Cardin Programs

Background on the Cardin Chair, Cardin Lecture and Cardin Family

The Cardin Chair and Jerome S. Cardin Lecture were established in 1984 by Jerome S. Cardin, Esq. The chair position, a professorship dedicated to fostering an appreciation of the Judeo-Christian tradition across the humanities, was the first endowed chair in the humanities at what was formerly Loyola College, now Loyola University Maryland. The chair is filled by a visiting professor on a rotating basis by a department in the humanities, while the lecture remains an annual event. The professor must be a senior scholar of national or international acclaim dedicated to exploring and fostering the humanities in the Judeo-Christian tradition, who will bring fresh insight into the Loyola curriculum. Although the chair may be filled for the entire year, many departments have opted to offer the allotted salary for one semester only so that they may attract more prominent scholars.

Jerome S. Cardin, Esq., who died in 1993, was a Loyola alumnus of the Class of 1943. A lifelong resident of Baltimore, Mr. Cardin was a prominent Baltimore attorney—a partner in Cardin and Cardin, P.A. He served on various business and community boards and was well known in Baltimore for his philanthropic leadership. He and his wife, Shoshana, have been honored by various organizations for their volunteer work.

Shoshana Cardin, for whom the Shoshana S. Cardin Jewish Community High School is named, died in 2018. She served as officer and board member of a number of civic and non-profit organizations. She received her B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her M.A. from Antioch University. She received numerous awards, including a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Baltimore Hebrew University, Syracuse University, and Hebrew College, Bostice; a Doctorate of Philosophy from Bar-Ilan University, Israel; the Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award; as well as the Victorine Q. Adams and the Henrietta Szold Humanitarian Awards. She and her husband were members of Chizuk Amuno Congregation.

Learn more about the Cardin Chair

A photo from the luncheon announcing the Jerome S. Cardin Chair in the Humanities and the Jerome S. Cardin Lecture. Foreground: Jacob L. Cardin; Left to right: Jacob's wife, Mrs. Florence J. Cardin; Jacob's son, Jerome S. Cardin, Esq. '45; Joseph A. Sellinger, S.J.; Jerome's wife, Mrs. Shoshana Cardin; and George W. McManus, Esq. '43.

Cardin Lectures

The Cardin Lecture is an annual lecture dedicated to fostering Jewish-Christian relations, sponsorship of which rotates among the departments in the humanities. It was established through an endowment by Jerome S. Cardin in 1984 to present topics on Jewish-Christian relations, particularly those that define parallels and connections between the two. It is administered through the College of Arts and Sciences and the Center for the Humanities. The lecture is followed by a kosher reception. Unlike many lectures on campus which are open to the general public but may be primarily intended for the University community, the Cardin Lecture has a fairly high profile in the larger Baltimore Jewish and Christian communities.

Learn more about the past Cardin Lectures and presentations.

Watch a video of Stephen Nadler's 2017 Cardin Lecture "Spinoza on the Divinity of Scripture."

Watch a video of Adam Gopnik's 2018 Cardin Lecture " Believing Without Belief, Spirituality Without Team Spirit: Thinking about Tolerance in the Twenty-First Century."