Wayne L. Firestone, Hillel President
Hillel's International Board of Governors
Edgar M. Bronfman, ChairmanLynn Schusterman, Co-ChairMichael H. Steinhardt, Co-Chair
Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life Board of Directors
Julian Sandler, Chairman
Avraham Infeld, President Emeritus
Wayne L. Firestone, Hillel President
Firestone, 44, has held leadership positions in Jewish communal affairs since his undergraduate years at the University of Miami where he was a Hillel activist. Firestone was named executive vice president for the United States in September 2005, a position that enabled him to direct the organization's U.S. operations. He simultaneously served as the staff director of Hillel's Strategic Planning Committee which has developed a five-year plan for the organization. Firestone joined Hillel in a professional capacity in September 2002 when he was appointed executive director of the Israel on Campus Coalition, a partnership of Hillel and the Schusterman Family Foundation that brings together 35 pro-Israel groups working on college campuses.
Firestone has had a lifelong commitment to the safety and security of the State of Israel. In 2001-2002, he served as director of the Israel Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League. From 1998-2001 he helped to strengthen Israel's high-tech industry as founder and chief executive officer of Silicon Wadinet, Ltd., a firm that helped foster the capitalization and growth of technology companies. He worked in academia from 1995-1998 as an administrator and adjunct lecturer at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology.
A graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, Firestone was lead case management associate in complex multinational litigation and negotiations with the prestigious firm Patton, Boggs, LLP, in Washington, D.C. 1990-1994. In that capacity he developed international trade strategies for clients on import-export projects under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement.
As an undergraduate at the University of Miami, Firestone studied Judaic Studies and Politics and Public Affairs. He graduated cum laude in 1984 and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He spent two semesters at Tel Aviv University. He was a member of the National Student Secretariat, B'nai B'rith Hillel, 1985-86.
Firestone is married to Stephanie Krone Firestone, a foundation professional. The couple lives in Rockville, MD with their three children.
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Edgar M. Bronfman, Chairman, Hillel's International Board of Governors
Formerly CEO of the Seagram Company Ltd, Edgar M. Bronfman supports a wide variety of Jewish causes. Recognized for his leadership by organizations, universities and governments around the world, Mr. Bronfman seeks through The Samuel Bronfman Foundation to inspire a renaissance of Jewish life.
In addition to his stewardship of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation, Mr. Bronfman serves as Chairman of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, a worldwide organization serving Jewish college students on their campuses. Under Mr. Bronfman’s leadership, Hillel has expanded throughout North America and across the globe – to places including Moscow and Kiev, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, Tel Aviv and Beer Sheva.
Mr. Bronfman also serves as President of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations whose primary goal is to preserve and foster the worldwide unity of the Jewish people. Working with the WJC, he advocated for the release of the Prisoners of Zion from the USSR and convinced Pope John Paul II that the establishment of a Carmelite convent near Auschwitz would be an affront to Jews worldwide. In 1998, Mr. Bronfman succeeded in winning restitution for Holocaust victims whose assets had been held in Swiss banks. He is President of the World Jewish Restitution Organization, which is devoted to the return of property and wealth owned by Jews who perished in the Holocaust.
In 1999, President Clinton recognized Mr. Bronfman’s philanthropic efforts by awarding him the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor. Mr. Bronfman has also received the Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur by the government of France and the Justice Louis D. Brandeis Award of the 85th National Convention of the Zionist Organization of America. In addition, Mr. Bronfman holds honorary doctoral degrees from various institutions of higher learning, including Tel Aviv University, New York University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and Williams College.
Born in 1929 in Montreal, Canada to the late Saidye Rosner Bronfman and the late Samuel Bronfman, Mr. Bronfman became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1959. Mr. Bronfman lives in New York City with his wife, Jan Aronson. He has seven children and twenty-three grandchildren.
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Lynn Schusterman, Co-Chair, Hillel's International Board of GovernorsBorn in Kansas City, MO, and raised in Oklahoma City, Lynn Schusterman first learned about philanthropy from her father. His words and deeds impressed upon her the importance of helping others help themselves. Today, Lynn speaks and lives those same values as president of her family foundation.
Lynn also plays a leadership role at a multitude of national and international charitable organizations. Among her current responsibilities are serving as President of STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal), President of the B’nai B'rith Youth Organization and Co-chair of the International Board of Governors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
Her local activities are equally numerous. She is the immediate past president of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa and continues to serve on its board of directors. She also serves on the boards of the Parent-Child Center, Planned Parenthood, Tulsa Historical Society, Temple Israel Foundation and several others.
Over the years, Lynn has received many prestigious honors and awards. In 2003, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame. In 2002, Lynn was named one of the 50 most influential Jews in North America by The Forward, a Jewish newspaper. In 2001, Lynn was named one of Oklahoma's Most Influential Women by Oklahoma Family Magazine and, along with Charles, was inducted by the Tulsa Historical Society into the Tulsa Hall of Fame.
