Dr. Michael Oren, Former AMB of Israel to the United States, to Receive Honorary Degree at the 40th Annual Commencement Exercises of Touro College

“Touro College is incredibly honored and privileged to pay tribute to Dr. Michael Oren,” said Dr. Kadish.  “An esteemed and highly admired Jewish leader, Dr. Oren was instrumental in securing U.S. support for Israel’s defense and upholding Israel’s right to security and peace during his tenure. He set an example for Jews throughout the Diaspora by making aliya in 1979. In the academic sphere, Dr. Oren is an accomplished historian and award-winning author and a true inspiration and role model for our graduating class. And we’re proud to say that in 1999 he was an adjunct professor at Touro, as well.” 

Born in the U.S., Dr. Oren earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in Near Eastern Studies from Princeton. He has been a visiting professor at Harvard, Yale and Georgetown, and was a Distinguished Fellow at the Shalem Center in Jerusalem. He has received fellowships from the British and Canadian governments as well as a Moshe Dayan Fellowship from Tel Aviv University and the Lady Davis Fellowship at The Hebrew University. His last two books, “Power, Faith, and Fantasy: America in the Middle East from 1776 to the Present,” and “Six Days of War,” were both New York Times bestsellers. He has won the Los Angeles Times History Book of the Year Award and the National Jewish Book Award.

Dr. Oren served as an officer in the Israel Defense Forces in the paratrooper unit during the Lebanon War, a liaison with the U.S. Sixth Fleet during the Gulf War and an IDF spokesperson during the Second Lebanon War and the Gaza operation in January 2009. He acted as an emissary to Jewish refuseniks in the Former Soviet Union, as an advisor to Israel’s delegation to the United Nations and as the government’s director of Inter-Religious Affairs. He was also a gold medal athlete in the Maccabiah Games.

Dr. Oren is now the Abba Eban Chair of International Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy and Strategy. He has also joined CNN as a Middle East contributor.

At commencement, approximately 700 baccalaureate and associate degree candidates from eight of Touro’s schools dedicated to enhancing Jewish heritage will be presented: Lander College of Arts and Sciences–Flatbush; Lander College for men in Queens; Lander College for Women –The Anna Ruth and Mark Hasten School in Manhattan; the School for Lifelong Education in Brooklyn; Machon L’Parnasa– Institute for Professional Studies, also in Brooklyn; Touro College Los Angeles; and Touro College South in Miami.

At the conclusion of the 2014 commencement season, the Touro College and University System is expected to have awarded approximately 6,000 doctor of philosophy, doctor of osteopathic medicine, doctor of pharmacy, juris doctor, master’s, baccalaureate and associate degrees to students from 32 schools and colleges located in the U.S. and around the world.