Prof. Louis Finkelstein, provost of the Jewish Theological Seminary since 1937 and acting president since the death of President Cyrus Adler on April 7, has been elected president by the board of directors beginning with the fall semester, it was announced today by Board Chairman Sol M. Stroock.
“Dr. Finkelstein was Dr. Adler’s intimate friend and adviser for many years,” Stroock stated. “In making this appointment, the members of the board of directors feel that they are acting in accordance with the desires of the alumni and faculty of the institution.”
Dr. Finkelstein said: “In accepting the office, I am mindful of the charge given me by Dr. Adler many years ago and repeated during his recent illness, urging on me the duty, if the occasion should arise, to see that the institution be further developed in the tradition which he and his predecessors have created for it.”
Prof. Finkelstein will be the fourth president since the founding of the seminary in 1886. The others were Dr. Sabato Morais, 1886-1897; Dr. Solomon Schechter, 1902-1915, and Dr. Adler. Dr. Finkelstein is 44 years old, was born in Cincinnati, holds degrees from the College of the City of New York and Columbia University and served in the rabbinate for 12 years before joining the seminary faculty in 1921.
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