GW announced a $2.5 million gift from Dr. Munr Kazmir to establish and fund a full-time endowed faculty position in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences’ Judaic studies program. The Meir Kazmir, M.D., Professorship in Hebrew Bible will complement the university’s more than 25 years of scholarship in Judaic studies. GW plans to have a top scholar in place by fall 2009.

“This important gift supports the university’s commitment to the field of religious studies and the promotion of cross-cultural understanding,” said GW President Steven Knapp. “The new professorship will strengthen our interdisciplinary curriculum, and I am grateful to Dr. Kazmir for his foresight and generosity.”

The Kazmir Professorship is the first endowed chair to be announced since Steven Knapp became the university’s 16th president, and the second chair to be endowed in the Judaic studies program. The Charles E. Smith Professorship of Judaic Studies was created in 1979.

Robert Eisen, director of the program in Judaic studies and professor of religion at GW, said, “The Hebrew Bible is the foundational text for scholarship in the Judeo-Christian canon. The presence of a scholar engaged in the study of the Hebrew Bible will be a critical step in building a stronger Judaic studies program at the university.”

Kazmir, whose daughter attends GW, is the chief executive officer and founder of Direct Meds, Inc., a prescription medicine provider, and Quality Home Care, which serves homeless, indigent, and child patients in the New York and New Jersey area. He also is CEO and president of the American International School System, a provider of high quality education for children in Asia and the Middle East, and is a board member on the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. An internationally recognized philanthropist, Kazmir has received numerous humanitarian awards including recognition from the Be’er Hagolah Institutes in 2005 and the Theodore Herzl Award in 1997 from the Israeli Parliament, Prime Minister of Israel, and the Mayor of Jerusalem.

For more information, view the GW press release.