The Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies has appointed its first Sidney Brichto Fellow in Israel Studies, Dr Hizky Shoham of the Israel Democracy Institute in Jerusalem.
The post, which will be combined with a research lectureship at Oxford University's Oriental Studies faculty, is named after the late Rabbi Sidney Brichto, governor of the centre, who died three years ago.
Dr Shoham, who gained a doctorate from Israel's Bar-Ilan University, has previously been a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University and fellow of the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem.
Dr David Ariel, the centre's president, said that Dr Shoham's appointment was "a fitting memorial to our dear friend, Rabbi Sidney Brichto, whose passionate devotion to Israel and many contributions to the centre inspired his family and friends to establish this post in his memory. Our deepest appreciation goes to his widow Cathryn, who worked tirelessly to make this new appointment possible."