The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) now has a new President, Rabbi Daniel L. Lehmann, a Thursday GTU press release reported.
Lehmann is the first Jewish person to head the 57-year-old institution and already has a new program in place. The innovative interfaith chaplaincy program, funded by the Hellman Foundation with the generous sum of $2.5 million, will offer tracks for Hindu, Muslim, and Jewish students. Further dialog between Islamic and Jewish tradition will be offered in the Midrasha-Madrasa program. In the fall of 2020 the GTU will launch a new online program which will offer those who complete it a degree in Interreligious Studies.
Stating his view religion “can be a powerful source for healing and hope,” Lehmann added that “our scholarship…can point the way.”
Lehmann hold several awards for his scholarship and achievements in Jewish education, iIncluding the CJP Rabbinical Award in 2016 and the Prof. David Mirsky award in Talmud.
GTU is a consortium of eight US schools of theology and 11 centers which are affiliated with it. It owns one of the largest theological libraries in the world, the Flora Lamson Hewlett library.
One of the noted graduates of GTU is Arab-Israeli by heritage and US citizen Shibley Telhami who served as an advisor regarding Middle East policy to several US Presidents.