LBC Principal promoted to full Professor

We are delighted to announce that our Principal, Rabbi Dr Deborah Kahn-Harris, has been promoted to full Professor with effect from the beginning of this academic year (September 2024).

All the referees and members of the ad hoc committee appointed by the College’s Academic Appointments and Promotions Committee (AAPC) to assess her application were unanimous about the all-round strength of her application. This embraced research accomplishments – capped by her recent book on Polyamory and Reading the Book of Ruth – teaching, management and administration in her role as Principal, and sustained contributions to the wider Progressive Jewish community.

Since the Principal chairs the AAPC, the regulations require the appointment of an ad hoc committee for such circumstances. This comprised the College’s co-chair, Prof David Simon, as a senior independent Professor, along with the two external professors currently serving on the AAPC.

Deborah’s formal title will henceforth be Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris.

Prof David Simon explained:

“The award of an individual professorship – the most senior academic rank – in this way is a real mark of distinction, reflecting sustained excellence and achievement in research and publication as well as teaching and management, as assessed by a panel of independent peers. Appointees to institutional leadership positions, like Principal or Vice-Chancellor, are usually already professors, except in the case of small, specialised institutions like LBC. Once in post, however, the demands of day-to-day management and teaching make attainment of the benchmarks required for promotion difficult. This makes Rabbi Professor Deborah’s achievement the more commendable. “

Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris said:

“I am deeply honoured by the recognition that my academic peers – our Chair, Professor David Simon; the external members of the Academic Appointments Committee; and the independent referees of my application from the world of UK Biblical and Jewish Studies – have bestowed upon me by elevating me to their ranks. I stand on the shoulders of those who have come before me, particularly the two Emeritus Principals of Leo Baeck College, Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet and Rabbi Professor Marc Saperstein. Through our scholarship the UK Progressive Jewish community continues the long tradition of having serious, engaged rabbi- scholars at the helm of our rabbinic training seminary, Leo Baeck College.”

Leo Baeck College is a preeminent institution of Jewish scholarship and learning that is the heart of the intellectual and spiritual life of the Progressive Jewish community, and is the UK’s only Progressive Jewish rabbinic seminary, training rabbis for Liberal, Masorti and Reform congregations in the UK and abroad. The College combines inspirational, high calibre teaching with a commitment to developing rabbis, other professionals, and lay leaders who will build sustainable, accessible, and thriving Progressive Jewish communities.