Global News - Anna Ronell named first director of Brandeis Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry
June 18, 2009
Brandeis University is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Anna Ronell as the first director of the Brandeis-Genesis Institute for Russian Jewry (BGI).
Dr. Ronell was born and grew up in St. Petersburg, completed her undergraduate studies at Tel Aviv University, and received her Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies from Brandeis University. She has served as a lecturer in Judaic Studies at Wellesley College, a fellow of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies at Brandeis, and as associate
director for Action for Post-Soviet Jewry, a non-profit organization dedicated to humanitarian aid for the Jewish elderly and handicapped in the former Soviet Union. Her academic expertise is in the area of Eastern European Jewish literature and culture.
As director, Dr. Ronell will be responsible for leadership and programming for the BGI, whose mission is to prepare Russian-speaking Jews from around the world to become effective community leaders fortified by Jewish knowledge, a systematic understanding of Russian Jewry, and a commitment to the future of the Jewish people. By providing scholarships for high school students for study in the BIMA and Genesis summer programs, and for undergraduate and graduate students for study at Brandeis University, BGI enables students to gain the critical knowledge, Jewish connections, networking and growth opportunities to help the Russian-speaking Jewish community cement its commitment to the Jewish world at large.
Anna Ronell will begin her work as director of the BGI on July 1, 2009.