UCF to Honor Abe & Tess Wise for Establishing Endowed Professorship in Judaic Studies

Abe and Tess Wise will be honored by the University of Central Florida Judaic Studies Progam for establishing an endowed professorship in Judaic Studies. A recognition luncheon honoring the Wises and other donors will be held on October 17, 2004, at 11 am, on the campus of the university, headed by high university officials and invited guests.

In 2003 the Wises spearheaded a drive to fund a named professorship in Judaic Studies at UCF, culminating in a $100,000 endowment.

The Wises funded more than 50 percent of the professorship as other donors joined them. Reaching this goal provided the opportunity for a 50 percent State match.

Dr. Kathryn Seidel, Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, has recently appointed Professor Moshe Pelli, the director of UCF's Judaic Studies Program, as the "Abe and Tess Wise Professor of Judaic Studies."

The addition of a professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences will allow the Judaic Studies Program to expand and enrich its curriculum for the benefit of students and the community. Last academic year, the Judaic Studies Program conducted a search for an Assistant Professor of Judaic Studies, and Dr. Ken Hanson has been appointed to this position, the second full-time, tenure-track appointment in Judaic Studies.

Abe and Tess Wise have been pillars of the Orlando Jewish community for over 50 years. They were among the 'Founding Fathers' of the Judaic Studies Program 20 years ago and have been involved in the Program, as members of its Advisory Board, since then. The Wises are well known for their philanthropy, their public activities and commitment to education. Abe was a founding trustee in 1980 of the TOP Foundation. In 1985 the Wises founded the Holocaust Memorial Resource and Education Center of Central Florida, one of only four such centers in the country. Tess, a 1972 alumna of UCF, has served as the Center's executive director from its inception, and is the heart and soul of the Center.

The guiding dictum of the Wises' work in the community was expressed by Tess, saying, "We need to preserve the future by knowing and understanding the past. Not to teach these lessons is deceiving our young people." The endowed Judaic Studies Professorship will ensure that these important lessons are not lost for future generations.

The recognition luncheon, under the motto "Without understanding, there is no knowledge; Without knowledge, there is no understanding" (from Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of the Fathers), will be attended by friends and supporters of the Judaic Studies Program and friends of the Wises. It will highlight the Program's achievements in the two decades of its activities, and will be a token of the community and the university commitment to higher Jewish education.

The UCF Judaic Studies Program, in its 20th year of activities, teaches all aspects of Jewish civilization: the Hebrew Bible, history, culture, literature, and Hebrew language. It sponsors a Distinguished Lecturers Series, which has brought speakers such as Nobel Prize Laureates Elie Wiesel and Isaac Bashevis Singer, and Ambassador Zalman Shoval (Israel's ambassador to Washington) to the UCF and to the Central Florida community.

For more information on the Judaic Studies Program and on the Donors Recognition Luncheon, call 407-823-5129, or visit the website at www.cas.ucf.edu/judaic_studies.

[ view the invitation to the Recognition Luncheon ]