New Director Named for Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies

Dr. Nils Roemer has been appointed as director of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas.

Roemer, the Stan and Barbara Rabin Professor in Holocaust Studies, succeeds Dr. Abby Kratz, who recently was appointed to lead the University’s new Office of Institutional Scholarship Administration.

“It has been a tremendous privilege to be a part of the center since arriving at UT Dallas almost 10 years ago,” Roemer said. “I am thrilled to assume the role as director and help maintain its zenith trajectory as a nationally and internationally recognized Center of Holocaust Studies.

“Together with my colleagues Dr. Zsuzsanna Ozsváth and Dr. David Patterson, and an incredibly supportive advisory board, I will endeavor to guide the center’s ever more important role at UT Dallas and in the Dallas Metroplex.” 

Roemer's research focuses on modern European and Jewish history, and the Holocaust. He teaches courses and offers graduate supervision in the School of Arts and Humanities. 

Before arriving at UT Dallas in 2006, Roemer taught for six years at the University of Southampton, England. He received a master's degree from the University of Hamburg in history, literature and philosophy, and a PhD in history from Columbia University. 

During the last few years, he has presented papers at various international conferences, organized several conferences and published numerous books and articles. 

Roemer, who lives with his wife, Cricket, and four sons in Frisco, is the author of Jewish Scholarship and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Germany: Between History and Faith (2005) and German City – Jewish Memory: The Story of Worms (2010). He also is the co-editor of many publications including German History from the Margins (2006); Crossing the Atlantic: Travel and Travel Writing in Modern Times (2011); and Longing, Belonging, and the Making of Jewish Consumer Culture (2011). 

The Ackerman Center, which serves UT Dallas students and the larger community, was created through a gift from the Edward and Wilhelmina Ackerman Foundation. Faculty research is supported through the Leah and Paul Lewis Chair in Holocaust Studies, the Hillel A. Feinberg Chair in Holocaust Studies and the Barbara and Stan Rabin Professorship in Holocaust Studies. 

The center offers undergraduate and graduate courses, a graduate certificate in Holocaust Studies, and PhD and graduate fellowships. The center hosts the annual Burton C. Einspruch Holocaust Lecture Series. 

The center also is home to the Arnold A. Jaffe Holocaust Library Collection, a book, video and electronic materials resource for scholars of Holocaust studies and for the broader public. 

“I look forward to working with Nils to carry out the important mission and goals of the Center, to attract more outstanding scholars to the Holocaust Studies Program, provide more scholarships and fellowships, teach more classes, and expand our outreach programs to the community,” said Selly Belofsky, chairman of the Ackerman Center Advisory Board.

“For these past 10 years, professor Roemer has proven to be a great teacher and a key member of our outstanding faculty team, in addition to being gifted with excellent administrative skills and outstanding leadership qualities."