Touro University is a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

Jew Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

ish university based in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971, and named for

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

and

Judah Touro Judah Touro (June 16, 1775 – January 18, 1854) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Early life and career Touro's father Isaac Touro of Holland was chosen as the hazzan at the Touro Synagogue in 1762, a Portuguese Sephardic congr ...

. It is a part of the Touro University System. Its mission includes a strong focus on "transmit

ing Ing, ING or ing may refer to: Art and media * '' ...ing'', a 2003 Korean film * i.n.g, a Taiwanese girl group * The Ing, a race of dark creatures in the 2004 video game '' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' * "Ing", the first song on The Roches' 199 ...

and perpetuat ngthe Jewish heritage". Touro’s main campus has been located inside

3 Times Square 3 Times Square, also known as the Thomson Reuters Building, is a 30-story skyscraper at Times Square in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, New York, U.S. Located on Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue between 42nd Stre ...

since in January 2023. The high-profile address gives the university significantly more visibility and positions it for further growth. The college has about 5,100 undergraduates, with a teaching staff of 1242, of which over a third are full-time. It has about 6,900 graduate students. About 70% of undergraduates and graduate students are female. Among undergraduates, some 5% are Asian, 13% are

black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

, 11% are

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

and 54% are white. The four-year graduation rate is 55%.

History

Touro College was founded by Orthodox rabbi and academic sociologist Bernard Lander, who named it for

Isaac Touro Isaac Touro (1738 – 8 December 1783) was a Dutch-born American rabbi. He was a Jewish leader in colonial America. Born in Amsterdam, in 1758 he left for Jamaica. In 1760, he arrived in Newport, Rhode Island, to serve as hazzan and spiritual lead ...

, an

colonial America The colonial history of the United States covers the period of European colonization of North America from the late 15th century until the unifying of the Thirteen British Colonies and creation of the United States in 1776, during the Re ...

Orthodox rabbi, and his son

, a businessman and philanthropist. Lander's aim was to provide education for Jewish people, combining professional courses with

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

studies. The college received its charter as a private, four-year liberal arts college from the Board of Regents of the State of New York in 1970, and opened its doors in 1971. In its first year it had thirty-five students, all men. A section for women was opened in 1974. The college was accredited by the

Middle States Commission on Higher Education The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, abbreviated as MSCHE and legally incorporated as the Mid-Atlantic Region Commission on Higher Education, is a voluntary, peer-based, non-profit membership organization that performs peer evalua ...

in 1976; accreditation was reaffirmed in 2015. In the 1970s, the school enrolled into its adult-education program large numbers of old people, among them many of whom could neither read nor write English. Federal and state authorities subsequently investigated the school, since they believed that this was being done mainly to obtain grants for tuition. In the early eighties the college expanded to include schools of

law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior, with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been variously described as a science and as the ar ...

, education, social work,

osteopathic medicine Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic Medical school in the United States, medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Medicine (M ...

, pharmacy, and dentistry. In 2007, at least two school employees were found in an internal college audit to have accepted bribes to change grades and provide fake degrees. They were handed over for prosecution by the college, and were subsequently convicted and imprisoned. Lander remained president until his death in 2010, and was succeeded by Alan Kadish. At the end of 2021, the college signed a lease for at the

building in

. The goal was to consolidate many of the college's schools, currently divided among at least 35 separate locations servicing 19,000 enrolled students, into a central

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

campus. On February 20, 2022, Touro College announced that the NYS Board of Regents had granted a request to rename the college to Touro University.

Notable alumni

Marc Alessi Marc Steven Alessi (born July 1976) is an American attorney and entrepreneur from Shoreham, New York, who formerly served in the New York State Assembly. He currently holds positions as executive director of Tesla Science Center at Wardenclyffe, ...

, politician * David G. Greenfield, local politician * Rivy Poupko Kletenik, teacher * Kenneth LaValle, politician * Boyd Melson, boxer *

Kathleen Rice Kathleen Maura Rice (born February 15, 1965) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the United States representative for New York's 4th congressional district from 2015 to 2023. She is a member of the Democratic Party. Before servi ...

, attorney and politician * Dmitry Salita, boxer * Daniel Rosenthal, local politicianBiography of Daniel Rosenthal

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

. Accessed January 27, 2018.

Affiliates

Lander College for Men The Lander College for Men is a private men's division of Touro University System located in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, New York City. Its stated goal is to provide a college curriculum while maintaining a traditional Yeshiva environment. Ge ...

Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

* Touro Israel

Jerusalem, Israel Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

* Touro College Berlin

Charlottenburg Charlottenburg () is a Boroughs and localities of Berlin, locality of Berlin within the borough of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf. Established as a German town law, town in 1705 and named after Sophia Charlotte of Hanover, Queen consort of Kingdom ...

* Lander College for Women

Manhattan, New York Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York Medical College New York Medical College (NYMC or New York Med) is a Private university, private medical school in Valhalla, New York. Founded in 1860, it is a member of the Touro University System. NYMC offers advanced degrees through its three schools: the ...

Valhalla, New York Valhalla ( ) is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name wa ...

* Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute

Albuquerque, New Mexico Albuquerque ( ; ), also known as ABQ, Burque, the Duke City, and in the past 'the Q', is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Bernalillo County, New Mexico, Bernal ...

* Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center,

Central Islip, New York Central Islip (also known locally by its initials as CI) is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the Town of Islip, New York, Islip in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United St ...

Touro University California Touro University California is a private graduate school focused primarily on health professions and located on Mare Island in Vallejo, California. It is part of the Touro College and University System and is jointly administered with its sist ...

Vallejo, California Vallejo ( ; ) is a city in Solano County, California, United States, and the second largest city in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area. Located on the shores of San Pablo Bay, the ci ...

Touro University Nevada Touro University Nevada (TUN) is a private university in Henderson, Nevada, United States. It is part of the Touro College and University System. Touro University Nevada is a branch campus of its sister campus Touro University California. His ...

Henderson, Nevada Henderson is a city in Clark County, Nevada, United States, about southeast of downtown Las Vegas. It is the List of cities in Nevada, 2nd most populous city in Nevada, after Las Vegas, with 317,610 residents. The city is part of the Las Vegas V ...

* Touro College Los Angeles (TCLA),

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

* Touro University Worldwide,

Los Alamitos, California is a city in Orange County, California. The city was incorporated in March 1960. The population was 11,780 at the 2020 census, up from 11,449 at the 2010 census. The USA Water Polo National Aquatic Center is located on the Joint Forces Tr ...

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control

Touro College Touro University is a private Jewish university system headquartered in New York City, with branches throughout the United States as well as one each in Germany, Israel and Russia. It was founded by Bernard Lander in 1971 and named for Isaac a ...

Universities and colleges in New York City Orthodox Jewish universities and colleges Universities and colleges established in 1971 Universities and colleges in Suffolk County, New York 1971 establishments in New York City Private universities and colleges in New York City Jewish universities and colleges in the United States

History

Notable alumni

Affiliates

See also

References

External links