Message from the President
On Sunday, February 7, 2010, Dr. Hal M. Lewis was officially invested as the eighth president of Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies. This is the first inauguration of a new Spertus president in over 20 years. The event, entitled A Celebration of Jewish Learning and Leadership, was attended by Spertus students, alumni, supporters, and staff, as well as leading members of Chicago’s Jewish, academic, cultural, civic, and philanthropic communities.
In his inaugural address, Dr. Lewis spoke of the opportunities and challenges ahead for Spertus.
In addition to Dr. Lewis’ investiture, the ceremony included commencement for graduates of the first cohort of Spertus’ Master of Arts in Jewish Professional Studies. These graduates, many of them young professionals doing impressive and sometimes groundbreaking Jewish community work, were joined by graduates from Spertus Institute’s acclaimed Masters and Doctoral programs in Jewish Studies.
Graduates and attendees had a special opportunity to hear a keynote address by Brandeis University professor Dr. Jonathan Sarna entitled Jewish Communal Responsibility: An Endangered Jewish Value?
Further representing the richness of the Jewish experience, a Doctor of Hebrew Letters Honoris Causa was presented to tenor Alberto Mizrahi, Hazzan (Cantor) of Chicago’s historic Anshe Emet Synagogue and one of the world’s leading interpreters of Jewish music. Hazzan Mizrahi has shared the stage with such musicians as Dave Brubeck and Theodore Bikel and has performed with organizations including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and the Jerusalem Symphony.
About Dr. Hal M. Lewis
Dr. Hal M. Lewis is a recognized authority on leadership, particularly on the unique needs of 21st-century Jewish organizations. He is the author of Models and Meanings in the History of Jewish Leadership and From Sanctuary to Boardroom: A Jewish Approach to Leadership and has published widely on leadership in both the popular press and scholarly journals. Dr. Lewis joined the Spertus staff in 2002 as Dean of Public Programming and Continuing Education, but his connections to Spertus began years earlier, as he pursued and earned his Doctor of Jewish Studies degree from Spertus. In November 2008, Dr. Lewis was appointed Senior Vice President / Chief Operating Officer. In June 2009, the Board of Trustees of Spertus Institute of Jewish Studies elected him to the position of President and CEO. Before coming to Spertus, Dr. Lewis served as the President and CEO of the Columbus Jewish Federation, as executive director of a major synagogue in Cincinnati, and executive director of the American Sephardi Federation, based in New York.
Watch a short video with highlights from the Celebration of Learning and Leadership. Enjoy excerpts from Spertus Chief Academic Officer Dr. Dean Bell, graduate Aliza Drumm, Honorary Doctorate Recipient Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi, and noted historian Dr. Jonathan Sarna, followed by remarks by newly invested Spertus President Dr. Hal M. Lewis.
Click here to download an audio version of Dr. Hal M. Lewis' remarks.
Click here for the written transcript of Dr. Hal M. Lewis' remarks.
Click here for the written transcript of Dr. Jonathan Sarna's remarks.
Hazzan Alberto Mizrahi, Spertus President Dr. Hal M. Lewis, and Richard Skolnik, International President of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.
Photo by Bill Barrows.