LOS ANGELES (JTA) — Jewish sociologist Barry Glassner has been named president of Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Ore.
The executive vice provost at the University of Southern California, Glassner served as the founding director of the USC Casden Institute for the Study of the Jewish Role in American Life for seven years. The center drew many members of the Jewish community to USC, long considered mainly a WASP institution.
Glassner is the author or co-author of nine books, including the best-seller “The Culture of Fear” and “The Gospel of Food.” Both books sought to debunk the unwarranted fears that haunt many Americans. He also co-edited two volumes of “The Jewish Role in American Life.”
Glassner joined the USC faculty in 1991, served as chairman of the sociology department, then as founding director of the Casden Institute, and since 2005 as USC executive vice provost.
Lewis & Clark is a liberal arts college of about 3,500 undergraduate and graduate students, and it took a 12-member search committee more than a year and review of 250 applications before choosing Glassner by unanimous vote.
