Jay Holstein, emeritus professor in the Department of Religious Studies, died on Nov. 14 at the age of 87. Over more than five decades at the University of Iowa, Holstein taught tens of thousands of students and became one of the institution’s most celebrated educators.
Holstein joined Iowa in 1970 as an assistant professor in the School of Religion and was appointed the first J. J. Mallon Chair in Judaic Studies in 1982, a position that was reaffirmed in 2007. His scholarship centered on the Hebrew Bible, and he published widely on literature and the Jewish experience. He was ordained as a rabbi after receiving an MA with honors from Hebrew Union College in New York City in 1966, and went on to earn his Ph.D from Hebrew College in Cincinnati in 1970.
His contributions earned numerous honors, including the President and Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence and the Medallion for Distinguished Service. In 2020, the UI honored Holstein for 50 years of teaching with the event Jay Holstein: A Golden Legacy of Learning, which drew a record audience for his commemorative lecture.
Holstein’s lectures were legendary—dynamic, irreverent, and infused with cultural references and humor. For decades, he regularly filled Macbride Auditorium with hundreds of students each semester, at times reaching more than 1,200 annually. Even after retiring in 2022, he continued teaching online. He was the subject of a 2010 documentary, Professor.
“It was a pleasure to talk to students taking Jay's courses whose parents and even grandparents had recommended them,” said Paul Dilley, departmental executive officer for the Department of Religious Studies. “At the same time, he was deeply invested in first-generation students. In short, he played an important role in making the university and the Department of Religious Studies an engaging place for all who took his courses.”
This fall, Holstein continued his lifelong commitment to education by teaching an asynchronous section of his most celebrated course, Quest for Human Destiny. His friend and former wife, Ellen Holstein, will complete the semester’s course, honoring his memory by carrying out his commitment to his students.
“I had hoped he was one of the immortals,” Ellen said of his passing, “but it turns out it will have to be his students who carry his flame forward.”
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