Doron Ben-Atar - Biography

Biography

Doron Ben-Atar was born in Kfar Shmaryahu, Israel. His father, Arye Ben-Atar, immigrated to Palestine from Turkey in 1936. He was a basketball player for Maccabi Tel Aviv. His mother was a Holocaust survivor from Poland. In 2006, Ben-Atar wrote a play based on his mother's experiences, Behave Yourself Quietly. In the 1970s, Ben-Atar, who is two meters tall, followed in his father's footsteps and began to play basketball. He studied at Tichon Hadash high school in Tel Aviv and joined Peace Now, taking part in left-wing demonstrations. In 1988, he worked for Israel's Meretz party. He went to the United States to study American history at Brandeis University and completed his doctorate at Columbia University in 1990. He taught at Yale University before moving to Fordham University.

Ben-Atar is married to an American Jew and has three children. His oldest son, Assaf Ben-Atar, also a Brandeis graduate, currently attends Fordham University Law School and is an Associate Editor for the Intellectual Property, Media, and Entertainment Law Journal. Prior to enrolling in law school, Assaf was a prominent high school tennis player, and child actor in Yale University Theatre productions. Unfortunately, Assaf suffered a debilitating knee injury his senior year, ending his promising tennis career. After abandoning the game he loved, Assaf became a passionate supporter for student rights at Brandeis University, opposing the University's cancellation of the annual Modfest festivities. Additionally, Assaf received praise in the Brandeis school newspaper for his heroic efforts when, as a bystander, he utilized prior EMT training at the scene of an automobile accident.