The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies 
 

It has been over 30 years since Murray Shiff (z”l), then Executive Director of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, and Edward Alexander, chair of the Jewish Studies Committee at the UW, got an idea that was quite ambitious for a relatively small and isolated Jewish community: to bring to the UW each year an internationally-known Jewish studies scholar for a series of lectures – lectures that would reach not only the Seattle community but, through publication, a nationwide audience as well. Shiff asked one person after another for the financial resources needed. One after another, they turned him down – until he talked with Sam Stroum (z”l), who proved willing to add support for what became the Samuel & Althea Stroum Lectureship in Jewish Studies to the very long list of worthy causes to which he was already committed. The lectures have put the Jewish Studies Program, the UW, and Seattle on the Jewish Studies “map” worldwide.

With the Stroum’s support, The University of Washington Press has published over 16 books based on the lectures; the books have collectively sold tens of thousands of copies. Several have won national book awards, and many are used in university courses around the country. To learn more, go to the UW Press website:

http://www.washington.edu/uwpress/books/series/Seriesstroumlec.html

View archives of past Stroum Lectures

For information on this year's lectures, please visit:
http://jewdub.org/stroumlectures/