Dr. Rebecca Kobrin

Biography

Rebecca Kobrin is an Associate Professor in the Department of History at Columbia University specializing in American Jewish History, with a focus on modern Jewish migration. She received her B.A. from Yale University in 1994 and her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. Kobrin served as a Blaustein Post-Doctoral Fellow at Yale University from 2002-2004 and as an American Academy for Jewish Research Post-Doctoral Fellow at New York University from 2004-2006. Her notable publications include 'Jewish Bialystok Diaspora' (Indiana University Press, 2010), which won the Jordan Schnitzer Prize in 2012, and 'Chosen Capital: Jewish Encounter with American Capitalism' (Rutgers University Press, 2012). Her upcoming book, 'Credit Nation: East European Immigrant Bankers in American Finance, 1870-1930' (Harvard University Press, 2024), explores the intertwining history of banking and East European Jewish communities. Kobrin has received several awards for her teaching and mentoring, including Columbia University’s Lenfest Distinguished Faculty Award in 2015. She is actively involved in digital humanities projects, such as the Historical NYC Project, which visualizes demographic changes in New York City from 1850 to 1940.

Research Interests

Experience