Gift grows from years of friendship, interfaith dialogue between Nashville's Jewish and Christian communities
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 1, 2026) — Nashville business leader Stephen Riven has made a significant philanthropic investment to establish the Riven Family Endowed Chair and Director of Jewish Dialogue and Discovery, a role that will provide permanent leadership for Belmont University's Office of Jewish Dialogue and Discovery. The gift was matched by the University through the Johnson Academic Challenge.
The endowed chair will provide strategic leadership and vision for the Office, while also serving as a member of the Belmont faculty with a primary appointment in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences and a secondary appointment in another college. The chair holder will teach undergraduate courses, develop curriculum, lead sacred text studies and lectureships and oversee travel experiences that bring students into direct contact with Jewish history and culture. The chair holder will also cultivate relationships between Belmont and Nashville's broader Jewish community through ongoing programming and dialogue. The position will be filled through a formal search process.
“Several years ago, there was such an awakening in my mind of all that was happening at Belmont between the University and the Jewish community,” said Riven. “I knew that I wanted to be involved. I had strong feelings that supporting this work was timely, needed and would make a direct impact.”
The Office of Jewish Dialogue and Discovery is housed within The Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership and grew out of the friendship between Dr. Jon Roebuck, the Center's executive director and Rabbi Mark Schiftan, rabbi emeritus of The Temple in Nashville and Belmont's Jewish faith student advisor. Since its formal launch in 2021, the Office has offered lectures, courses, travel experiences and ongoing community conversations exploring the intersection of Jewish and Christian faith traditions.
"Six years ago, this began as a conversation between two friends who believed that honest dialogue across faith traditions was worth making space for,” said Roebuck, executive director of The Rev. Charlie Curb Center for Faith Leadership at Belmont University. “Steve’s gift ensures this space exists permanently, not just for our current students, but for every generation that comes after.”
The friendship between Roebuck and Schiftan began years earlier, when Roebuck was serving as pastor of Woodmont Baptist Church, and has deepened through years of shared teaching and dialogue.
“Some of the most meaningful chapters in Belmont’s story begin with friendship,” said University President Greg Jones. “The relationship between Dr. Jon Roebuck and Rabbi Mark Schiftan is a perfect example of what becomes possible when people of deep faith choose to listen and learn from one another. We are profoundly grateful to Steve Riven for ensuring this important interfaith work endures, and for his belief that Belmont should be its home.”
The Riven Family Endowment joins a growing portfolio of gifts supporting Belmont's work in Jewish-Christian dialogue, including the Dr. Frank and Julie Boehm Lecture Endowment Fund, the Shelly and Trish Krizelman Endowment Fund for Judeo-Christian Values and Ethics and the Rabbi Mark and Harriet Schiftan Holocaust Endowment Fund, established when the Office launched in 2021.
"The best word to describe the Riven Family gift is transformative,” said Schiftan. “Steve Riven has been an integral partner in the creation and growth of the Office of Jewish Dialogue and Discovery since its inception, and this endowed chair will permanently solidify that relationship between Belmont and the Jewish community, both locally and nationally."
Stephen Riven is co-founder and Senior Managing Partner of Avondale Partners, a Nashville-based investment banking and wealth advisory firm. A longtime civic leader, Riven has deep roots in the Nashville community and a sustained commitment to philanthropic investment in education, medicine and the arts.
About Belmont University
Located near the heart of thriving Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University consists of nearly 9,000 students who come from every state and 33 countries. The University is nationally recognized for its innovative approach as well as its commitment to undergraduate teaching (U.S. News & World Report). As a Christ-centered, student-focused community, Belmont’s mission is to develop diverse leaders of purpose, character and wisdom who possess a transformational mindset and are eager and equipped to make the world a better place. With more than 115 areas of undergraduate study, 41 master’s programs and eight doctoral degrees, Belmont University aims to be the leading Christ-centered university in the world, producing leaders who will radically champion the pursuit of life abundant for all people. For more information, visit http://www.belmont.edu.
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