Michael Zank (born April 9, 1958, in Germany) is a German-born American scholar specializing in Jewish theology, philosophy, and German-Jewish intellectual history. A native of the Federal Republic of Germany, he studied Protestant theology from 1979 to 1986 at universities in Göttingen, Kiel, Heidelberg, and Jerusalem (Hebrew University), earning his Erstes Theologisches Examen in Theology from the Evangelische Kirche der Pfalz in Speyer am Rhein, Germany (1986). He completed a Ph.D. in Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University (1994), with a dissertation on reconciling Judaism and cultural consciousness in Hermann Cohen’s philosophy of religion. Zank joined Boston University in 1994, advancing from Assistant Professor (1996–2002) to Associate Professor (2002–2010), and has served as Professor of Religion, Jewish Studies, and Medieval Studies since 2010. He was Director of the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies from 2013 to 2022, with prior roles as Acting Director (2011–2012) and current Director of Graduate Studies in Religion (2024–2025), alongside visiting professorships in Germany, Canada, and elsewhere. His research centers on thinkers such as Hermann Cohen, Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, and Leo Strauss, as well as the Bible, Jerusalem, philosophy of religion, and political theology. Key publications include The Idea of Atonement in the Philosophy of Hermann Cohen (2020, 2nd ed.), Jerusalem: A Brief History (2018), Jüdische Religionsphilosophie als Apologie des Mosaismus (2016), and edited volumes like Politics, Religion and Political Theology (2017) and New Perspectives on Martin Buber (2006). Contact: mzank@bu.edu, (617) 353-4434, 147 Bay State Road, Boston, MA 02215; websites at bu.edu/mzank and Jerusalem resources. No known controversies, legal issues, or political affiliations.