Gregg E. Gardner

Gregg E. Gardner serves as Associate Professor and holds the Diamond Chair in Jewish Law and Ethics within the Department of Classical, Near Eastern, and Religious Studies at the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Gardner earned his Ph.D. in Religion from Princeton University and has held prestigious fellowships including the Newcombe Foundation Fellowship, the Starr Fellowship in Judaica at Harvard University, and the Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship at Brown University.

His research specializes in Judaism during late antiquity and classical rabbinic literature, with particular expertise in historical poverty systems, charitable institutions, and material culture of ancient Jewish communities. Gardner employs interdisciplinary methodology combining rigorous textual analysis of rabbinic sources with archaeological evidence to reconstruct social welfare frameworks in antiquity. His work reveals how rabbinic Judaism transformed biblical agricultural allocations for the poor from charitable gestures into legally enforceable property rights.

His scholarly recognition includes:

• Newcombe Foundation Fellow
• Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University
• Mellon/American Council of Learned Societies Fellow at Brown University

Dr. Gardner's research has been substantially supported through multiple competitive fellowships that enabled deep engagement with primary texts and cross-institutional collaboration. His Diamond Chair position represents an endowed professorship dedicated to advancing scholarship in Jewish Law and Ethics. While specific advising activities aren't detailed in the source material, his professorial rank indicates active mentorship of graduate students in religious studies and Judaica.