HUC-JIR Alumni to be Awarded Honorary Doctorates

Rabbi David Ellenson, Ph.D., President of the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) has announced the HUC-JIR alumni who will receive honorary doctorates this spring in Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and New York. HUC-JIR is the nation's oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism.

The following HUC-JIR alumni will be awarded honorary Doctorates of Divinity, Music, Jewish Religious Education, and Jewish Communal Service, as well as the Founders' Medallion, in recognition of their 25 years of distinguished professional service:

Click the links below for individual press releases (PDFs)

Rabbinical Alumni – Doctor of Divinity, honoris causa

Gary M. Bretton-Granatoor

Judith A. Chessin

Jody Ruth Cohen

Steven L. Denker

S. Joan Glazer Farber

Carol Glass

Constance A. Golden

Julie K. Gordon

Arthur Gross-Schaefer

Elizabeth Weiss Stern

Thomas K.Weiner

Margaret Moers Wenig

Irwin A. Zeplowitz

Yosef Mordecai Zylberberg

Cantorial Alumni – Doctor of Music, honoris causa

Andrew Edison

Boris Kazansky

Rachelle Faith Nelson

Steven Michael Puzarne

Jill Spasser

Communal Service Alumni - Doctor of Jewish Communal Service, honoris causa

Mark L. Goldstein

Mark David Gurvis

Cheryl J. Kessler, z”l

Zev A. Kessler

Amy Dover Neistein

Steven A. Reitman

Education Alumni - Doctor of Jewish Religious Education, honoris causa

Gail S. Kahn, RJE

Rabbi Barry M. Lutz, RJE

Cindy Reich, RJE

Lori B. Sagarin, RJE

Wendy Robinson Schwartz, RJE

Graduate Studies Alumni - Founders’ Medallion

Richard S. Hess, Ph.D.

Miriam Dean-Otting, Ph.D.

Steven M. Voth, Ph.D.

For event information, please view the national invitation at: http://www.huc.edu/external/email/09/03/graduation/.

Founded in 1875, Hebrew Union College–Jewish Institute of Religion is the nation’s oldest institution of higher Jewish education and the academic, spiritual, and professional leadership development center of Reform Judaism. HUC-JIR educates men and women for service to American and world Jewry as rabbis, cantors, educators, and nonprofit management professionals, and offers graduate programs to scholars and clergy of all faiths. With centers of learning in Cincinnati, Jerusalem, Los Angeles, and New York, HUC-JIR’s scholarly resources comprise the renowned Klau Library, The Jacob Rader Marcus Center of the American Jewish Archives, research institutes and centers, and academic publications. In partnership with the Union for Reform Judaism and the Central Conference of American Rabbis, HUC-JIR sustains the Reform Movement’s congregations and professional and lay leaders. HUC-JIR’s campuses invite the community to cultural and educational programs illuminating Jewish history, identity, art, and archaeology, and fostering interfaith and multiethnic understanding.