Rabbi Maurice B. Pekarsky, director of the Hillel Foundation at the University of Chicago, died here today at the age of 58. Known as the “dean” of Hillel directors, he previously had served as a Hillel director at Cornell and Northwestern Universities. From 1950-55, he directed the Hillel Foundation at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, which he also founded.
Born in Jedwabno, Poland, Rabbi Pekarsky was a cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan and had a masters degree from the Jewish Institute of Religion. In 1958, his 25th anniversary in Hillel Foundation service, he was awarded an honorary doctor of Hebrew Letters degree by Hebrew Union College – Jewish Institute of Religion. His survivors include a brother, Herman M. Pekarsky, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Essex County, New Jersey.
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