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Dr. Jonathan Cohen
fi
Dean, HUC-JIR/Cincinnati
Read law, University of Kent, Canterbury
Ph.D. (Law), University of Liverpool
Associate Professor in Talmud and Halachic Literature
Director, HUC-UC Ethics Center
Editor, Studies in Jewish Commercial Law
The appointment of Dr. Jonathan Cohen, a native Israeli, as the dean of
the Cincinnati campus represents a new era of vibrant leadership for the
birthplace of Reform Judaism in America and an internationally renowned
center of Jewish scholarship and religious life. As Dean, he will continue to
enhance the campus’s stellar academic programs, further develop HUC-
JIR’s flourishing partnerships with the academic and religious institutions
of Cincinnati, and implement his passionate commitment to fully integrate
this campus into the larger Cincinnati community and the region.
Cohen:
“
Our Cincinnati campus is a historic and vibrant center
for the education and training of liberal Judaism’s future leaders and
the education of scholars of all faiths. Its faculty includes nationally
and internationally recognized scholars in a variety of fields of Jewish
and interfaith studies, its Klau Library and the Jacob Rader Marcus
Center of the American Jewish Archives constitute one of the finest
research collections and facilities in Judaica and Hebraica in the world,
and its Archaeology Center and Skirball Museum display hundreds of
remarkable artifacts collected over the past century. Our task is to build
upon our strengths and successes in advancing the mission of the Col-
lege-Institute and to enhance our programs in Cincinnati. We have a
mandate to raise the profile of this campus as a center of study and inno-
vation, adding sustenance to the life of our greater academic community
and transforming the religious and cultural experience of Jews and non-
Jews in our region and beyond. I'm here to make sure that our programs
grow, our collaborations with other institutions in this city advance, that
we do the best job we can in training the next generation of leaders for
this Jewish community, and that we make sure that Jewish scholarship
and research advances to unknown frontiers in the years to come.”
istration and visiting high school and college students
enjoy the updates to the Sisterhood Dormitory.
An ardent advocate for expanding the professional
development curriculum, he instituted Clinical Pas-
toral Education (CPE) as a requirement for all rabbinical
students, and accreditation of the Cincinnati campus
as a CPE training site (the only rabbinical seminary
in the world with ACPE accreditation). He also
established on-site training and supervision in Jewish
Education; initiated the Liturgical Arts program; and
created the Mayerson Field Work Seminar, which
provides on-going mentoring of bi-weekly pulpit
student interns by congregational rabbis. Under
his watch, learners of all faiths engaged in learning
through the Academy for Adult Interfaith Studies
and other academic and cultural outreach programs.
Ehrlich:
“
The advancement of the Cincinnati
campus as a haven for students, faculty, and visiting
scholars, and scholarship has been a team project,
blessed by the support of visionary lay and corporate
leaders in partnership with the faculty and adminis-
tration. It is an honor to continue to work closely with
the President, his administrative team, and the Board
to secure and allocate the resources that will ensure
our financial sustainability and continued academic
excellence. Amid the rapid changes around us, our
mission is to prepare our students to help make this
a better world.”
Vitals
q
Rabbi Kenneth E. Ehrlich (at podium), with his wife Mary
Silva and Rabbi Ellenson, was honored by the establishment
of the Rabbi Kenneth E. Ehrlich Endowed Scholarship, created
by Louis and Patty Beck (at right), and announced at the
Cincinnati Associates Tribute Dinner.
