Prof. Yedidia Z. Stern is a Senior Fellow at the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), where he heads the projects on Religion and State and Business and Democracy (since 1999). Stern is a full professor at Bar-Ilan University Law School, and served as its dean from 1994 to 1998. His areas of professional interest are corporate law, corporate acquisitions, corporate finance, corporate governance and structure, religion and state, Jewish law, and public law.
Yedidia Stern received his LL.B. degree from Bar-Ilan Law School in 1982, and earned his master's degree (1984) and doctorate (1986) from Harvard Law School. Subsequently, he worked at a leading Manhattan law firm. Upon his return to Israel, he joined the faculty of Bar-Ilan Law School, where he founded the Center for Commercial Law, serving as its first director (1988-1992); launched Tzivyon - Center for the Study of Israel, Judaism and Democracy (2001-2003); and was the founding director of the Law School's publishing house (2005-2008). He was also a visiting scholar at Harvard Law School (1989).
Stern has served on numerous committees, inter alia as chair of the Committee to Determine the Legal Status of Insurance Agents in Israel (1996); chair-elect, the Coalition Committee to Enact an Israeli Constitution (2001); and chair, the Israel Science Foundation's Committee for Assessment of Legal Research (2002-2004).
Among his varied professional and public activities, he has served as a member of the presidium of the Yachad Council for Reconciliation between Secular and Religious Jews, affiliated with the State President's Office (2001-2007); advisor to the Ministry of Justice on the new Companies Law and its amendments; academic director of the World Jewish Forum, affiliated with the State President's Office (2005-2006); President, Institute for the Advanced Study of Israeli Judaism (2005-2007); member, Public Council of Yad Ben-Zvi research institute (2004-present); member, Executive Committee of the Center for the Study of Democracy at Haifa University (2004-present); director, Organization for Restitution of Assets of Holocaust Victims (2006-present); and member, Advisory Committee of "People of the Book" (2007).
Stern is co-editor of the scholarly journal Democratic Culture (published by Bar-Ilan University Law School in conjunction with the Israel Democracy Institute) and of the series Israeli Judaism (published jointly by Keter Publishing House, Bar-Ilan University Law School, and the Shalom Hartman Institute). He is also a regular contributor to the Israeli and international press.
Yedidia Z. Stern was born in England in 1955. He and his wife, Dr. Karen Friedman-Stern, have six children and reside in Jerusalem.