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Alvin J. and Shirley Slater Professorship in Jewish Holocaust Studies

Thanks to the great generosity of Alvin J. and Shirley Slater, a new Chair in Jewish Holocaust Studies has been fully endowed.

Mr. Slater, who passed away on February 2, 2006 at the age of 86, was a 1940 graduate of Boston University where he studied economics and finance. He began his career in Washington D.C. as an economist, while also working at two part time jobs as a shoe salesman and theatre usher. After the end of World War II he attended Harvard Law School, graduating in 1949.

After graduation from law school Alvin Slater began a very successful career as a lawyer, investor, entrepreneur and real estate developer. He also owned a seat on the New York Stock Exchange. A man of great generosity, he – and his wife, Shirley – supported Jewish and other philanthropies both in America and abroad.

In describing the reason for their endowment of a Chair in Jewish Holocaust Studies at Boston University, Mrs. Slater explained that she and her husband grew up in the 1930s and 1940s and were deeply touched by the tragedy of European Jewry. She emphasized that Mr. Slater, “wanted the Holocaust to be remembered so that, hopefully, humankind would learn from that terrible experience and nothing like it would ever happen again to any group.” And she added, “My husband felt that we each have a responsibility that this not be forgotten.” As to why the Chair was given to Boston University, Mrs. Slater noted that, “her husband felt that B.U. had been very good to him.”

On the recommendation of an academic committee tasked with advising on the appointment of the first holder of the Chair, President Brown announced that Professor Steven T. Katz, Director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Judaic Studies, was appointed to the new position. A public occasion marking this endowment took place on September 24, 2007.