Former Hillel director dies

Human rights champion, master teacher and former executive director of Hillel, Irving Saposnik, died Nov. 20 of a particularly aggressive brain tumor. He was 67.

Saposnik, professor of Jewish studies, joined the UW faculty in the Department of English in 1966. He also has held appointments at Haifa and Tel Aviv universities, and the Kibbutz Seminary for Teachers. He served in the Israeli defense forces and chaired the Campus Interfaith Coalition in Madison. He became Hillel’s executive director in 1983 and continued his work there until 1999.

The Saposnik family requests that donations in his honor be made to Jewish Social Services, the Hillel Foundation or Beth Israel Center.