Alexandra Casser received the The Maurice Meyer III and Irma Meyer Student Award. She is a stellar student of Yiddish and a founder of the Yiddish Club at Rutgers. In summer 2009, Alex served as an intern at the National Yiddish Book Center in Amherst, MA. Next year, she will study at Yeshivat Hadar in New York City. She also wrote an honors thesis this year, “A Taste of Home: Jewish American Cookbooks as a Response to Acculturation,” supervised by Nancy Sinkoff.

Ariel Bucher received the The Baruch S. and Pearl W. Seidman Student Award. Ariel is a graduating senior with a double major in Jewish Studies and Political Science. In  summer 2009, Ariel worked as an intern at the Reform Action Council in Washington, D.C. and then used this opportunity to research the Reform movement’s commitment to “social justice,” completing a research paper in the 2009 on that topic with Professor Sinkoff.

Christopher Mercurio received the The Baruch S. and Pearl W. Seidman Student Award. He has a double major in Classics and Religion and a minor in Jewish Studies. Recently, Chris completed his honors thesis, cum laude, entitled "New Approaches in the Interpretation of Genesis 4: Cain and Abel,” the results of which he presented at a conference organized by the Cornell Classics Department for undergraduate students from across the country. Chris is well on his way to becoming a Hebraeus, Graecus, Latinus, trilinguis, to quote Jerome’s self-designation, that is, one adept at Hebrew, Greek, and Latin.

Hod Klein received the The Sandra and Stephen M. Greenberg Student Award. Hod is graduating with a double major in Jewish Studies and Philosophy and a minor in Economics. This year, he completed a two semester independent study with Professor Azzan Yadin on The Bar Ilan Responsa Project and Israel's Judicial System.

Matthew Nover received the The Harold and Betty Perl Student Award. He has a double major in Physics and Jewish Studies. This semester, Matt studied Hebrew (both ancient and modern), Ugaritic, and Aramaic. He serves as research assistant to Professor Azzan Yadin and is an active participant in the Bildner Center’s iFaith Jewish-Catholic student dialogue program.

Michelle Eisenberg received the The Louis Fishman Memorial Student Award. She is a Psychology major, with a double minor in Philosophy and Jewish Studies. This year, she is an intern at UMDNJ and works with children who have socio-emotional disorders. In fall 2010, she will be writing an honors thesis on Martin Buber and his influence on psychological education theories, to be supervised by Professor Azzan Yadin.

Michelle Lieblich received the The Rudolph and Mary Solomon Klein Student Award. She is a Cell Biology & Neuroscience major and has a minor in Jewish Studies. Next year, Michelle will write an honors thesis with Prof Azzan Yadin, comparing the philosophies of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik.

Samuel Schiff received the The Reitman Family Student Award. He is a Psychology major and a Jewish Studies minor. Sam is a research assistant in the Rheumatology Dept at UMDNJ and member of the Association for Jewish pre-med students.

Samuel Weiner received the The Betty and Julius Gillman Memorial Student Award. He is a double major in Jewish Studies and Political Science. Sam is currently an Aresty research assistant for Professor Milton Heumann of the Political Science department. He holds the Grinspoon Israel Advocacy Internship at Rutgers. Last fall, Sam read Qumran Hebrew with Professor Azzan Yadin. He is an active participant in the Bildner Center’s iFaith Jewish-Catholic student dialogue program. Sam recently spoke at the program for guidance counselors of Jewish high schools, organized by the Admissions Office, Rutgers Hillel, Bildner Center, and Dept of Jewish Studies.

Douglas Greenberg, Executive Dean, School of Arts & Sciences gave a talk on Memory and History: The Shoah Foundation Archive.

Alexandra Casser, Yiddish student and founder of the Yiddish Club at Rutgers, gives remarks to award recipients and their families.