Jellinek is described as “a key figure in the emergence of ‘a new scientific approach to alcohol’ in post-Repeal America” by Dr. Ron Roizen, alcohol historian, and as “the Renaissance Man who brought alcohol studies out of the Dark Ages” by Dr. Thomas Babor, Editor-in-Chief of JSAD, recipient of the Jellinek Memorial Award in 2005.

The history of the Center of Alcohol Studies shows Jellinek’s strong ties to the Center, the journal, and the Summer School. Although Jellinek left Yale before the Center moved to Rutgers in 1962, “his ideas and legacy were very much alive and shaped the Center’s goals,”  pointed out Dr. Gail Milgram, Director of the Rutgers Summer School of Alcohol Studies from 1980 to 2011.