The Debate Over Jewish Achievement: Exploring the Nature and Nurture of Human Accomplishment

by Steven L. Pease,
The Jerusalem Post, August 21, 2015

Jews have been punching above their weight for centuries. Although Jews represent only two-tenths of 1 percent of the world’s population, they have compiled an astonishing rate of achievement in a wide array of fields (including science, sports, entertainment, literature, business and philanthropy). And the accomplishments keep on coming. Between 2008 and 2013, for example, Jews won 27% of Nobel Prizes; 31% of the Forbes 400 and 38% of Business Week’s Philanthropic 50 in 2007 were Jews; in 2009, 50% of the presidents of the Ivy League were Jews.