By Aiden Harow, Senior Features Editor
With the news that Dean Noam Wasserman is leaving YU to become the Head of School at the Ramaz School effective June 1, 2025, many students are feeling sadness at the departure of a figure widely considered to be a role model of the prototypical “Torah U’Madda” lifestyle.
Dean of Sy Syms School of Business (SSSB) since 2019, Wasserman is an accomplished academic, having received both his PhD and MBA from Harvard University and publishing work in the Harvard Business Review, Barron’s, Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. He is also a Torah scholar of impressive stature, finishing Shas three times and delivering multiple series of shiurim both on YUTorah and in person.
Over the course of his tenure, Dean Wasserman left his mark on SSSB, making transformational changes that have positioned the school for unprecedented success. When reflecting on the six years he spent at YU, Dean Wasserman told the YU Observer what he appreciated the most about his time in the university: “the people.”
He expressed gratitude to the YU administration and faculty as well as to “the enthusiastic students at Beren and Wilf from whom [he] learn[s] daily (and learns alongside at night seder).”
“The students had a huge impact on me, both in groups and individually,” he said. “My very first week, I did ‘Chat with the Dean’ sessions on both campuses, and the insights I got from the students who attended set the agenda for many of our early projects and current efforts.”
As much as Dean Wasserman values the relationships he built with faculty and students, students value the relationships they were able to build with him and the lessons they were able to learn from his integrity and value-oriented lifestyle and leadership.
Atarah Mandel (SSSB ‘26), who is also a layout editor for the YU Observer, recounted that “when [she and her brother] were sitting shiva, Dean Wasserman not only paid a visit but arranged to give a ride for a group of YU students to make the Shacharis minyan.”
Ezra Wallach (SSSB ‘25) greatly appreciates Dean Wasserman’s commitment to academic integrity and Torah values. “Dean Wasserman profoundly impacted the hashkafa of the institution…[and] placed an immense focus on dealing with the academic integrity of the school,” Wallach told the YU Observer. “I only hope the incoming dean continues to focus on the Jewish values and academic integrity of Syms, like Dean Wasserman did.”
Reflecting on the accomplishments he is most proud of, Dean Wasserman cited multiple achievements he believes to be the highlights of his time at YU.
“We have deepened and enriched the academic offerings for our undergraduate students, strengthening each major while adding such gems as the Jewish Values curriculum, the Business Communications curriculum, the Bloomberg/Drelich Lab, and the YU Israel Summer Internship Program,” Dean Wasserman said.
Dean Wasserman also noted that he has worked on “building the next generation of star faculty” during his time at YU. “Over the last five years, the Sy Syms faculty have done nine searches for full-time tenure track professors, and we have gotten our #1 choice in all nine searches,” he said. “That new generation of professors is a great complement to our existing star faculty.” In addition to the new tenure-track professors, he pointed out that SSSB has brought in “several key clinical professors who bring their real-world experiences into the classroom,” better preparing SSSB students to join the workforce in their respective fields.
Dean Wasserman emphasized that he found the uptick in warmth and school spirit within SSSB to be especially meaningful.
“One of the most memorable emails I got last year was from the new chair of the Syms Board of Overseers, David Chubak. He attended the Syms Award Dinner for the first time, and wrote to me afterward, ‘I thought the Awards dinner and celebration was really moving. Nice to see how much the students appreciated, no – LOVED – their YU and Syms experience,’” Dean Wasserman said. “It takes everyone working in the same direction to develop spirited, Torah-grounded professionals who will excel in the workplace and community.”
Reflecting on the ‘Chat with the Dean’ sessions that he held, Dean Wasserman added, “Many of the students that I met at those sessions turned into recurring relationships.” He continued, “One of my current delights is getting email updates or office visits from alumni who graduated years ago but still want to stay in touch, and those will hopefully continue even beyond June!”
Photo Caption: Dean Noam Wasserman
Photo Credit: Yeshiva University