Noted American Jewish historian Howard Morley Sachar died at his home in Kensington, Md. on April 18, at the age of 90. Sachar was professor emeritus of history and international affairs at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and the author of 16 books as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals.

Sachar was a native of St. Louis, born Feb. 10, 1928, the son of historian and academic administrator Abram Leon Sachar and his wife, Thelma Horowitz, while his father was a professor of history at the University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign, where Howard Morley Sachar was raised. The elder Sachar, also a native of St. Louis, was himself a noted historian, the author of “A History of the Jews,” and he would later become the founding president of Brandeis University.

Sachar completed his undergraduate education at Swarthmore Colllege, and he earned his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in history at Harvard University. 

Sachar’s books include “The Course of Modern Jewish History,” “A History of Israel,” “A History of Jews in America” and “The History of Jews in Modern Times.” 

He was twice the recipient of the National Jewish Book Award.

From 1961-1964, he served as a founder-director of Brandeis Universiity’s Jacob Hiatt Institute in Jerusalem. He was a visiting professor at Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University, and a guest lecturer at nearly 150 other universities in North America, South Africa and Egypt. 

Survivors include his wife, Eliana Steimatzy Sachar and their three children, Sharon, Michele and Daniel; his brother, David; and eight grandchildren.