BRIEF BIO (2011)
Arnold Dashefsky, Ph.D. is Professor of Sociology and the Doris and Simon Konover
Chair of Judaic Studies at the University of Connecticut in Storrs. He is the founding
Director of the Center for Judaic Studies and Contemporary Jewish Life, located in the
Thomas J. Dodd Research Center at UConn. The co-author or editor of seven books
and numerous articles and reports on Jewish identity, charitable giving, and interfaith
marriage, among others, he is the Director of the Mandell L. Berman Institute – North
American Jewish Data Bank. His most recent book is entitled: Charitable Choices:
Philanthropic Decisions of Donors in the American Jewish Community (co-authored with
Bernard Lazerwitz) and published by Lexington Books in 2009. He is currently working
on two books, one examining Jewish identities in the 21st century and the other updating
an earlier volume on American emigration.