Elmhurst University endows annual Heschel Lecture in honor of former mayor and Holocaust educator

At this year’s annual Abraham Joshua Heschel Lecture, Elmhurst University will celebrate the endowment of the lecture series by the family of Abner Ganet, a trustee emeritus of the university, a former Elmhurst mayor, and a longtime Holocaust educator.

Rabbi Steven Bob, the university’s Jewish chaplain and rabbi emeritus at Congregation Etz Chaim of DuPage County, and the university chaplain H. Scott Matheney will lead the Heschel Lecture on Monday, April 28.

The lecture series is named for prominent Jewish philosopher and theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel and focuses on the Jewish faith.

Beginning this year, the newly endowed lecture also will be known as the Abner Ganet-Abraham Joshua Heschel Lecture, thanks to a gift from Ganet’s family.

Ganet was one of the university’s longest-serving trustees and a recipient of both the Founders Medal and an honorary degree, which was awarded soon after his passing in 2012.

A longtime community and civic leader, Ganet was a two-term mayor of Elmhurst, serving from 1977 to 1985. He also was a World War II veteran who spent his later years ensuring that younger generations would never forget the lessons of the Holocaust, by speaking in schools about the day in 1945 when his 1st Infantry Division liberated the Buchenwald concentration camp.

At the Heschel Lecture, Rabbi Bob and Chaplain Matheney will discuss the evolution of the Hillel student organization at Elmhurst; building support for the university’s Jewish students, faculty, staff and alumni; and religious pluralism and interfaith life on campus.

Rabbi Bob served as senior rabbi at Congregation Etz Chaim for 35 years before retiring and becoming rabbi emeritus. He also serves as a guest faculty member at Wheaton College and as an adjunct faculty member at Elmhurst University. Rev. Matheney has been a university chaplain for 45 years, nearly 28 of those years spent at Elmhurst.

The Heschel Lecture will begin at 7 p.m. in the Frick Center’s Founders Lounge, 190 Prospect Ave. Admission is free but reservations are encouraged, at elmhurst.edu/Cultural.

The intercultural lectures and other diverse cultural programming at Elmhurst University support community engagement and lifelong learning, and prepare students to thrive as adaptive leaders. For more information, email marketing@elmhurst.edu.