Biography

Mary Jane Rein is the founding director of the Center for Civic Friendship at Assumption University in Worcester, MA. Prior to joining Assumption, she served as the Executive Director of the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University from 2008-2024. She is co-editor of the volumes “Documenting the Armenian Genocide: Essays in Honor of Taner Akçam” (2023) and “Agency and the Holocaust: Essays in Honor of Debórah Dwork” (2019). A life-long Zionist and committed advocate for Jewish life and culture in her Central MA community, she has been active on behalf of Israel Bonds, as a board member and past president of the Worcester JCC and Solomon Schechter Day School of Worcester, a past board member of the Jewish Federation of Central Massachusetts, and a supporter of other local Jewish institutions. Her resignation from Clark University, published in the Wall Street Journal, described a public assault by Strassler Center PhD students who threatened her and demanded her resignation due to her outspoken support for the Jewish victims of October 7 and her pro-Israel views. Senior leaders from Clark University admonished her rather than affirming her right to freedom of expression. In light of this experience, she has become an advocate for civil debate and viewpoint diversity. Trained as a classical archaeologist, she earned a Ph.D. in Classical Art and Archaeology from Harvard University and has excavated in Greece, Israel, and Turkey.