By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

Buffalo lawyer Gordon Gross and his wife, Gretchen, have donated $1 million to fund the first endowed professorship for the University at Buffalo's Institute for Jewish Thought, Heritage and Culture.

"This institute will greatly enrich the university's scholarship and will very much add to the cultural life of Western New York, including its Jewish community," said the Gross Shuman Brizdle & Gilfillan PC senior partner.

The institute, plans for which were announced Wednesday, will be housed in UB's College of Arts and Sciences.

The institute will focus on the role of Jewish heritage, culture and thought as it relates to current issues in the academic world. Lectures, programs and events on and off campus will encourage the general public to learn more about the Jewish religion and its cultural and academic influence in society, Gross said.

"When you talk about the influence of Judaism on philosophy, on law and science, you're talking about an impact that will carry over to the community," he said.

The center will be the first of its kind within SUNY to establish master's and doctoral degree programs in Jewish studies. It is expected to start granting bachelors' degrees by fall 2009 and, by fall 2010, count five faculty members and offer both masters' and doctoral degrees.

Interdisciplinary courses will be cross-listed within the university, addressing issues such as literature, law, philosophy, the arts, government, history, ethics, medicine and economics.

Steering-committee members include Peter Fleischmann, director and CEO of the Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies, and Ilene Fleischmann, a vice dean at UB Law and executive director of the UB Law Alumni Association.

Gross, who served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General's Corps from 1955 to 57, earned a law degree from UB Law in 1955.