Princeton University Honors Faculty Members Receiving Emeritus Status June 2008
The biographical sketches were written by colleagues in the epartments of those honore.
Contents Faculty Members Receiving Emeritus Status Robert Choate Darnton (2007) Page 1 Peter Raymon Grant Page 5 John Joseph Hopfiel Page 8 William Louis Howarth Page 10 Hisashi Kobayashi Page 14 Joseph John Kohn Page 18 Ralph Lerner Page 21 Eugene Perry Link Jr. Page 24 Guust Nolet Page 27 Giacinto Scoles Page 29 John Suppe (2007) Page 33 Abraham Labe Uovitch Page 36 Bastiaan Cornelius van Fraassen Page 40
Abraham Labe Uovitch Avrom Uovitch was born in 1933, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he grew up. As an unergrauate he attene Columbia University, an concurrently followe a course of stuy at the Jewish Theological Seminary. He receive his B.A. in 1958 an his M.A. in Near Eastern languages, also from Columbia, a year later. He obtaine his octorate in 1965 at Yale, where he wrote his issertation on the Islamic law of commercial partnership. During his years of grauate stuy, his mentors in meieval an Near Eastern stuies all of whom became his friens an colleagues were such extraorinary scholars as Robert Lopez, Joseph Schacht, Shlomo Dov Goitein, an Franz Rosenthal. Between 1964 an 1967, he taught at Braneis an Cornell; in 1967, he came to Princeton where he has remaine until his retirement, with visiting stints at various other universities an research institutes. His contributions to learning as a scholar, teacher, an aministrator have been enormous. His pioneering stuy, Partnership an Profit in Meieval Islam, publishe by Princeton University Press in 1970, an several articles on relate subjects, represent a breakthrough in the unerstaning of the relation of Islamic law to everyay practice in the economic life of the meieval Mile East. It ha been thought that in some areas (such as ritual, family law, an inheritance), practice reflecte the shari a; - that in some others (as in constitutional an criminal law), practice an law were far apart if not, often, isconnecte; an that in commercial law, matters fell between these two extremes. Avrom s examination of the sources showe that Islamic legal theory in the commercial sphere was not at all ivorce from the real worl. As he mae clear, Jueo- Arabic letters, contracts, an court ocuments from the 11th to 13th centuries, preserve in the Cairo Geniza, emonstrate the curious fact 36
that in that perio the practice of Jewish merchants was in keeping with Islamic law as elaborate by scholars in the eighth century. The explanation for this, as Avrom showe, was that both those early Muslim legal texts an the Jueo-Arabic Geniza texts reflecte the same reality: a wiely recognize an historically roote merchant s law that was neither specifically Muslim nor Jewish. Avrom s many articles on the economic life of the meieval Near East an North Africa isplay the range an originality of his research. He has thrown fresh light to mention only a few topics on long-istance trae, the institutions of creit an banking in the meieval Islamic Near East, the informalism characteristic of the social an economic institutions of the meieval Islamic worl, the uration of commercial voyages, the constitution of the traitional Islamic market place, an Jews an Muslims in Sicily in the 11th an 12th centuries. From using ocuments to ecipher the everyay life of people who live a thousan years ago, Avrom move to fiel work an the contemporary worl for a book he an his wife Lucette Valensi researche together an publishe in 1984: The Last Arab Jews: The Communities of Jerba, Tunisia. Their stuy of these socially an culturally self-containe Jewish communities, the only ones in North Africa that ha resiste both assimilation an migration, recors an, through objective writing that yet connects with the reaer s imagination, reners palpable the most varie aspects of life from the social lives of men an women, through the astonishing fullness of ritualize time in a place where being Jewish is a full-time activity, to the life of the marketplace where Jews an non-jews interact. The roster of grauate stuents he traine, many of whom are now among the leaing scholars of four continents in their fiels, is auntingly long. His former stuents still speak of Avrom s ability, in seminars an in avising sessions, to raise the stimulating question, to point out the illuminating connection, an, of course, to inspire enthusiasm for the work. Unergrauates, too, observe these qualities, an over the years Avrom supervise some of the smartest senior theses written in the epartment. 37
Throughout his career, Avrom playe an essential role in fostering his iscipline. He organize seminal conferences, serve as eitor for a great many books on meieval an Islamic stuies, an has been coeitor for more than 30 years of Stuia Islamica, one of the finest journals in the fiel. He was associate eitor of the Dictionary of the Mile Ages, an since 1978 he has been a member of the executive committee of the most important collaborative publication in the fiel, the Encyclopeia of Islam. In 1987 the Jewish Theological Seminary recognize his many contributions to scholarship by awaring him an honorary octorate. For 18 years, Avrom chaire the Department of Near Eastern Stuies with extraorinary success. From the Mile East, Britain, an the Unite States, he brought to Princeton some of the worl s foremost scholars in Near Eastern history an Islamic stuies, making Princeton secon to none in the fiel. His funraising efforts also met with remarkable results. Avrom, a car-carrying historian of the meieval worl, has long ha an active interest in moern Mile Eastern affairs. In the seventies, he serve on various panels exploring the possibilities of peace in the Mile East, an became a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. His optimistic temperament an his stuies of societies in which Jews an Arabs peacefully engage in the give-an-take of aily life perhaps preispose Avrom to take an active part in attempts to bring a just peace to the conflict between Israelis an Palestinians. The International Center for Peace in the Mile East chose him an four others to form the elegation that went to Stockholm in December 1988 to meet with representatives of the Palestine Liberation Organization. At the conclusion of these meetings, Yasir Arafat issue a statement in which he state publicly that the Palestine Liberation Organization accepte the existence of Israel as a state, an eclare its rejection an conemnation of terrorism in all its forms. After some further negotiations with the U.S. State Department, Arafat restate the PLO position in a form that met previously state U.S. conitions 38
to begin public iplomatic contact. In 1989 Avrom receive the Jewish Peace Fellowship s Abraham Joshua Heschel awar. Speaking out critically but constructively, Avrom sai on that occasion, is the only way to be a true frien of Israel. Avrom s many achievements are inseparable from his personal qualities: inexhaustible energy (his travel scheules alone can inspire fatigue); a view of the worl that is cheerful without being prey to illusions; an extraorinary gift for conversation an frienship. It is har to see how the wor retirement can apply to Avrom, except in the most attenuate sense. His contributions to the worl of scholarship will continue. He an Lucette will continue their bi-continental existence in Paris an New York, where they have their chilren an granchilren, an, we hope, in Princeton, where they have countless friens. The glittering cities have their claim, but we o want Avrom here. One nees a moel for living with goo will an gusto. 39