LCM Valedictorian: Simcha Himmel. As far back as high school, Simcha Himmel knew he wanted to pursue a career in marketing. He was fascinated by the approach companies utilized to gain brand recognition.
“I’ve always found the strategic side of business and marketing interesting,” he said. “Companies like Apple and Starbucks created brands that have become powerful icons, and everyone is walking around wearing five or six logos.”
Simcha’s passion and drive to succeed served him well. He was named the 2015 valedictorian of the Lander College for Men–Beis Medrash L’Talmud (LCM).
The resident of Highland Park, New Jersey, was president of the student government during his junior year. A marketing management major, he graduated with a 4.0 grade point average for the LCM Honors Division and made the dean’s list each semester. He belongs to Sigma Beta Delta and Omicron Delta Epsilon, the international honors societies for business, management, and administration and for economics, respectively, and was president of the Lander Investment Group club.
“Simcha is an extraordinary young man. How many students can manage to maintain a 4.0 GPA in Lander’s rigorous program, learn as a stalwart in the beismedrash, while also serving as president of the student government?” asked Dr. Moshe Sokol, dean of LCM. “I expect that Simcha’s drive and multiple talents will catapult him not only to professional success, but to leadership positions in the Jewish community.”
Simcha credits the LCM curriculum for providing him with the skills to succeed in the industry. His first experience in the field—an internship in the marketing department of the National Council of Synagogue Youth—was born of another LCM initiative, a career night in which alumni return to campus to give professional advice to current students. Simcha approached an alumnus after hearing him describe his role as the director of marketing for NCSY. The conversation led to an internship in which Simcha helped produce the organization’s semiannual magazine, drafted press releases, monitored social media, and managed the back end of the website.
“In school I really enjoyed how the classes included projects to simulate running a campaign and branding projects to simulate marketing activities,” he said. “The internship was my first real exposure to actualizing what I had learned in theory.”
Originally from Silver Spring, Maryland, Simcha’s family moved to New Jersey when he was ten. Simcha finished his classwork last summer and has spent most of the past year learning in Yeshivas Bircas HaTorah in Jerusalem.
LAS Valedictorian: Moshe Jacob. For a long time, Moshe Jacob planned on becoming a lawyer. Beyond his innate analytical skills, Moshe has also felt a familial pull: He’d be following in the footsteps of both his father and his grandfather. “I was brought up on it and I like it,” said Moshe, who resides in Monsey. “I’m already feeling behind the times—my father started at Columbia Law at 21, and I’m 22.”
Graduating with a 3.97 grade point average, Moshe was named 2015 valedictorian of the men’s division of the Lander College of Arts & Sciences in Flatbush (LAS). And in the fall, Moshe will attend his father’s alma mater, Columbia Law School.
Along with Dr. Michael Szenberg, distinguished professor of economics and business at Touro College, Moshe restarted the Touro chapter of Omicron Delta Epsilon (ODE), the international honor society for economics, a major objective being the authoring of scholarly research. The Lander chapter president, Moshe is writing his own paper, “The Changing Structural Conditions of the United States Commercial Banking Industry,” which will be published in the ODE journal, The American Economist. Additionally, Dr. Szenberg has nominated Moshe for the society’s Charles Phillips Outstanding Student Leader Award.
“We congratulate Moshe for his extraordinary academic and leadership abilities,” said Dr. Robert Goldschmidt, dean of LAS and the vice-president for planning and assessment of Touro College. “We are confident that he will excel at Columbia Law School, distinguish himself in the legal field, and bring honor to Touro.”
Moshe’s road to LAS was long—more specifically about an hour and forty-five-minute drive—as he spent each morning learning at Mosdos Zichron Erez, Rabbi Chaim Zev Levitan’s yeshiva in Monsey. But besides receiving a top-notch education, he said attending LAS was worth the arduous commute because of its “homey” feel.
“Everyone’s friendly and willing to help each other out,” he said. The warm environment extended to his relationship with the faculty. “Even when I applied to law school, so many professors went out of their way, helping me with my application, editing my résumé, or doing whatever they could do. Not just the law professors; all of them.”
Eventually Moshe hopes to specialize in corporate law. He is entering law school with a running start, as he spent a semester as an intern for a small Manhattan law firm, assisting the partners with cases and writing for the firm’s legal blog. He’s also helping others navigate the waters toward law school by tutoring them for the LSATs.
LCW Valedictorian: Aliza Meissner. It’s surprising, given her myriad interests and hobbies, that Aliza Meissner includes chemistry on her list of enjoyable activities. After all, this is someone who has scaled the Rockies, spiked a volleyball with reckless abandon, and dared the sharks while riding a surfboard off the California coast. And yet . . .
“I love chemistry. I think it’s fun in a completely non-geeky way,” she says. “I don’t know why I don’t excel at cooking the same way I do in chemistry. I guess I just like to know how things work.”
Aliza was named the 2015 valedictorian of Lander College for Women–The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School (LCW). Among her achievements, Aliza graduated summa cum laude; made dean’s list each semester; and was selected for the 2015 “Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges.” She’s also particularly active in student life as a member of the school’s Pre-Med Club, the Volleyball Club, and the student government, and is president of the Biology Club. At commencement she will be presented with the Dean Sara Freifeld Humanities Award.
“Aliza is an exceptional young woman, poised, intelligent, passionate, and compassionate,” said Marian Stoltz-Loike, Ph.D., dean of LCW and Touro’s vice-president of online education.
Whether academic or less serious, Aliza’s interests suited her well at LCW. “I loved it. It’s a really good balance between learning and the special group of students who come here,” she said. “From the deans to the faculty and staff, they cater to the students and want them to have the best educational opportunities and succeed.”
Pre-med and a biology major, Aliza particularly appreciated her faculty advisor and the chair of the department of chemistry and physics, Dr. Tova Werblowsky, for “pushing us to reach our full potential.”
The oldest of five children, Aliza graduated from the Bais Yaakov of Montreal high school—also as valedictorian—before spending a year studying at the Machon Raaya seminary in Jerusalem. After commencement, Aliza will return to Montreal to teach chemistry and math at her former high school, and develop an advanced science and math curriculum. She plans to attend medical school in 2016 and hopes to specialize in pediatrics.