He has headed the art history program at Stern since 2005 and the YU Museum since 2009. During his first year at YU, he was named Lillian F. and William L. Silber Professor of the Year. A native of Montreal, where he received an extensive Jewish education, Jacob earned his B.A. from McGill University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts of New York University, where he specialized in Northern European art of the late Medieval and Renaissance eras. His book, City Painters in the Burgundian Netherlands, will be published by Brepols Press.