Professor Moshe Davis (1916-1996)

Professor Davis, who was Stephen S. Wise Professor Emeritus of American Jewish History and Institutions at the Hebrew University, was born in 1916 in New York City. He received his M.A. and was ordained at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. In 1937 he came to Jerusalem to study at the Hebrew University and was the first American Jew to receive a Ph.D. there. Returning to the JTS, Davis went on to become an authority on American Jewish history, dean of the JTS Teachers Institute and College of Jewish Studies, and later provost, a position he held until his immigration to Israel in 1959. He also founded the Conservative movement's Camp Ramah network and Leadership Training Fellowship.

Upon his arrival in Israel, Professor Davis joined the faculty of the Hebrew University, founding the Institute of Contemporary Jewry, the first of its type in the world. Within the institute he also founded the America-Holy Land Project, which became an academic sub-specialty of both American and Jewish history. Following his retirement from the University he founded the International Center for University Teaching of Jewish Civilization, under the sponsorship of the President of Israel.

Professor Davis was a widely published author and won many honors, among them the Rothberg Prize in Jewish Education of the Hebrew University, the Speaker of the Knesset Quality of Life Award, and an honorary Ph.D. from the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.