Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life has announced the appointment of Wayne L. Firestone as Hillel's executive vice president for the United States. Firestone, who has been the founding executive director of the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), will be responsible for running the day-to-day operations of Hillel's largest constituency.
"Wayne has provided exemplary service to college campuses and to the Jewish community though his role as the founding executive director of the ICC," says Hillel International President Avraham Infeld. "Wayne has not only brought together groups from diverse backgrounds, he has proven to be a master administrator, spokesperson, and advocate."
In his role as executive vice president for the United States, Firestone will supervise the areas of campus advancement, human resources, the Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning/Weinberg Tzedek Hillel, Israel on Campus Coalition and lay leadership development/federation relations.
As executive director of the ICC for the last three years, Firestone has brought together 30 pro-Israel organizations for coordinated planning and programming. He has helped to conduct national campaigns that have promoted balanced university teaching on the Middle East, investment in the Israeli economy, and the ability of North American students to study in Israel with full academic credit. The ICC is a partnership the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and Hillel, in cooperation with a network of national organizations committed to promoting Israel education and advocacy on campus. Firestone will remain the director of the ICC during a transition period in which Associate Director Aaron Goldberg will assume day-to-day responsibilities.
Prior to joining Hillel, Firestone spent seven years living in Israel where he worked in business and in the non-profit sector. His most recent position was director of the Jerusalem office of the Anti-Defamation League. Firestone has also written on numerous topics relating to Israel, law and Jewish world issues. He authored the chapter "Goodbye Law, Hello Life" in Simon and Schuster's "Shark Tales," which chronicled his journey from American corporate law to an Israeli kibbutz.
Firestone earned his J.D. degree at Georgetown Law School and worked for the prestigious Washington, D.C., law firm Patton, Boggs. Firestone is a graduate of the University of Miami, where he double-majored in Judaic studies and politics and public affairs. At Miami, he gained national prominence as a Hillel student Soviet Jewry activist, playwright and intercollegiate debater.