A former TV producer whose credits include “The Jeffersons” is endowing a center for Jewish studies.
Michael “Mickey” Ross, an alumnus of the City College of New York and a writer and producer for the popular 1970s sitcoms “All in the Family,” “The Jeffersons” and “Three’s Company,” will give the school $10 million to establish the Michael and Irene Ross Center for Jewish Studies, the school announced Thursday.
The center will house offices, conference space and a library for Jewish studies faculty and students. It will also sponsor an annual conference, lectures, a visiting professorship, trips for CCNY students and faculty to places of significance in Judaism and Jewish culture, and visits to campus by important speakers and teachers. There will also be scholarships in Jewish studies and a newsletter, CCNY said.
The gift from Ross, who graduated from CCNY in 1939, when he was still known as Isidore Rovinsky, will also establish the Michael and Irene Ross Chair in Hebrew and Yiddish. The college will conduct a national search to fill the position.
