Sacks Scholars Graduate Fellowships
We are excited to announce two new cohorts of Sacks Graduate fellows. Dr. Shira Weiss, Assistant Director of the Sacks-Herenstein Center, and Dr. Erica Brown, the Center’s Director, will be working closely with all of the scholars in both cohorts.
The Sacks Research Scholars fellowship is designed to strengthen the professional skills and expand the leadership platform of graduate students in Azrieli, GPATS, Revel and RIETS through the learning, researching, publishing and teaching of the thought of Rabbi Sacks in engagement with contemporary Jewish ideas.
Sacks Research Scholars 2023-2024 are:
Rabbi Tzvi Benoff is a third-year fellow in the Wexner Kollel Elyon/Kollel L'Horaah and serves as the Assistant Rabbi at the Riverdale Jewish Center. He holds a MA in International Political Economy and Development from Fordham University.
Tamar Yastrab Koslowe is a second-year student in GPATS and in Nishmat's Yoatzot Halacha Fellows Program. She earned a BS in computer science from Stern College and worked on a risk management team at JP Morgan.
Neti Linzer Penstein is a second-year student in GPATS, while pursuing her MA in Jewish Philosophy at the Bernard Revel Graduate School. She earned a BA in philosophy from Princeton University and was a teaching fellow at Maayanot and Maimonides high schools.
Asher Willner (RIETS) is a third-year student in RIETS and serves as Rabbinic Intern at the Young Israel of the West Side. He earned a BS in computer science from Columbia University, where he taught a weekly Talmud class.
Alisa Zeffren is a doctoral candidate at Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration. She teaches Jewish studies at Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago, where she is also the Student Activities Director.
The cohort will meet bi-monthly to workshop their research, writing and teaching projects, and will join the Sacks Impact Scholars in leadership training sessions.
The Sacks Impact Scholars fellowship is an interdisciplinary cohort comprised of graduate students from Cardozo School of Law, Ferkauf School of Psychology, Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Katz School of Science and Health, Sy Syms School of Business, and Wurzweiler School of Social Work. This diverse cohort will collectively participate in monthly leadership training seminars and individually contribute to impact projects in their respective schools.
Sacks Impact Scholars 2023-2024 are:
Megan Priaulx is a third-year student at Cardozo School of Law, where she serves as the Executive Teams Editor on the Moot Court Honor Society and as an Associate Justice on the Cardozo Judiciary. She is passionate about restoring integrity in the criminal justice system and plans to pursue a career in post-conviction law.
Project: Megan will contribute to the Perlmutter Center for Legal Justice’s legal research, case investigation and social advocacy on behalf of individuals seeking relief from wrongful convictions.
Shira Levy is a third-year Clinical Psychology doctoral student at Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. She works as a research assistant in the Multi-Modal Psychotherapy Research Lab at Ferkauf. She previously worked at NYU’s Project for the Advancement of our Common Humanity, studying how to promote empathy and interpersonal curiosity in adolescent friendships.
Project: Shira will work with asylum seeking high school students in a mental health support group to share, address and heal from the traumas of their asylum journeys.
Annie Short Squicciarini is pursuing an MA in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at the Fish Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies. Her areas of interest include the development of methodologies to engage learners in diverse communities, as well as Jewish-Christian relations after World War II. She holds an MBA, with a concentration in international business, and has worked 25+ years as an Executive Assistant at Goldman Sachs.
Project: Ann will create interfaith Holocaust programming, resources and curricula to expose communities with lesser ties to people of the Jewish faith to the history that set the stage for the antisemitic rhetoric and sentiments that fueled the rise of Nazi Germany's "Final Solution."
Thota Manish Kumar is pursuing an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence at the Katz School of Science and Health and holds an MTech in Big Data Analytics from SRM in India. He is a data scientist, specializing in artificial intelligence, machine learning, computer vision, and LLM's. Currently, he works as an Applied Data Scientist Intern at S&P Global, where he leads a team in the development of a robust super-resolution network to enhance the resolution of NASA projections.
Project: Manish, using artificial intelligence, will train a model that can recognize and teach course content, answer questions, and provide interactions with audiences to improve the learning experience and student engagement in online courses.
Michelle Borde is an MBA student at Sy Syms School of Business. A senior Human Resources professional, she is currently the Benefits Manager for Mazars USA, responsible for supporting 1000+ employees. She has extensive experience in acquisition integration, employee benefits, recruitment and retention, payroll and project management, while working alongside the Inclusion and Diversity department to promote diversity initiatives.
Eitan Kastner is a first year MBA student at Sy Syms School of Business, as well as a first- year rabbinical student at RIETS. He has interned as an analyst at Harbor International, and led an elaborate student-based, grass roots effort to source and distribute resources for Ukrainian war refugees in Israel.
Project: Michelle and Eitan will develop a 2-sided marketplace software platform for the hiring of adjuncts in higher education. They will also continue to build YU’s relationship with IRS’ VITA [Volunteer Income Tax Assistance] program to assist local low-income residents with their tax preparation.
Sharon Turnage is a second-year doctoral student at Wurzweiler School of Social Work. She has worked as an LMSW for 20+ years in the fields of perinatal and palliative care, and as a psychotherapist and addiction counselor providing treatment in the areas of grief, crisis, trauma, addiction, and psychiatric social work. In 2006, she founded the Tyler Nicole foundation, dedicated to the fight against infant loss and childhood life-threatening illnesses, and in 2009, she founded the Luis Danvers Leukemia Fund, a nonprofit in honor of her son's fight against blood cancer. She recently launched “I Am 1 In 4 – Perinatal Mortality Initiative,” providing support, education, and awareness surrounding perinatal grief.
Project: Sharon will aid in Wurzweiler’s Care Café’s efforts to support military veterans and Holocaust survivors through psychoeducational programming promoting physical and mental health.
Past Scholars include:
For questions and to request more information, please contact Dr. Shira Weiss at sweiss2@yu.edu