Baruch College Hosted Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann for Holocaust Speaker Series
January 27, 2026
Dr. Roald Hoffmann, (center in blue suit), professor emeritus at Cornell University and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared his childhood experiences surviving the Holocaust.
Baruch College’s Sandra Kahn Wasserman Jewish Studies Center welcomed Nobel Prize–winning chemist and Holocaust survivor Dr. Roald Hoffmann to launch its Holocaust Speaker Series, which recognizes and celebrates the lives and stories of survivors.
Last October, Hoffmann held an intimate seminar with students, faculty, and staff on creativity, ethics, and the moral dimensions of scientific inquiry. A public event followed where, after introductions from Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs Linda Essig, Jennifer Mangels, interim dean of the Weissman School of Arts and Sciences, and Sarah Valente, director of the Wasserman Jewish Studies Center, Hoffmann delivered a moving talk reflecting on his story of survival.
Watch Dr. Hoffmann’s presentation.
“Dr. Roald Hoffmann reminds us that the pursuit of knowledge is not only an intellectual act, but a moral one,” Valente said. “It was such an honor for us to welcome him to Baruch, as the event was a deeply inspiring experience for our students and community. Dr. Hoffmann encouraged students to strive to make sense of chaos, to find beauty in understanding, and to remain morally awake to the world.”
Award-winning Scientist and Accomplished Writer
Hoffmann, who survived the Holocaust as a child in Złoczów, Poland (now Ukraine), came to the United States in 1949 and studied chemistry at Columbia and Harvard Universities. He went on to a distinguished 47-year career at Cornell University teaching people how to think about molecular orbitals. His work received several honors highlighted by the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
In addition to his scientific achievements and recognitions, Hoffmann is an accomplished writer. He has published numerous essays, five non-fiction books, three plays and seven collections of poetry, including bilingual Spanish-English and Russian-English editions printed in Madrid, Orihuela, and Moscow.
About the Holocaust Speaker Series
The Wasserman Jewish Studies Center established the Holocaust Speaker Series to support its mission of informing the Baruch community and public about the history and experiences of Jews in America.
Through public programs, courses, events, and campus activities, the Center explores Jewish immigration to New York City and examines some of the biggest issues and challenges currently facing today’s American Jewish community — Jewish philanthropy, Jewish business ethics, Jewish politics, Jewish identity and continuity, and the changing face of American Jewry.
Last semester’s event was co-sponsored by the Department of Natural Sciences, the Committee of Concerned Scientists, and the Rabin Chair Forum at George Washington University. Professor Edyta Greer played an instrumental role in getting Hoffman to speak at Baruch.
Left to right: Dov Schlein, Baruch College Fund Trustee and advisory board member of the Wasserman Jewish Studies Center, Roald Hoffmann, Provost Linda Essig, and Sarah Valente.
Upcoming Speaker
The next guest in the 2026 Holocaust Speaker Series will be Elizabeth Bellak, a prominent child actress known as “the Shirley Temple of Poland.”
She will visit Baruch virtually on Tuesday, February 24 at 6:00 pm.
About the event: Reina’s Diary: Elizabeth Bellak in conversation with her daughter, Alexandra Bellak, about Elizabeth’s extraordinary discovery and publication of her sister Renia’s wartime diary. Renia was killed in Przemysl in 1942.
Discover: Read more about the Wasserman Jewish Studies Center and see all of its upcoming events for the spring semester.
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