Norman Golb, Professor Emeritus and two-time Guggenheim Fellow, 1928 to 2020

January 04, 2021

Norman Golb, in tan suit and dark tie, smiles.

Norman Golb, the Ludwig Rosenberger Professor of Jewish History and Civilization in NELC and the College, passed away December 29, 2020. He was 92.

Norman taught at UChicago for more than 50 years (1963-2015). He wrote extensively on a wide array of topics, including his studies of Obadiah the Proselyte; the earliest extant legal record of the Jews of Sicily, an autograph manuscript of Khazarian Jews of Kiev; a Hebrew document dealing with the First Crusade; the presence of the Jews of medieval Normandy, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Over the course of his career, Norman received many awards and honors, including two Guggenheim Fellowships and an honorary doctorate from the University of Rouen.

For further information on Prof. Golb's life and scholarly activities, please see his obituary. A private funeral was live-streamed from Oak Woods Cemetery in Chicago on Wednesday, December 30. Memories of Prof. Golb and condolences can be shared with the family in a video submission through this site.