Sack, Sallyann Amdur, 1936-

Sallyann Amdur Sack was born in Cleveland, Ohio on March 13, 1936 to Frances and Max Amdur. She attended Radcliffe College, where she graduated magna cum laude in 1957. In 1956, she married Lawrence Sack, M.D., thereby becoming Sallyann Amdur Sack. In 1971, she became Dr. Sack when she received a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from George Washington University. Dr. Sack went into private practice in this field in suburban Washington, D.C.

It is told by Dr. Sack and others that she was inspired to start performing family research by her youngest daughter, Kathryn Solomon. This endeavor began as an investigation into her family’s Eastern European roots. In the spirit of her father’s own leadership role as organizer for the Amalgamated Clothing Workers Union, Sallyann also took on a leadership role and founded the Jewish Genealogy Society of Greater Washington (JGSGW) and served as its first president in 1980.

Dr. Sack’s work for the JGSGW, as well as her efforts as chair of the summer seminar on Jewish Genealogy held in Washington D.C. in 1982, prepared her to organize the First International Seminar on Jewish Genealogy, unprecedented in its scale, in 1984. The following year, Dr. Sack founded AVOTAYNU: The International Review of Jewish Genealogy, which continues to serve as “The Voice” of Jewish Genealogy.

Dr. Sack received the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and is referred to as “The Godmother” of Jewish Genealogy (coined by her friend and AVOTAYNU collaborator Gary Mokotoff).