July 23, 2003

The Koret Foundation recently awarded a two-year, $30,000 grant to the SFSU Jewish Studies Program.

The grant money will be used to support course and program development and to facilitate participation in the new bachelor's degree program in modern Jewish studies.

"This grant is important as we move forward in further developing the Jewish Studies Program, especially as we get the recently approved bachelor's degree in modern Jewish studies up and running," said Professor Fred Astren, director of the Jewish Studies Program. "More importantly, the continued support of a significant foundation like Koret gives us the confidence of knowing that our work is meaningful."

The grant is the latest of several donations totaling $135,000 from the Koret Foundation to the Jewish Studies Program.

"The Koret Foundation is pleased to support Jewish life and Jewish academic endeavors at San Francisco State University. The Foundation's recent grant to SFSU, and those grants made in the past, will help sustain an academically based Jewish presence at the University," said Tad Taube, president and director of the Koret Foundation.

The Koret Foundation supports organizations and initiatives in the San Francisco Bay Area and Israel that advance economic and educational opportunities, individual freedom, personal initiative and entrepreneurial values. The Foundation's grant-making helps to develop and enhance vibrant and thriving communities, with a special focus on the Jewish community.

Founded in 1993, the Jewish Studies Program attracts a diverse group of students from many racial and ethnic backgrounds, including participants in SFSU's elders programs and other community members. Students learn Jewish history, thought and culture from a renowned faculty. The Marvin L. Silverman Jewish Studies Reading Room, named after one of the program's founding faculty, contains a special collection of more than 2,000 academic, reference and historical books on Jewish subjects. Full original transcripts from the post-World War II Nuremberg Trials were recently donated to the program.

The Jewish Studies Program also offers a minor in Jewish studies.

The Jewish Studies Program is also supported by the Richard N. and Rhoda H. Goldman Philanthropic Fund, Jewish Community Endowment Fund, Gaia Fund and individual donors.

For more information about the Jewish Studies Program, call (415) 338-6075, send e-mail to jewish@sfsu.edu, or visit its Web site.

-- Matt Itelson

1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132    (415) 338-1111
Last modified July 23, 2003, by the Office of Public Affairs