News from the Hill April 30, 2008 | back to index
Robert Sarly to receive Rothman interreligious award
President Nick Carter of Andover Newton Theological School (ANTS) and Rabbi Eric Gurvis of Temple Beth Shalom in Newton today announced that Robert M. Sarly of Wellesley has been selected as the 2008 recipient of the Rabbi Murray I. Rothman Award for outstanding interreligious leadership.
The award, along with a modest cash prize, will be presented during the upcoming Andover Newton commencement ceremony which will take place on Saturday May 17th, at 2:00PM at the First Baptist Church in Newton MA.
Robert is a Trustee of Andover Newton and serves as chair of the School’s Investment Committee. He also serves on the Board of the Interreligious Center for Public Life (ICPL) founded by Andover Newton and Hebrew College. Sarly has been a leader in the ICPL’s planning and fund raising efforts. Robert and his family are active members of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills (UUSWH) and the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) regionally and nationally
From 1997 to 2005 Sarly served the Massachusetts Council of Churches (MCC). He continues to be active in the MCC’s Inter-Faith Dialogue programs with the Christian-Muslim community, the Christian-Jewish community, and the Liberal-Evangelical community. Robert also has been active in relationship with the Wellesley Interfaith Association, the Massachusetts Commission on Christian Unity, the Islamic Centers of Wayland and Sharon, and the Wellesley Chabad Center.
Robert graduated from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1967 with a Fulbright Scholarship to study the New Towns in Israel. After four years at the Technion (the Israel Institute of Technology), he graduated with a Master’s Degree, and went to England to teach at University College London and at the Polytechnic of Central London. In 1974, Sarly was recruited by the World Bank, through the Harvard Institute for International Development, to join the Teheran project in Iran, where he and Jane started their family. They returned to Boston in 1980. He now works at Smith Barney as Senior Vice President for Investments, Senior Portfolio Manager, and Senior Investment Management Consultant.
Rabbi Rothman was an exemplary figure at Andover Newton, in the Newton community, and the wider world. His accomplishments fostering interreligious dialogue were widely respected as was his work as a teacher and community leader. He taught on the adjunct faculty of Andover Newton for many years and shaped the lives of hundreds of Christian seminarians. Upon his death in 1997, members of the congregation of Temple Beth Shalom created this award to be conferred periodically upon that person or persons who, in the mind of the leadership of Andover Newton and Temple Shalom, best exemplify the spirit of Rabbi Rothman.
President Carter said of Sarly “With this award Andover Newton and Temple Shalom seek to acknowledge this outstanding lay leader so enthusiastically reflects the spirit of Rabbi Rothman’s witness. Robert is a passionate and relentless worker in service of a vision of a peaceful world. We are blessed by his exemplary leadership.”
Andover Newton, located in Newton Centre, MA, is the nation’s oldest independent graduate theological school. Andover (1807) and Newton (1825) joined forces in the 1930’s and formally united in the 1960’s. Today the school is internationally recognized for its preparation of congregational leaders through innovative programs in church renewal, field education, and interreligious studies. Andover Newton’s partnership with neighboring Hebrew College has received national attention for their pioneering interfaith programs. The School enrolls nearly 400 students from 35 different denominations, including large numbers of UCC, American Baptist, Unitarian Universalist, Episcopalian, and Presbyterian students.
Temple Shalom, located in West Newton, MA, is a Reform Jewish congregation and a member of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ). It was founded in 1950 and aspires to be a congregation whose members find meaning and fulfillment in the practice of Reform Judaism. Its members believe that this meaning and fulfillment flows from a personal engagement with the living tradition of Judaism. They emphasize an openness to diversity and full participation in the religious, educational and communal life of their synagogue. Rabbi Eric Gurvis is the Senior Rabbi and Rabbi Michelle Pearlman is the Assistant Rabbi and the Cantor is Renata Braun.
For more information contact:
President Nick Carter
617-964-1100 x210