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Michael H. Steinhardt, Co-Chair, Hillel's International Board of Governors
Michael H. Steinhardt is a legendary money manager turned philanthropist who is dedicated to creating a renaissance in American Jewish life. After he graduated from the Wharton School of Business in 1960, Mr. Steinhardt began his financial career as a research associate, staff writer and securities analyst. In 1967 he formed his own hedge fund company, Steinhardt Partners L.P., where he made his fortune in one of the most spectacular careers in the history of Wall Street. Mr. Steinhardt has always believed that wealth and financial achievement alone are not sufficient to give full value and meaning to life. At the same time, he has felt growing alarm over the erosion and disappearance of Jewish identity in the Diaspora and the critical threat to continuity of non-Orthodox Jews. In 1995, Michael Steinhardt stunned the financial world by announcing that he would close his lucrative hedge fund to devote his time and fortune to the causes of the Jewish world.
Mr. Steinhardt has masterminded his Jewish philanthropic activities through Jewish Life Network/Steinhardt Foundation. Mr. Steinhardt is also the principal supporter of New York University’s Steinhardt School of Education. Other recipients of Mr. Steinhardt’s philanthropy are the University of Pennsylvania, Brandeis University, Tel Aviv University, and the Israel Museum. Mr. Steinhardt is a member of the new ownership group of Israel’s leading bank, Bank Hapoalim, and is one of the principal investors behind The New York Sun, New York’s newest daily newspaper. In 2001, Mr. Steinhardt published his memoirs, No Bull: My Life In and Out of the Markets (John Wiley & Sons, 2001). He and his wife, Judy, are the proud parents of David, Daniel and Sara, and the grandparents of Jacob, Joshua, Kira, Talia and Tora.
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Julian Sandler, Chairman, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Julian Sandler was elected as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life in September, 2006.
Since 1994, Mr. Sandler has been actively involved with Hillel on locally and globally. In addition to serving on the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life Board of Directors, Mr. Sandler served as Hillel’s treasurer from 1998–2004, was chair of Hillel’s Strategic Planning Committee and was a member of the Management Committee for the Hillels of New York. In addition, he is a past president and an active member of the Dix Hills Jewish Center, a board member of the Fay J. Linder assisted living complex at the Gurwin Jewish Geriatric Center and a member of the Rabbinical School Board of Overseers at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
Among his local civic involvements, he is active in the Long Island Software and Technology Network (LISTnet), the Long Island Volunteer Effort (LIVE) and is a founding member of TechIsland Angels, a Long Island angel network.
Mr. Sandler is the President and CEO of SmartSource Computer & AV Rentals, a leading provider of technology rentals of brand name computers and audio-visual products and peripherals. Previously, Mr. Sandler was the founder and president of Brookvale Associates, which specialized in remarketing used Digital Equipment Corporation hardware, and co-founder of Periphonics Corporation, a pioneer in voice-response systems. In addition, he has served on the board of several public companies, including Manchester Equipment Corporation and MTI Systems Corporation.
Mr. Sandler graduated from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, in 1966 with a B.Sc. (Honors) in physics and received a Ph.D. in experimental nuclear physics in 1970 from Rice University.
He is married to Nina, who is active in the Long Island Jewish community and currently serves as vice chair of their synagogue. They have two sons, Ian, a vice-president in the Fixed Income division at Morgan Stanley, and Joel, a research fellow in cell biology at Rockefeller University, and one granddaughter, Riley Hanna.
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Avraham Infeld, President Emeritus
Hillel President Avraham Infeld has invested a lifetime building Jewish identity and strengthening the State of Israel. The founder and director of a succession of innovative educational institutions, Avraham was appointed President of Hillel in February 2004 after serving eight months as Interim President. He previously served as Hillel’s Consul for Jewish Affairs, visiting more than 60 campuses on three continents.
In the 1970s, Avraham founded Melitz, a non-profit educational service institution that fosters Jewish identity rooted in a pluralistic understanding of Jewish life and the centrality of Israel. He also served as chairman of Arevim; director of the birthright israel planning process; founding chairman of San Francisco Federation’s Amutot in Israel; and chairman of the Board of Israel Experience, Ltd., an independent company created by the Jewish Agency.
Avraham has sought to promote Jewish values among Israelis as president and chairman of Israel Forum, a nationwide volunteer movement he helped found in 1990. He has conducted breakthrough work in bringing together secular and religious Israelis as director general of the Shalom Hartman Institute and director general of Gesher Education Affiliates.
A native of South Africa, Avraham immigrated to Israel in 1959. He is married to Ellen Infeld, originally from Woodbridge, N.J., and they share four children and 10 grandchildren. He is a graduate of the Hebrew University in Bible and Jewish History, and of Tel Aviv University’s Law School. In 2005, he was awarded the Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s prestigious Samuel Rothberg Prize for Jewish Education, the first specialist in informal Jewish education to be so honored. He was given an honorary doctorate by Muhlenberg College in May 2006 for his contribution to the field of education.