Rebecca Kobrin
Russell and Bettina Knapp Professor of American Jewish History
Co-Director Emerita, Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies
212-854-9017
rk2351@columbia.edu
Rebecca Kobrin is the Russell and Bettina Knapp Professor of American Jewish History in Columbia University’s Department of History, where she teaches in the field of American Jewish History, specializing in modern Jewish migration. Her book Jewish Bialystok and Its Diaspora (Indiana University Press, 2010) was awarded the Jordan Schnitzer prize (2012). She is the editor of Chosen Capital: The Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism (Rutgers University Press, 2012), and is co-editor with Adam Teller of Purchasing Power: The Economics of Jewish History (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015). Her recent book, A Credit to the Nation: Jewish Immigrant Bankers and American Finance, 1870–1930 (Harvard University Press, 2026), was featured in the Wall Street Journal. She is one of the principal investigators leading the digital humanities Historical NYC Project. This award-winning map visualizes the demographic and spatial changes wrought in New York City between 1850 and 1940. She has taught at Harvard University, New York University, Reichman University, Rutgers University, and Yale University. Her popular writing has been featured in The Jerusalem Post, The Guardian, and The Washington Post.
She was awarded Columbia University’s Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award in 2015 for her excellence in teaching and inspirational mentoring of her students. In 2026, Kobrin received the Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, given to faculty and graduate student instructors who have significantly influenced the intellectual development of Columbia students.