History Dept. welcomes Cambridge U. professor

Jonathan Steinberg will teach two European history courses during the spring semester. The History Department will have a new face in its ranks next semester when Jonathan Steinberg, a professor of modern European history, joins the faculty from his post at Cambridge University. After teaching in England for more than 30 years, Steinberg will offer two courses -- History 126, "Europe in the 19th Century," and History 202, "Italy: from Liberalism to Fascism" -- at Penn this spring. Steinberg, 65, said he was "delighted" to accept the endowed chair last April, noting the opportunity for increased salary and a prolonged teaching career. He said he would not want to stop teaching in two years when he reaches Cambridge's mandatory retirement age of 67. "Fate took me to Penn," Steinberg said yesterday. "I really don't feel like fading out and retiring." Born in New York, the Harvard University-educated professor -- who earned his doctorate at Cambridge after serving in the U.S. Army -- says he is looking forward to returning to the United States. He said he remembers rooting for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1950 and has always been a fan, paying return visits to Philadelphia after traveling to see his son, a staff member at Pennsylvania State University. Aside from his allegiance to the area baseball team, Steinberg has, for years, felt close to Penn's History Department. "Tom [Childers] is a good friend of mine," he said of Penn's modern German history professor who teaches the popular History 430, "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich," class. The two met at Cambridge in 1984 when Childers was a visiting professor there. "He is the patron saint of Americans stranded in Cambridge," Childers said, adding that Steinberg has an abundance of energy and a passion for teaching. Childers pointed to Steinberg's literary achievements, such as the book All or Nothing: The Axis and the Holocaust 1941-1943, and his command of many languages, including Lithuanian. He noted that Steinberg -- who has testified as an expert witness on war crimes -- will add a "real comparative dimension" to European history and strengthen Jewish history within the department. Steinberg prepared the official report on the Deutsche Bank's gold transactions in the second World War. His teaching covers modern Europe since 1789 with specialization in the German and Austrian empires, Nazi Germany, fascist Italy and modern Jewish history. "It's an ideal fit," Childers said. College of Arts and Sciences Dean Richard Beeman, also a History professor, agreed with Childers' assessment. "[History] is a department of distinguished scholars and teachers," Beeman said, adding that Steinberg's appointment "reinforces" the department's reputation. History Department Chairperson Lynn Lees said the department is "looking to expand and reconfigure as fields change." Last April, the School of Arts and Sciences unveiled a strategic plan calling for increased funding and resources in six key departments -- including History. And just last fall, Middle East historian Firoozeh Kashani-Sabet and Native American specialist Daniel Richter joined the faculty. Currently, the department is searching for a junior professor of Asian-American history and a senior professor of early modern European history.