Professor and activist dies at 63
Nick Brennan
Issue date: 3/28/07 Section: News
Prominent Israeli peace activist and NYU linguistics professor Tanya Reinhart died last week after a stroke. She was 63 years old.
Reinhart, who was recently hired by NYU after a long career at Tel Aviv University in Israel, was an outspoken critic of Israeli policy who wrote two books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Reinhart studied philosophy and literature at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem before earning a doctorate in linguistics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she first met Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned philosopher and political thinker who became her thesis supervisor. The two later became intimate friends.
In a statement after Reinhart's death, Chomsky called her a brilliant and creative scientist.
"She was one of the most courageous and honorable defenders of human rights whom I have ever been privileged to meet," Chomsky said.
Reinhart was a global distinguished professor at NYU and was teaching in the linguistics department at the time of her death.
"Tanya's passing is a terrible loss, not only to her family and those fortunate enough to come to know her personally," Chomsky said, "but to everyone concerned with freedom, justice, and an honorable peace."
She is survived by her husband, Aharon Shabtai.
Reinhart, who was recently hired by NYU after a long career at Tel Aviv University in Israel, was an outspoken critic of Israeli policy who wrote two books on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Reinhart studied philosophy and literature at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem before earning a doctorate in linguistics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she first met Noam Chomsky, a world-renowned philosopher and political thinker who became her thesis supervisor. The two later became intimate friends.
In a statement after Reinhart's death, Chomsky called her a brilliant and creative scientist.
"She was one of the most courageous and honorable defenders of human rights whom I have ever been privileged to meet," Chomsky said.
Reinhart was a global distinguished professor at NYU and was teaching in the linguistics department at the time of her death.
"Tanya's passing is a terrible loss, not only to her family and those fortunate enough to come to know her personally," Chomsky said, "but to everyone concerned with freedom, justice, and an honorable peace."
She is survived by her husband, Aharon Shabtai.
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