$5 Million Gift More than Doubles College Endowment in its Second Year

Shalem has recently received a $5 million gift to endow two academic chairs. The gift, which more than doubles the college’s endowment just two years into its operations, was made by two anonymous donors, and represents “an enormous vote of confidence in the sustainability of this institution,” said Shalem Provost Daniel Polisar.

The first endowed chair, which will be in the Middle East and Islamic Studies department, is intended to strengthen a revolutionary program of study that combines innovative, in-depth courses on the theology, sociology, culture, history, and politics of the Middle East with intensive language study in both Arabic and Persian. “Our aim is to produce an entirely different kind of expert of the Middle East and Islam,” explains Shalem College President Martin Kramer, a renowned historian of Islam and the Middle East. “One who will rise to positions of influence in the fields of intelligence, diplomacy, politics, journalism, security, and academia, and who will understand the texts and contexts at the heart of the world’s most misunderstood yet explosive region.” By choosing to endow a chair in this department, the donor, a businessman and philanthropist who hails from Europe, demonstrated his faith in both Shalem’s innovative approach to teaching and the quality of its students. “Israel is desperate for the kind of forward-thinking, informed and broad-minded leaders that this pioneering program will produce. I view this investment as an opportunity to make an ongoing, meaningful contribution to the future of the Jewish state and the region as a whole,” he stated.

The second chair is intended to enable Shalem to incorporate into its program of study an orientation built on conflict resolution. It will provide a chair for a scholar either in one of the areas already included in the college curriculum or in an area to be added in the future, whose expertise—as reflected in his or her research, teaching, or both—includes an emphasis on conflict resolution. Polisar expressed his delight at the new chair, explaining that “the skills and attitudes underlying this area of study are crucial for young people to acquire, and especially in modern Israel. This approach fits well with a number of subjects we teach at Shalem and, thanks to this generous gift, we will be able to begin a search for a top-notch scholar to join our faculty.” The benefactors, both dedicated venture philanthropists and strong proponents of conflict resolution themselves, explained the motivation behind their decision to support a chair at Shalem in this field: “If you really want peace, you have to understand, practice and promulgate conflict resolution, and we are delighted to help Shalem College expand into this crucial area, and especially to expose students to it [both] inside and outside of the classroom.”

Thanks to this two-part gift, Polisar concludes, Shalem will truly be positioned to create a new generation of influential citizens, “possessing the knowledge and perspective to help Israel meet the challenges it faces in the years and decades ahead.”