Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson, effective July 1, 2026, will be the Mordecai Kaplan Distinguished Scholar and has worked as the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies since July 2000 while also serving as Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles. Rabbi Artson has long been a passionate advocate for social justice, human dignity, diversity and inclusion. He wrote a book on Jewish teachings on war, peace and nuclear annihilation in the late 80s, became a leading voice advocating for LGBTQ+ marriage and ordination in the 90s, and has published and spoken widely on environmental ethics, special needs inclusion, racial and economic justice, cultural and religious dialogue and cooperation, and working for a just and secure peace for Israel and the Middle East. A Professor in the Philosophy Department, he is particularly interested in theology, ethics, and the integration of science and religion. He is also Rabbinic Leader of the Abraham Joshua Heschel Seminary in Potsdam, Germany, ordaining Conservative rabbis for Europe, after founding the first Conservative/Masorti seminary in Europe since the Holocaust. A frequent contributor to the Times of Israel and a contributing writer for the Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, he maintains a public-figure Facebook page with over 90,000 followers. Rabbi Artson is the author of 12 books and over 250 articles.