Newsmaker: Adam Shear

Noteworthy: Shear was named one of two editors of the Association for Jewish Studies' AJS Review, published by Cambridge University Press.

Occupation: Associate professor of religious studies at the University of Pittsburgh

Age: 45

Residence: Squirrel Hill

Education: B achelor's degree in history, Yale University, 1993; master's degree in history, University of Pennsylvania, 1996; and a Ph.D. in history, University of Pennsylvania, 2003

Background: Shear has been the director of the Jewish Studies program at Pitt for six years. He researches Jewish history and the impact of printing on Jewish culture, and is involved in a digital humanities project called “Footprints, Jewish Books Through Time and Place.” The goal of the project is to build a database to track the circulation of printed “Jewish books.”

Quote: “It's an exciting opportunity to help shape the scholarly conversation in the larger field of Jewish studies, and it's an honor to be able to be of service to people in the profession by helping shepherd good work that other people are doing into print.”