Yale University has received an “extra-ordinary” gift of $1.6 million to establish two new endowed professorships in its Judaic studies program, according to the current issue of the Newsletter for that program.
The Newsletter, in reporting on the gift, said such endowed scholarships “enable Yale to attract and encourage the finest faculty members, at work on the frontiers of knowledge and dedicated to the university’s intellectual life.”
The Newsletter reported that the gift would be used to create a senior professorship in Hebrew language and literature, and a visiting professor in the humanities.
The Newsletter reported that the donors indicated they wanted not to be named publicly.
The Newsletter declared that “the university’s tradition of excellence in the study of language and literature, a vital part of undergraduate education, will be enhanced by the appointment of a distinguished senior teacher and scholar in Hebrew language and literature.”
The Newsletter added that the appointment also “will do much to strengthen the Judaic studies program, for the comprehensive understanding of the subtleties and nuances of Jewish culture depends fundamentally on adequate knowledge of its language and literature.”
The visiting professorship, whose incumbent will be appointed each year from various areas in the humanities, including philosophy, art and music, “will complement and enrich the teaching and scholarly activity of the university’s permanent senior faculty in Judaic Studies,” the Newsletter reported.
The Newsletter also reported a “generous gift,” the size of which was not indicated, in memory of Jacob Perlow, an immigrant who settled in New York City and prospered in real estate, to create the Jacob Perlow Fellow in Judaic Studies and the Humanities. Perlow’s niece, Toni Greenberg, a co-executor of the Perlow estate, was instrumental in the gift, the Newsletter reported.
The Newsletter said the Jacob Perlow Fellow will be appointed by the University from nominees proposed by the Hebrew University in Jerusalem to encourage “fruitful exchanges between Yale and Israeli scholars.”
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