Susannah Heschel Elected to the American Academy for Jewish Research

Susannah Heschel, the Eli M. Black Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies, was named a fellow of the prestigious American Academy for Jewish Research. Founded in 1920, the AAJR brings together the most eminent scholars of Jewish studies in North America. Fellows are nominated and elected by their peers. 

"When I received the news, I was absolutely thrilled," says Heschel, who serves as chair of the Jewish Studies Program. "It is a great honor to be elected by peers in my field." 

"Your election reflects the high regard with which your peers in Jewish Studies regard your research and writing," AAJR President Magda Teter wrote in her invitation to Heschel. 

A prolific scholar and dedicated teacher, Heschel specializes in Jewish and Protestant thought during the 19th and 20th centuries, including the history of biblical scholarship, Jewish scholarship on Islam, and the history of antisemitism. Her numerous publications include Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus, which won a National Jewish Book Award, The Aryan Jesus: Christian Theologians and the Bible in Nazi Germany, and Jüdischer Islam: Islam und Deutsch-Jüdische Selbstbestimmung. 

Heschel has received grants and fellowships from organizations including the Ford Foundation, Carnegie Foundation, John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, National Humanities Center, and Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. She has received five honorary doctorates from universities in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Switzerland.

Heschel has served as a visiting professor at the Universities of Frankfurt and Cape Town as well as Princeton, and she is a member of the academic advisory council of the Center for Jewish Studies in Berlin and the board of trustees of Trinity College. In 2015 she was elected a member of the American Society for the Study of Religion. 

Among its many scholarly activities, the AAJR sponsors workshops for graduate students and early-career scholars, provides fellowships for doctoral students, and coordinates the annual Salo Baron Prize for the best first book in Jewish studies.