Ilan Troen is an Israeli scholar. He is the Karl, Harry and Helen Stoll Professor of Israel Studies at Brandeis University.
Selwyn Ilan Troen grew up in the Boston, Massachusetts area. He is a graduate of Brandeis, with an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.[citation needed]
When he joined the Brandeis faculty, the university announced that it was creating a chair in Israel Studies in order "to develop an accurate historical understanding of the origin and development of the State of Israel and its place in the world."[1]
Troen believes that Israel's secular culture "has drawn from two important traditions: the prophetic tradition within Judaism and universal values generated by an enlightenment society."[2]
Troen is a founder of the journal Israel Studies.[3]
Troen's grandmother was killed in a pogrom on March 14, 1919 in her village, Derazhne, then part of the Second Polish Republic.[4] His daughter Deborah Matias and her husband were killed in their home during the Holit massacre on 7 October 2023.[5][6]