Stefan Reif (BA, PhD London; MA LittD Cambridge: Hon. PhD Haifa) is Emeritus Professor of Medieval Hebrew Studies and Fellow of St John's College in the University of Cambridge. He also holds senior research posts at the Universities of Haifa and Tel Aviv. He was the Founding Director of the Genizah Research Unit at Cambridge University Library (1973-2006). He is the author of many books and articles and has lectured widely in Europe, Israel, Canada and the USA. His latest volumes are A Jewish Archive from Old Cairo (2000), Problems with Prayers (2006), Charles Taylor and the Genizah Collection (2009), Death in Jewish Life (2014), and Religious Identity Markers (2015). He is currently completing a volume describing and analysing medieval liturgical fragments from the Cairo Genizah. Together with F. W. de Klerk, former President of South Africa, and Chaim Topol, the famous actor, he was recently awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Haifa.
