Two leadership gifts elevate Jewish Studies at Penn Arts & Sciences
A pair of gifts from Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt will establish an endowed professorship and create a program fund for graduate support in the Jewish Studies Program that will advance scholarship, community engagement, and global impact.
4 min. read
The Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Professorship of Jewish Studies will provide support for eminent scholars in the field, facilitating research and educational opportunities that might have otherwise been out of reach.
The University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences announced a pair of leadership gifts from Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt, who both graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences in 1979. The funds will establish an endowed professorship in Jewish Studies and also create a program fund for graduate support in Penn Arts & Sciences’ Jewish Studies Program. Their generous support will strengthen Penn’s faculty, foster graduate student connections and scholarship, and enhance community and international programs, advancing Jewish Studies at Penn and across the wider academic field.
“Julie and Marc have been extraordinarily thoughtful and dedicated alumni leaders for decades,” says Penn President J. Larry Jameson. “We are grateful for their commitment and vision to advance Jewish Studies at Penn for the benefit of all. Their support will have an immediate and sustained impact on the field, enhancing education and scholarship at Penn and around the world.”
The Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Professorship of Jewish Studies will provide support for eminent scholars in the field, facilitating trailblazing research and innovative educational opportunities that might have otherwise been out of reach.
“Jewish Studies are an integral part of Penn's scholarship,” says Mark Trodden, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and Thomas S. Gates Jr. Professor of Physics & Astronomy. “The creation of an endowed chair will fortify that historic strength, allowing us to recruit and retain scholars who will continue to grow the program.”
The Julie Beren Platt and Marc E. Platt Jewish Studies Program Fund will strengthen graduate student connections and engagement with programming such as a biannual conference—in which graduate students in the field come together to exchange ideas, further their training, and promote their research—and seminars and workshops. The fund will also support graduate student projects, such as international archival research, and collaborative Jewish Studies graduate student exchange programs.
“These gifts are an exciting contribution that will place Jewish Studies on firm footing for future generations,” says Joshua Teplitsky, Joseph Meyerhoff Associate Professor of Modern Jewish History and Ruth Meltzer Director of the Jewish Studies Program. “They will allow Penn to not only continue its tradition of scholarly excellence, but to be a leader for the field in shaping meaningful conversations and deeper understandings of Jewish life, culture, and history.”
At Penn, Julie Beren Platt serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and is also on Penn Hillel’s National Board of Governors. She previously served on the Board of Advisors at the Herbert D. Katz Center for Advanced Judaic Studies and as President of the Penn Alumni Board of Directors, and is currently a member of the Board of Advisors for Penn Live Arts. Marc E. Platt is a film, theater, and television producer, and serves on the Director’s Advisory Council for Penn Live Arts. In 2008, he was the graduation speaker for the College of Arts & Sciences at Penn. Both Marc and Julie are former members of the Parent Leadership Committee, and four of their five children are Penn graduates. The Platts have generously supported multiple initiatives at Penn, including establishing the Platt Student Performing Arts House and the Julie Beren Platt and Marc Platt Rehearsal Room in Houston Hall. In addition, they have funded initiatives at the Katz Center and endowed undergraduate scholarships and professorships.
Jewish Studies at Penn dates back more than 200 years, with the first courses in Hebrew being offered in 1780. In 1982, the University formally recognized Jewish Studies as an interdisciplinary program. From its origins as a course of study dedicated to understanding the world of the Bible and ancient Judaism, today’s Jewish Studies Program has flourished and expanded to reflect the full range and diverse dimensions of the Jewish experience and ways of studying it. Scholars and students in the program encounter the fullness of Jewish life and culture in fields including Hebrew Bible and biblical archaeology, Talmud and rabbinic literature, Jewish history in the Middle Ages and early modern periods, Jewish literatures and languages including Yiddish and Ladino, and the study of Jewish life in the modern era, across Europe, Israel, the Americas, and Asia.
Nanoparticle blueprints reveal path to smarter medicines
New research involving Penn Engineering shows detailed variation in lipid nanoparticle size, shape, and internal structure, and finds that such factors correlate with how well they deliver therapeutic cargo to a particular destination.
A generous gift from alumni Glenn and Amanda Fuhrman brings the work of internationally acclaimed artist Jaume Plensa to the University of Pennsylvania. The latest addition to the Penn Art Collection expands Philadelphia's public art.
A massive chunk of ice, a new laser, and new information on sea-level rise
For nearly a decade, Leigh Stearns and collaborators aimed a laser scanner system at Greenland’s Helheim Glacier. Their long-running survey reveals that Helheim’s massive calving events don’t behave the way scientists once thought, reframing how ice loss contributes to sea-level rise.
