University Professor Jonathan Sarna awarded American Jewish Historical Society’s top honor
June 27, 2024
University Professor Jonathan Sarna ’75, GSAS MA’75, the Joseph H. and Belle R. Braun Professor of American Jewish History, is this year’s recipient of the American Jewish Historical Society’s Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award.
The award is given to an individual or group “whose contribution reflects the highest values of the American Jewish community,” according to the AJHS, which is the nation’s oldest ethnic, cultural archive, home to some 30 million documents and other artifacts related to Jewish history in the United States.
“I am tremendously honored by this award,” Sarna said. “My association with the American Jewish Historical Society dates back to my first year at Brandeis, when the society was still on the Brandeis campus. I worked at the AJHS throughout my Brandeis career and have been a member for more than half a century. It is a source of enormous pride to me that AJHS is recognizing my life’s work in American Jewish history in this way.”
The award has been given annually since 1986, including to Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, British historian Simon Schama, and operatic soprano Beverly Sills. Sarna is the third Brandeisian to be honored with the Emma Lazarus Statue of Liberty Award. Founding Brandeis president Abram Sachar, H’68, was recognized in 1986, followed by former Brandeis Board of Trustees member and philanthropist Sylvia Hassenfeld, H’98, in 1994.
Sarna will receive the award at a gala in his honor in New York in late September.