Press Release

For Immediate Release

Touro College is broadening its offerings in the areas of constitutional law and American government with the addition of two legal scholars to its Political Science Department. In the fall, assistant professor Thomas Rozinski (left) and adjunct professor John Wirenius (right) will be joining the faculty. A graduate of Harvard Law School, Rozinski will be teaching constitutional law, political theory and American government primarily at Lander College of Arts and Sciences – Flatbush. Wirenius, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia Law School, will teach “The Supreme Court and the Constitution” at Lander College for Men in Queens.

NEW YORK, N.Y., August 10, 2006 – Dr. Bernard Lander, founder and president of Touro College, has announced the addition of two legal scholars to broaden the school’s breadth and depth in the areas of constitutional law and American government. The faculty members, Thomas Rozinski and John Wirenius, will begin teaching in the fall.

Thomas Rozinski, a graduate of Harvard Law School, has been appointed assistant professor of political science and will be teaching constitutional law, political theory, and American government primarily at Lander College of Arts and Sciences – Flatbush. He will also teach a course in American government at Lander College for Men in Queens. John Wirenius, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia Law School, has joined the faculty as an adjunct professor of political science and will teach "The Supreme Court and the Constitution" at Lander College for Men.

"Both professors bring significant real-world experience to Touro and we are pleased they have decided to join our faculty," said Dr. Lander. "Both have served in New York City government, and worked in highly-regarded law firms. Both are excellent speakers and have a keen interest in exciting students about the law."

Rozinski brings to Touro a broad background in academia, government service, and legal practice. From 2003 to 2005, he was an assistant professor of law at the University of Michigan. He also taught at Harvard University, Yeshiva University, and Baruch College. He served for seven years in the Giuliani administration as general counsel to two city agencies and as acting commissioner of homeless services. Prior to joining the city of New York, he was a partner in the law firm Anderson, Kill and Olick, where he specialized in environmental insurance litigation. In addition to his law degree, Rozinski holds a bachelor of arts summa cum laude from Yale University in economics and political science, and a master’s in government from Harvard University.

Wirenius is the author of First Amendment, First Principles, a comprehensive study of the U.S. Supreme Court’s treatment of freedom of speech, as well as 10 law review articles. Currently he is serving as deputy counsel of New York city’s Office of Collective Bargaining, where he supervises the adjudication of disputes under the city’s collective bargaining contracts. He is also a former assistant corporation counsel for the city of New York, and litigated several major constitutional cases during the Giuliani administration. For the past five years, Wirenius was lead counsel in Nitke v. Gonzales, a First Amendment challenge to government restrictions on internet communication, which reached the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. He has also worked for three private law firms, the New York State Union of Teachers, and the Legal Aid Society of New York. He received a bachelor of arts summa cum laude from Fordham University, and a juris doctor from Columbia Law School.

Touro College has experienced phenomenal growth since its opening in 1971, and is currently educating more than 23,000 students at locations in New York, California, Nevada, Jerusalem, Moscow and Berlin. Touro College continues to have a profound impact on the lives of its students and on the Jewish and general communities.

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