Ilan Troen was born in Boston, educated at Brandeis, the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the University of Chicago.  Before moving to Israel​ in 1975 when he joined Ben-Gurion University, he was on the faculty of Missouri and Princeton. 

 

At BGU he was the Lopin Professor of Modern History; Dean of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences; Director of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute and Archives in Sede Boker; and Director of the Kreitman Foundation Fellowships. At BGU he contributed to pioneering programs in Israel Studies and was the founding Editor of Israel Studies -- the leading journal in this new area of study to which more than 3,000 universities worldwide subscribe. 

 

His work in Israel Studies brought him to the attention of Brandeis University which initially brought him to Brandeis on “loan” to establish the largest and most significant center outside Israel for the study and teaching of Israel: the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies.  He was also appointed to the Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies, the first such chair in the United States.  In this assignment he has contributed to developing a major bookshelf for academic and public use in the study of Israel, training new doctoral students at Brandeis as well as 225 academics from 200 universities worldwide through the Brandeis Summer Institute for Israel Studies, and initiating a program in “Israel literacy” for the general public. 

 

He has authored or edited numerous books in American, Jewish and Israeli history. They include Divergent Jewish Cultures: Israel and America (Yale, 2001); Imagining Zion: Dreams, Designs and Realities in a Century of Jewish Settlement (Yale, 2003); and Jews and Muslims in the Arab World; Haunted by Pasts Real and Imagined (Roman and Littlefield, 2007); and Tel-Aviv at 100; Visions, Designs and Actualities (Indiana, 2011).

 

His permanent home is in Omer, just outside Beer-Sheva, where he and his wife, Carol, have brought up their 6 children who all make their homes in Israel.  On completion of the assignment at Brandeis, he looks forward to returning to his home in the Negev.

 

Speaking Topics: Zionism, Judaism, Cultural Understandings 

To schedule, contact: Tori Bentkover, Director of Public Relations pr@boston.mfa.gov.il