In Memoriam: Sharon Gillerman

We are very saddened to learn of the passing of our dear friend and valued colleague Dr. Sharon Gillerman on November 20, 2020, at the age of 60.  

Sharon was a scholar in Jewish history on faculty at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC) and at USC for more than 20 years. Her scholarship focused on modern German and central European Jewish history with a particular interest in gender history, cultural studies, popular culture, and transnational history.   

For more than 20 years, Sharon was an insightful advisor and friend.  From the first, she provided invaluable advice and insight about the methods and processes used to catalogue the USC Shoah Foundation Holocaust collection.  An early adopter in integrating the testimonies into her classes, she was also a long-time member of the institute’s advisory committees and her loss is deeply felt by colleagues, many of whom worked closely with Sharon over the years. 

“Sharon was a quiet and serious scholar, who understood the power of personal testimony in the classroom,” said Stephen Smith, Finci-Viterbi executive director of USC Shoah Foundation. “She left a deep impression on the thousands of USC students from around the world who went through her course on the Holocaust.”  

Wolf Gruner, Founding Director of the USC Shoah Foundation Center for Advanced Genocide Research, said, “Within the USC Jewish studies program, Sharon and I worked closely together over the past decade. She always brought her undergraduate students to the Center for Advanced Genocide Research for an introduction to the survivor testimonies of the Visual History Archive. Her thoughtful advice as a member of the advisory council helped to establish its innovative and interdisciplinary academic program. She will be sincerely missed.”