Dr. Paul M. Steinberg Appointed Vice President for Communal Development at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion

Rabbi David Ellenson, President of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR), announced the appointment of Dr. Paul M. Steinberg as Vice President for Communal Development. Dr. Steinberg, who is the Eleanor Sinsheimer Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish Religious Education and Human Relations and Chairman of the Faculty of the New York School of HUC-JIR, has served the College-Institute as part of its administration and faculty for 47 years.

The College-Institute held a special academic convocation honoring Dr. Steinberg in 1997, during which he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree (honoris causa). Rabbi Ellenson remarked: "Dr. Steinberg has guided and ensured the strength and growth of our institution and enhanced the academic distinction of our academic programs. As mentor and teacher to generations of rabbis, cantors, educators, and communal professionals, he has advanced Jewish learning and Jewish continuity." In appreciation of Dr. Steinberg's leadership, HUC-JIR established the Dr. Paul M. and Trudy Steinberg Endowment Fund for the Teaching of Human Relations in 1997. In March 2002, in tribute to Dr. and Mrs. Paul Steinberg, the Dr. Paul and Trudy Steinberg Distinguished Professor in Human Relations and Counseling was established.

Dr. Paul M. Steinberg earned his B.S. in Social Sciences with Honors at the College of the City of New York and the M.S. in Educational Psychology at the School of Education at City College. He was ordained and received the Master of Hebrew Literature Degree from the Jewish Institute of Religion. At that time, he was awarded the Bertha S. Guggenheimer Fellowship for research and travel in Israel. He received his Doctorate in Psychological Services from Columbia University. In 1960, he was licensed as a psychologist in the State of New York by the Education Department of the University of the State of New York. Baltimore Hebrew University awarded him the Doctor of Hebrew Literature (honoris causa) in 1982.

Dr. Steinberg's service to the College-Institute began in 1955. He has served as Dean of the Schools of Education and Sacred Music, Dean of the Rabbinic School, and Dean of the New York School. In the course of the years, he has been promoted from instructor to Professor of Education and Human Relations.

In recognition of his exemplary service as professor and as administrator, he was named the Eleanor Sinsheimer Distinguished Service Professor of Jewish Religious Education and Human Relations. In 1962, while serving as Dean of the New York School, he also assumed responsibilities for the development of the Jerusalem School. As Executive Dean of the Jerusalem School, he was responsible for the direction of the Jerusalem School and the funding and administration of excavations at Tel Gezer and Tel Dan. He served as the principal liaison with the Smithsonian Institution and the Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. Dr. Steinberg also directed the Annual Summer Institute on Near Eastern Civilizations. He was largely responsible for the establishment of relationships with New York University and the development and relocation of the New York School to its present site in 1979. As part of the College-Institute's development and growth, he was appointed Vice President of the College-Institute and Dean of Faculty of the New York School in 1985.

His service as Dean of the New York School is the longest in the history of the College-Institute. He continues his assistance to Presidents of the College-Institute in fulfilling the College mission which began with Dr. Nelson Glueck, developed with Dr. Alfred Gottschalk and Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, and continues with Rabbi David Ellenson. In 1996, he was appointed Special Assistant to he President in addition to teaching and serving as Distinguished Service Professor of Education and Human Relations.

He has taught at The Army Management School, Baruch College of the College of the City of New York, New York Police Academy Program, Hebrew University, New York University, and the U.S. Department of Defense School.

Dr. Steinberg has also served as Director, B'nai B'rith Hillel Foundation, Berkeley, CA; Jewish Chaplain, U.S. Naval Hospital, Oakland, CA; Rabbi, Temple Israel of Northern Westchester, Croton-on-Hudson; Jewish Chaplain, F.D.R. Veterans' Administration Hospital, Montrose, New York; Jewish Chaplain, New York Air National Guard, White Plains, New York; and Rabbi, Temple Adas Israel, Sag Harbor, New York.

He was designated Rabbi Emeritus of the congregation after he concluded twenty years of service. He is a member of the American Psychological Association; Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (Psychology and Education Divisions); Fellow, American Psychological Society; Phi Delta Kappa, Honorary Society in Education; and Central Conference of American Rabbis.

Dr. Steinberg serves on the Boards of the Jewish Braille Institute, Albright Institute of Archaeology (Jerusalem), Hospital for Joint Diseases, and Dorot. He is President of The Gimprich Foundation.