Nelson Glueck

Joseph Margulies (Vienna, Austria 1896–1984 New York)
Oil on canvas, 1957
Cincinnati Skirball Museum 

Nelson Glueck (1900–1971) was born to a struggling Lithuanian immigrant Jewish family in Cincinnati. He was ordained a rabbi at Hebrew Union College in 1923. Supported by HUC, he earned a Ph.D. from the University of Jena, Germany in 1927 and by 1928 was a member of the faculty of HUC. By 1950, he had excavated remains of the civilization of the ancient Nabataeans in Transjordan, described a biblical copper-mining industry at the shore of the Red Sea, and shown how the Negev could support a large population if proper irrigation techniques were used. A personal friend of David Ben-Gurion, Abba Eban, Golda Meir, Henrietta Szold, and Judah Magnes, among other notables worldwide, this pioneer in the burgeoning field of biblical archaeology was known affectionately in the nascent state of Israel as “Ha-Professor” (the Professor). Glueck delivered the benediction at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy in 1961.  

By 1950, Glueck was also well into his long tenure (1947–1971) as president of Hebrew Union College. As president, Glueck oversaw the merger of HUC with the Jewish Institute of Religion. He expanded the Cincinnati-based institution to include schools in New York, Los Angeles, and Jerusalem. He encouraged the creation of the Schools of Jewish Communal Service and Jewish Education in California. And he founded and nurtured the School of Biblical and Archaeological Studies in Jerusalem, which bears his name. 

Glueck was married to Helen Iglauer Glueck, a professor of medicine at the University of Cincinnati. She was acclaimed for her work in the field of blood research and her valuable contributions to medical literature.  

Nelson Glueck died in Cincinnati in 1971, after announcing plans to step down from the HUC presidency and four months after his final trip to Israel. His portrait was painted by Joseph Margulies, known for portraiture, seascapes and landscapes, and genre paintings.