The Landsberg Fund for Jewish Adult Education
Melvin Lansberg
Melvin David Landsberg (1926-2016) taught literature in the KU English department from 1961 until he retired in 2009. A prize-winning John Dos Passos scholar, he earned his BA from New York’s City College, and taught high school while finishing his PhD at Columbia University in 1959. He is buried in the congregation’s B'nai Israel Cemetery.
For thirty years Landsberg was part of the circle of friends that Frances and Floyd Horowitz hosted at their Friday evening sabbath table. An urban New Yorker at heart, he never fully adapted to Lawrence or the Midwest, missing the Jewish world of his youth. A strong Zionist, he was a fierce defender of Israel. Landsberg’s endowment to the LJCC furthers his commitment to Jewish knowledge and education.