July was bittersweet for the Jewish Studies Program: Just as the program celebrated the arrival of its first distinguished scholars, E. M. “Manny” Rosenthal, donor of the Rosenthal Chair of Judiac Studies, passed away July 25. The gift by Rosenthal, wife Rosalyn, and son and TCU Trustee Billy in 1997 was just one of many philanthropic interests for Rosenthal, who made his fortune in the meat-packing business. The Rosenthal endowment is currently providing for the appointment of two professors who will begin teaching in the fall:
— W. David Nelson, a lecturer in rabbinic culture and thought at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, will be the Rosalyn and Manny Rosenthal Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies. Nelson will focus in part on starting the Jack B. Friedman Judaica Library collection, named in recognition of the gifts given by Jack B. Friedman, Barbara Friedman Rakoover ’67, and her husband Burt.
— Athalya Brenner, a faculty member at the University of Amsterdam, has been named Rosalyn and Manny Rosenthal Distinguished Professor-in-Residence of Hebrew Bible for an initial term of three years.
— In May, Dr. Israel Finkelstein became the first Barnett International Scholar to visit the campus, made possible by a gift from Dr. and Mrs. Louis Barnett.
— The first Bermont Family Undergraduate Jewish Student Scholarship will be awarded this fall. The fund was established last year by TCU Trustee Peter Bermont ’67 to encourage undergraduate Jewish student enrollment.
— The annual Gates of Chai Lecture Series, named in memory of Larry Kornbleet and family members of Stanley and Marcia Kornbleet Kurtz, will bring civil rights lawyer Morris Dees to campus Sept. 10. This outspoken critic of hate groups and co-founder of the Southern Poverty Law Center will begin his address, “Responding to Hate: Voices of Hope and Tolerance,” at 8 p.m. Monday in Ed Landreth Auditorium.