 36th Street Residence Hall, at 151 East 36th Street, is a two-block walk from the main academic center at 245 Lexington Avenue. It is located opposite Sniffin Court, an historical alleyway of early–20th-century homes. It houses some 100 women in air-conditioned and Internet-wired single-room apartments. The spacious first and second floors accommodate two exceptionally attractive, modern lounge areas and a gym, and students have access to a courtyard garden. A new spacious, high-tech facility at 215 Lexington Avenue provides Stern College and Sy Syms School of Business with more than 90,000 square feet of additional academic space—unique for an urban campus. An exclusive entrance features a glass-enclosed lobby. Escalators lead to classrooms, lounges, offices, study centers, conference space, and advisement centers. All classrooms feature state-of-the-art, multi-media equipment including overhead projection screens, DVD players, and Internet connections. The Geraldine Schottenstein Cultural Center, at 239 East 34th Street, is designated for both academic lectures and programs, as well as Stern College’s theatre troupe and other cultural presentations. The 400-seat facility features such premier presentation capabilities as digital projection, digital surround-sound, Internet connections, and video conferencing. To enhance its record of accomplishment in preparing women for careers in science and medicine, the University developed 253 Lexington Avenue as the Science Hall to house teaching and research laboratories with state-of-the-art facilities. A number of laboratories have been completed, including the Leo and Rachel Sussman Laboratory for Advanced Biological Studies, which includes technologically advanced scientific equipment; a high-capacity heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system; and a computer system connected to the University’s “Intranet” and to the Internet. Among the more ambitious of the University’s endeavors, Chemistry 2000involved the total rebuilding of all chemistry department laboratories, including the Bernard L. Manger Laboratory in Organic Chemistry and general chemistry. New instructional laboratories and workspaces enable students and faculty to collaborate on individual projects. Through a major gift by David Yagoda, the Hedi Steinberg Library, too, has seen substantial renovation and expansion.