Internationally recognized Holocaust scholar Prof. Deborah Lipstadt will keynote the 2015 Annual Meeting of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, set for Thursday, Sept. 17, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, 151 E. Wacker Drive. ( Register for the Annual Meeting here. )

In 1993, Lipstadt, the Dorot Professor of Modern Jewish and Holocaust Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, authored “Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory.” In 1996, she was sued for libel by one of those named in the book, David Irving, who said his reputation as a historian was defamed. Five years later, a British judge found Irving to be a Holocaust denier, a falsifier of history, a racist, and an anti-Semite.

Lipstadt’s 2005 book, “History on Trial: My Day in Court with a Holocaust Denier,” was adapted by British playwright David Hare and soon will be released as a feature film, starring Hilary Swank as Lipstadt.

The Federation’s 115th Annual Meeting also will feature the State of the Federation address by President Steven B. Nasatir, and the presentation of several major leadership awards.

Foremost among them will be the organization’s highest honor, the Julius Rosenwald Memorial Award, which this year goes to Frances G. Horwich. The award, named for the iconic Chicago business leader and philanthropist of the early 1900s, is presented each year to an individual who has demonstrated a lifetime of outstanding dedication and service to the Jewish community.

Horwich and her late husband, Franklin, have been stalwarts in Chicago’s philanthropic world for decades. They carry on a generations-long family ethos of supporting and strengthening the Jewish community, and mentoring subsequent generations in the role of Jewish values and institutions in preserving community and heritage.

Amy Kirsch and Michael Teplitsky will receive the 52nd annual Davis, Gidwitz & Glasser Young Leadership Award, presented to volunteers who have demonstrated exemplary dedication and have made significant contributions to Chicago’s Jewish community.

Kirsch, 35, the 2015 YLD Campaign Chair, joined the YLD Board in 2011. As campaign chair, she led one of the most successful Big Events, raising $250,000 with over 2,400 in attendance. Kirsch previously served as the 2013-2014 Executive Vice President of the YLD Board, chaired the 2013 YLD Israel Mission, and participated in the YLD Gesher leadership program. She has served on numerous JUF committees and commissions, and currently is a local co-chair of the National Young Leadership Cabinet. Kirsch has been named to the 2015 YLD/Oy!Chicago annual “36 under 36” list.

Teplitsky, 35, currently is campaign chair for the JUF Trades, Industries and Professions Financial Services Division. He has been a member of the YLD Board, and served as the 2012 campaign chair. He has participated on numerous JUF committees and commissions, and is a local co-chair for the National Young Leadership Cabinet. An emigrant from the Former Soviet Union, Teplitsky has provided a distinctive perspective to the JUF-Kiev Kehilla Committee, on which he served.

As part of the Davis, Gidwitz & Glasser Award, the honorees are given the opportunity to attend the annual General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, which this year takes place in Washington, D.C., in November.

Two exceptional young professionals who have shown outstanding performance in their work at a Jewish agency in the Chicago area will receive the Samuel A. Goldsmith Award, now in its 28th year. This year’s award will be presented to Faryn Kates Rudnick and Rachel Shtern.

Rudnick, 33, has been cantor at Temple Beth-El, Northbrook, since 2013. In addition, she initiated a congregational Disability Awareness Program. Under Rudnick’s leadership, Temple Beth-El has been recognized by the Union of Reform Judaism as an exemplar congregation for its work in inclusion. She is the incoming president of the Reform Cantors of Chicago, and a member of the American Conference of Cantors social action committee. She has chaired the Hebrew Union College Day of Learning, and co-led a workshop on inclusion at the annual ACC convention this year. She represents the ACC on the Jewish Disabilities Network, is a member of the JUF Synagogue Federation Commission’s Inclusion Program Planning Committee, and has been a presenter for the Union for Reform Judaism’s inclusion initiative.

Shtern, 34, is assistant director of Community Building and Jewish Continuity at the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, where she focuses on Jewish and day school education. She has fostered a culture of trust between JUF and day school staff and lay leadership, and is exploring development of a Day School Business Managers Cohort. In addition, she has introduced operational and evaluation improvements to the Community Foundation for Jewish Education Ta’am Yisrael eighth-grade Israel program.

The Federation’s Annual Meeting begins with a business meeting at 10 a.m., followed by a noon luncheon.

The business meeting, open to all Federation members, will feature the election of directors, and presentations to outgoing board members and the recipients of the young leadership awards.

The lunch session will feature Lipstadt’s speech, the annual State of the Federation report, and presentation of the Rosenwald Award to Horwich.