Brooklyn Bridge 1960, Louis Stettner
History & Goals
Expressing a deep commitment to Jewish learning, the Samuel and Jean Frankel Jewish Heritage Foundation provided a $20 million endowment in 2005 to establish the Frankel Institute for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Michigan. In the same year, Deborah Dash Moore was appointed Director of the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies and Frederick G.L. Huetwell Professor of History, and Anita Norich was named the Institute’s Executive Director. On November 9, 2005, the University celebrated the official inauguration of the Institute and, soon after, it announced its first theme year and call for fellowship applications.
Each year, the Institute develops a research theme that brings about a dozen scholars together to further their own research, interact with faculty, students and one another, and enrich the intellectual life of the community. Subjects and structures are broad enough to include scholars from various disciplines, working with varying methodologies, expansive in space and time.
The major goal of the Frankel Institute is to provide an intellectually stimulating environment, promote an atmosphere of openness and encourage constructive criticism. It seeks to advance Jewish Studies globally. In addition, the Frankel Institute considers diversity and pluralism as fundamental characteristics of a public university and emphasizes such principles in all endeavors.
Frankel Institute
University of Michigan
202 S. Thayer Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608
Fax: 734-936-2186
