Please join us for a festive evening honoring the career and legacy of beloved UC Santa Cruz professor Bruce Thompson.

For almost four decades, Bruce Thompson has been a legendary instructor and engaging lecturer at UC Santa Cruz. He has mentored countless undergraduate students and shaped the trajectories of so many others who took his classes, inspiring in them a life-long passion for topics in history, literature, and Jewish Studies. At this event, Bruce will give a special capstone lecture, “My Lucky Career: Thirty-Five Years of Teaching at UCSC,” which will reflect on his time as an educator and mentor. The lecture will be followed by a reception where we will toast his legacy and impact.

Bruce taught his first course at UCSC in 1991. His original six-month appointment extended to a career of thirty-five years, enabling him to teach more than ten thousand students in a wide variety of courses in the departments of History and Literature and the program in Jewish Studies. In 2002, he was the first recipient of the John Dizikes Faculty Teaching Award in Humanities.

Alongside the event, we are excited to announce the creation of a new fund named in honor of Bruce and his distinguished teaching career. All funds raised will go directly to the support of UCSC undergraduate student research in History, Jewish Studies, or Literature. We hope you can join us on December 1st, but if not, we invite you to make a donation to honor Bruce and his legacy of teaching and mentorship.

This event is presented by The Center for Jewish Studies.