After quitting his “dream job” at Massachusetts Institute of Technology due to antisemitism on campus, Mauricio Karchmer is fitting in at his new job at Yeshiva University.
The computer scientist has, in his first two days at Yeshiva, already “mentored students, taught courses in multiple domains of expertise and helped both university leadership and the broader community understand the dynamics on college campuses outside of YU,” Noam Wasserman, dean of Yeshiva’s Sy Syms School of Business, told JNS.
Weissman said that Karchmer is already brainstorming with department chairs at the school about a course he is designing for the fall semester, “which will bring together his expertise in financial engineering and in computer science.”
The professor also held a fireside chat at Yeshiva with Ari Berman, the university president, about antisemitism on campuses. Karchmer “observed that the stakes are much bigger than just the war with Hamas, because ‘The Palestinians are a pawn and Israel is a proxy,’” Weissman said.
Karchmer announced his move to Yeshiva, where he is a visiting guest faculty member, on LinkedIn. He said he was honored to be part of a “a deeply grounded institution,” with leaders who lead by living up to their values.”
Also on LinkedIn, Berman wrote that it was a “privilege” to welcome Karchmer to the faculty. “As a top tier professor in his field and a leader who lives his values with integrity and authenticity, he is a role model to us all,” Berman said.
In an article for The Free Press, Karchmer noted that MIT drew comparisons between Israel and Hamas. A message from the head of his department and its diversity, equity and inclusion office sent out a message “riddled with equivocations, without mentioning the barbarity of Hamas’s attack, stating only that ‘we are deeply horrified by the violence against civilians and wish to express our deep concern for all those involved,’” Karchmer wrote.
“I was shocked that my institution—led by people who are meant to see the world rationally—could not simply condemn a brutal terrorist act,” he added.
Wasserman told JNS he was “very impressed” with Karchmer’s “mix of humility and desire to learn, combined with steadfast adherence to his values even when they meant having to leave his dream job at MIT when those values were threatened.”