Dallas Psychiatrist and Long-time Ackerman Center Ally Dr. Burton C. Einspruch Vested with Edward M. Ackerman Leadership Award
The Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at The University of Texas at Dallas bestowed the 2023 Edward M. Ackerman Leadership Award to Dr. Burton C. Einspruch.
The Ackerman Center has granted the Edward M. Ackerman Leadership Award to outstanding individuals or groups who demonstrate exceptional leadership and commitment to promoting education and increased awareness of the Holocaust and related human rights issues. The honoree inspires and or empowers others to become involved and engaged in ways that echo the mission of the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies: “Teaching the Past, Changing the Future.”
“Dr. Einspruch's unwavering commitment and immeasurable contributions, through both volunteerism and financial support, have been instrumental in empowering our university to impact the future positively,” said Dr. Nils Roemer, dean of the School of the Arts, Humanities, and Technology, Ackerman Center director, and Stan and Barbara Rabin Distinguished Professor in Holocaust Studies. “From bringing internationally renowned Holocaust scholars to our campus to funding endowments for further research, his dedication and generosity have left an indelible mark on our institution. We are deeply and forever grateful to him and his family.”
Einspruch is a Dallas-based psychiatrist, well-known for his service and deep commitment to the North Texas Jewish community. He served as former chair of the Ackerman Center’s board and has provided grants to endow the Burton C. Einspruch Holocaust Lecture Series and the Mala and Adolph Einspruch Fellowship for Holocaust Studies.
Each year, the Ackerman Center for Holocaust Studies at UT Dallas invites eminent scholars and prominent figures in the field of Holocaust Studies to present the Einspruch Holocaust Lecture Series. The forums are open to the public and encourage students and general audiences to gain insight into ground-breaking research, promoting a much-needed exchange of ideas revolving around the Shoah.
“Through an unnerving commitment to upholding high levels of scholarship, a wide range of academic pursuits, and its active participation in our D-FW community, the Ackerman Center has solidified its position as a widely respected source of Holocaust, genocide, and human rights scholarship that goes beyond academia,” Dr. Inga H. Musselman serves as the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost for UT Dallas. “As Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, I place a high value on the Center’s work, and I’m thankful for all the people who - like Dr. Einspruch - support its crucial mission of teaching the past and changing the future.”
Einspruch, born in The Bronx in 1935, is a first-generation American and the son of European immigrants. His family moved to Dallas when he was 11 years old, where he attended Highland Park High School and later attended medical school at UT Southwestern, where he pursued psychiatry. Einspruch and his wife Barbara married in October 1960 and have three children. Today, the Einspruchs enjoy their role as grandparents to six wonderful grandchildren.
“I had made the decision to try to do something when I was in the military. I would ask people in the hospital: ‘What is the difference between the Congo and the VietCong?’ and they didn’t know. Or ‘what’s the difference between a jail and a concentration camp?’ And they didn’t know,” Einspruch said during a 2013 interview with The Dallas Jewish Historical Society. “I felt like this is a subject that, sooner or later, would drift further and further away from people’s knowledge, and that they may come to believe that this was just a peculiar era.”
The Ackerman Center Leadership Luncheon, scheduled for Sunday, April 30, 2023, has been postponed indefinitely. We will celebrate Dr. Burton C. Einspruch as the 2023 Edward M. Ackerman Leadership Award recipient in other meaningful ways. To stay informed on the latest updates from the Ackerman Center, please visit our website and follow us on Facebook.
