BGU Confers Honorary Doctoral Degree on Renowned Historian and Author Prof. Deborah Lipstadt
BGU Confers Honorary Doctoral Degree on Renowned Historian and Author Prof. Deborah Lipstadt
May 16, 2012
ATLANTA, May 16, 2012 — Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) presented renowned historian, eminent scholar and author Deborah Lipstadt with a prestigious honorary doctoral degree last night at the 42nd Board of Governors Meeting in Beer-Sheva, Israel.
Since 1993, Prof. Lipstadt has been the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, where she founded the Tam Institute of Jewish Studies.
Lipstadt has written several widely acclaimed works about Holocaust issues and denial, including History on Trial: My Day in Court with David Irving (2005), which won the National Jewish Book Award and Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory (1993), the first full-length study of the subject. Earlier, she wrote Beyond Belief: The American Press and the Coming of the Holocaust. Her most recent book, The Eichmann Trial, was released last year.
At the ceremony, BGU President Prof. Rivka Carmi said that the degree was being conferred “in recognition of a highly regarded historian whose comprehensive studies advance the understanding of the atrocities perpetrated during the darkest period in human history and the world’s reaction to them. The degree is an acknowledgement of an eminent scholar who fights fearlessly against Holocaust denial, tirelessly traveling the world to perpetuate the memory of the Holocaust amongst the international community.”
Among the numerous accolades and honors she has garnered throughout her career, Lipstadt received the Albert D. Chernin Award from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs given to “an American Jew whose work best exemplifies the social justice imperatives of Judaism, Jewish history and the protection of the Bill of Rights, particularly the First Amendment.” In 2006, she was elected to the American Academy of Jewish Research, the oldest organization of Judaic scholars in North America. She has also served on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and as a consultant to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
“I feel deeply privileged to receive this honor from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. I have tried in my scholarly work to not only hew to the highest standards of academic research, but to also reach out to the broader world and help them learn about topics such as the Shoah, Holocaust denial and, most recently, the Eichmann trial,” Lipstadt said. “To be honored by a university which has made such a difference, not just here in the Negev, but throughout Israel and the world is something that I shall long treasure.”
Lipstadt earned her Ph.D. in 1976 and M.A. in 1972 from Brandeis University. She received her B.A. from City College of New York in 1969.
ABOUT AMERICANS FOR BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
By supporting a world-class academic institution that not only nurtures the Negev, but also shares its expertise locally and globally, Americans for Ben-Gurion University engages a community of Americans who are committed to improving the world. David Ben-Gurion envisioned that Israel’s future would be forged in the Negev. The cutting-edge research carried out at Ben-Gurion University drives that vision by sustaining a desert Silicon Valley, with the “Stanford of the Negev” at its center. The Americans for Ben-Gurion University movement supports a 21st century unifying vision for Israel by rallying around BGU’s remarkable work and role as an apolitical beacon of light in the Negev desert.
About Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev embraces the endless potential we have as individuals and as a commonality to adapt and to thrive in changing environments. Inspired by our location in the desert, we aim to discover, to create, and to develop solutions to dynamic challenges, to pose questions that have yet to be asked, and to push beyond the boundaries of the commonly accepted and possible.
We are proud to be a central force for inclusion, diversity and innovation in Israel, and we strive to extend the Negev’s potential and our entrepreneurial spirit throughout the world. For example, the multi-disciplinary School for Sustainability and Climate Change at BGU leverages over 50 years of expertise on living and thriving in the desert into scalable solutions for people everywhere.
BGU at a glance:
20,000 students | 800 senior faculty | 3 campuses | 6 faculties: humanities & social sciences, health sciences, engineering sciences, natural sciences, business & management, and desert research.
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