A new scholarship and an endowed directorship of the Mandel Center for the Humanities have been created in University President Jehuda Reinharz's name as he ends his tenure in that role, according to a BrandeisNOW press release published yesterday.The scholarship was a gift from the Board of Trustees, and the Jacobson Family Foundation, which according to Portfolio.com is a foundation that "concentrates on Massachusetts charities," funded the directorship, according to BrandeisNOW. Reinharz was notified of the gifts at a Board of Trustees dinner held in his honor.

The press release said that two of Reinharz's priorities during his time as president have been "his unwavering support for educational opportunity through financial aid and his deep commitment to the humanities and the liberal arts" and that these gifts reflect his goals in those areas.

Chair of the Board of Trustees Malcom Sherman said in an interview with the Justice that the Board aimed to raise $1 million for the scholarship fund, and it exceeded that goal by raising $1.2 million so far.

All of the donations for the scholarship came from the Board of Trustees, according to the press release. Sherman went on to say that some Board members had not yet donated and that the Board is hoping to raise more money for the fund.

Reinharz said in the press release that having a scholarship named after him was gratifying because, "as a person who benefited from full scholarships and fellowships as both an undergraduate and a graduate student, and as president of a university where over 70 percent of our students receive some form of financial aid, I am very conscious of the importance of scholarships. They enable some of the best students in the world to come to Brandeis regardless of their ability to pay."

In an interview with the Justice, Reinharz said that he would not determine the details of the scholarship, but it would be the responsibility of the new administration. Reinharz also expressed gratitude that a scholarship was being named in his honor.

"I am really deeply honored that the Board decided to make this gift in my name. I think it very much appropriate and very much in keeping with one of my great passions, so I am absolutely delighted," he said.

The Jacobson Family Foundation endowed the directorship of the new Mandel Center for the Humanities; the new title of that position will be the Jehuda Reinharz director of the Mandel Center.

The current director of the Mandel Center, Prof. Ramie Targoff (ENG), will be the first person to assume that title. Targoff wrote in an e-mail to the Justice, "I was deeply honored to be named the Jehuda Reinharz Director of the Mandel Center for the Humanities. . The gift of an endowed chair seems a very fitting way to recognize President Reinharz's dedication to advancing the study of the humanities on our campus, as the earlier gift of the beautiful building, ... so strongly affirms."

In the press release, Reinharz said of the endowed directorship, "To have my name on the directorship of the Mandel Center is doubly gratifying given the fact that I am about to become president of the Mandel Foundation, whose name graces the humanities center."

Reinharz announced his resignation as University president in a Sept. 22 2009 campuswide e-mail. Former George Washington University Law School Dean Frederick Lawrence will take over as president Jan. 1, 2011.





-Nashrah Rahman contributed reporting.