The annual award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the enrichment, conservation, knowledge and dissemination of Michigan Jewish history.
JHSM (Jewish Historical Society of Michigan) announces Howard Lupovitch will receive the 2023 Leonard N. Simons History-Maker Award. A fourth-generation Detroiter, Lupovitch is professor of history and director of the Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies at Wayne State University.
The annual award recognizes those who have made outstanding contributions to the enrichment, conservation, knowledge and dissemination of Michigan Jewish history. It is named for Leonard N. Simons (1904-1995), a community activist, philanthropist and co-founder of the advertising firm SMZ (Simons Michelson Zieve Inc.).
According to JHSM President Jeannie Weiner, “Howard Lupovitch defines the Simons Award. He is a well-known scholar and historian whose lectures are followed by many in the community. He is currently writing a history of Detroit’s Jewish community since 1967.”
The Leonard N. Simons History-Maker Award was first given to Philip Slomovitz in 1991. “Over the years, the honor has been given to an array of remarkable recipients,” said JHSM Executive Director Catherine Cangany, Ph.D., “including soprano Emma Lazaroff Schaver, Hon. Avern Cohn, historian Sidney Bolkosky, Sen. Carl Levin and JHSM matriarch Judith Levin Cantor.”
Lupovitch will receive the Simons Award at JHSM’s annual meeting on Sunday afternoon, June 4, 2023, at Congregation Beth Ahm, where he has been a Torah reader for more than two decades. Event registration is open at www.jhsmichigan.org/calendar.