Tony Judt was an English historian, author, essayist and professor who specialized in European history. He moved to New York where he became the Erich Maria Remarque Professor in European Studies at New York University and served as director of NYU's Remarque Institute. Judt was a prominent public intellectual and frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books. He also directed the New York Institute for the Humanities from 1993 to 1996. His work and commentary were widely recognized in academic and intellectual circles.