Abram L. Sachar

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Abram L. Sachar in 1961

Abram Leon Sachar (February 15, 1899 – July 24, 1993)[1] was an American historian and founding president of Brandeis University.

Early life and education

He was born in

Phi Beta Kappa in 1920.[2] From 1920 to 1923 he studied at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, England, where he received his doctorate in history for his thesis on the Victorian House of Lords.[2]

History professorship

Upon his return to the United States, Sachar joined the faculty of the history department at the

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, teaching modern European and English history. He remained at this position for the next 24 years.[1]

In 1926, he married Thelma Horwitz, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Washington University in St. Louis.[2] They had three sons who rose to prominence in their respective professions: Howard M. Sachar, a distinguished American historian; Edward J. Sachar, a pioneering biological psychiatrist, and David B. Sachar, a gastroenterologist.

Sachar published his first book in 1927; this was followed by several other books in quick succession. He also lectured across the country from the 1920s to the 1990s, and appeared in a weekly educational television lecture show, The Course of Our Times; his analyses of problems in contemporary history were later published in the book of the same title. Sachar remained a working educator, historian, lecturer, and author until his death.[2]

Hillel leader

He became a leader of the

B'nai B'rith Youth Organization (BBYO) from 1945 to 1948.[3]

Concurrently, he served as part-time religious leader of Sinai Temple, a Reform Jewish congregation in Champaign-Urbana.[4]

During World War II, Sachar worked as a radio news analyst in Chicago and New York, commenting on contemporary affairs. He was also involved with attempts to aid Jewish refugees, organizing a program to bring refugee students to the United States.[2]

University president

In 1948, trustees of the newly formed, Jewish-sponsored, nonsectarian Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, asked Albert Einstein to be their first president. When he refused, their second choice was David Ben-Gurion, who also turned down the offer. Their third choice was Sachar, who had displayed his scholarly credentials and devotion to the Jewish people through previous leadership of the Hillel organization at the University of Illinois, and through his 1930 work, History of the Jews.[5] During his 20-year tenure, Sachar's leadership and fund-raising skills were largely credited for building Brandeis into a major research institution. When he assumed office in 1948, Brandeis had 107 students and 13 faculty members; at the time of his death, it had 3,700 undergraduate and graduate students, and 360 full-time faculty members. Sachar personally raised $160 million[6] for the expansion of the campus from a few buildings on a defunct medical-school campus to a complex of 90 buildings spread over 235 acres.[1] Upon his retirement in 1968, he was named chancellor and then chancellor emeritus of Brandeis University, a title that allowed him to continue his fund-raising activities on behalf of the university. All told, he raised an estimated $250 million for Brandeis.[2]

Honors

He was invited by President Lyndon B. Johnson to serve on the U.S. Advisory Commission on International Education and Cultural Affairs, among other state and national panels; he also served on the U.S. Holocaust Commission. He was also active in several educational and philanthropic boards. He was awarded honorary degrees from more than 30 American colleges and universities.[2]

He died of respiratory failure at his home in Newton, Massachusetts, on 24 July 1993.[1] His wife of 67 years,[1] Thelma, survived him; she died in 1997 and was interred beside him at a special plot, created at their request, near the Sachar International Institute at Brandeis University.[2]

Works

  • A History of the Jews (1930; revised 1965)[7]
  • Sufferance is the Badge: The Jew in the Contemporary World (1939)[8]
  • The Course of Our Times (1972)[9]
  • The Redemption of the Unwanted (1984)[10]
  • Brandeis University: A Host at Last (1995)[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Lyons, Richard D. (25 July 1993). "Dr. Abram L. Sachar, Historian And 1st Brandeis U. President, 94". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Abram L. Sachar Personal Papers, 1918-1997, n.d." Brandeis University. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  3. ^ a b "Abram L. Sachar Hillel Papers, 1926-1992, n.d." Brandeis University. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  4. ^ "Sinai Temple History". Sinai Temple. 2006. Archived from the original on 5 December 2010. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  5. ISBN 978-0-674-02421-2
    .
  6. ^ "Education: Builder in a hurry". Time. 29 September 1967. Archived from the original on 23 January 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011.
  7. ^ Sachar, Abram Leon (1958). A History of the Jews. Knopf. p. 455.
  8. ^ Sachar, Abram Leon (1939). Sufferance is the Badge: The Jew in the Contemporary World. A. A. Knopf. p. 585.
  9. ISBN 0-394-47442-2
    .
  10. ISBN 0-312-66729-9
    . abram sachar.
  11. ISBN 0-87451-585-8
    . abram sachar.

Further reading

  • Diamond, Nancy, "The 'Host at Last': Abram Sachar and the Establishment of Brandeis University", Perspectives on the History of Higher Education 28 (2011), 223–52.

External links
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