Lawrence H. Schiffman

Lawrence H. Schiffman was born in 1948 and received a BA, MA and PhD from the Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies at Brandeis University. He was the vice-provost of Undergraduate Education at Yeshiva University.

He is a member of Brandeis' Center for Ancient and Studies and Center for Near Eastern Studies. He was a Fellow at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem during the 1989/1990 academic year as part of a group of researchers examining the Dead Sea Scrolls.

Schiffman is the past president of the Association for Jewish Studies.He was a member of the academic committee for the 50th anniversary celebrations of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and 60th anniversary conference. Schiffman is a fellow of the American Academy for Jewish Research and a corresponding fellow of the Rennert Center of Jerusalem Studies at Bar Ilan University. Schiffman has served on a variety of academic boards and committees including being the current chairman of the International Jewish Committee on Interreligious Consultations. He led a delegation to meet with Pope Francis in June 2013 in the Vatican.

He has appeared many times on television in regards to his knowledge of the Dead Sea Scrolls and has written many books on the subject and other Jewish issues. His main focus of research is proving the Jewish origins and outcomes of the Dead Sea Scrolls.