Imagining a More Civil Society
Robert H. Abzug, Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History and Director of the new Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, University of Texas:
Robert H. Abzug is Oliver H. Radkey Regents Professor of History and Director of the new Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Texas. Abzug’s scholarship has explored the formation of social and moral consciousness in American culture in various settings. He is the author of Passionate Liberator: Theodore Dwight Weld and the Dilemma of Reform (1980), Inside the Vicious Heart: Americans and the Liberation of Nazi Concentration Camps (1985), Cosmos Crumbling: American Reform and the Religious Imagination (1994), and American Views the Holocaust, 1933-1945 (1999). He is currently completing a biography of the psychologist, Rollo May, which explores the interpenetration of religion and psychotherapy in American society. Abzug has also consulted on numerous documentary films, the latest of which is Borrowing Time (2006), the portrait of an American Holocaust survivor.
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Rawhi Afghani, Facilitator, Middle East Peace GroupRawhi Afghani is a doctoral candidate in Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. His dissertation will address the role of media in peace making during violent conflicts; a topic that is very close to his heart and profession. Although, media has been the greatest source to expos a conflict and conditions leading to it, unfortunately, media reporting hardly spotlight efforts for reconciliation and peacebuilding. Afghani was raised in a refugee camp called Balata Camp near Nabluss in the West Bank, and was educated in Prague. He received a Bachelor degree in TV journalism and MA in Journalism and Political Science; and works in journalism and political analyses.
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Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, PhD:
Jeffrey Jensen Arnett is a Research Professor in the Department of Psychology at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. During 2005 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is the editor of the Journal of Adolescent Research and of two encyclopedias published in 2007, the International Encyclopedia of Adolescence (Routledge, two volumes) and the Encyclopedia of Children, Adolescents, and the Media (Sage, two volumes). Dr. Arnett is the originator of the theory of emerging adulthood and the author of numerous articles on emerging adulthood, as well as the textbook Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: A Cultural Approach (2004, Prentice Hall). His book Emerging Adulthood: The Winding Road from the Late Teens Through the Twenties, was published in 2004 by Oxford University Press.
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Robert P. Aronson, Chief Executive Officer, Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit:
Celebrating his nineteenth year with the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, Chief Executive Officer, Robert P. Aronson is known throughout the world as a driving force in philanthropy and passionate supporter of the State of Israel. Since taking the helm of the Federation, Aronson has been instrumental in creating its largest fundraising effort, the $60 million Millennium Campaign to enrich Jewish family experience with a focus on renovation and renewal on the city’s two Jewish Community Center campuses. As a private philanthropic consultant, Mr. Aronson serves as advisor to William Davidson, owner of Guardian Industries Corp, and Michael H. Steinhardt, owner of Jewish Renaissance Media. He serves on the board of trustees of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. He is a founder and creator of the Professional Leaders Project, a national initiative to recruit and develop professional and volunteer talent to assume executive leadership positions throughout the American Jewish community.
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Fanta Aw, Assistant Vice President of Campus Life, American University:
Fanta Aw is Assistant Vice President of Campus Life at American University since September 2007. Prior to assuming the functions of Assistant Vice President She was director of International Student and Scholar from 1998-2007. Ms. Aw serves as a senior administrative officer of the Office of Campus Life (executive level) with responsibility for the development and administration of intercultural student services, policies and programs. Fanta Aw has over 15 years of experience in the field of international education exchange and higher education. She has taught and lectured on a range of international and intercultural topics at AU and at George Washington University. She had led workshops for organizations including the Department of State, the Institute for International Education, American Council, the Academy for Education Development, and NAFSA: Association of International Educators, among others.
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Lawrence S. Bacow, President, Tufts University:
Lawrence S. Bacow is President of Tufts University. A lawyer and economist whose research focuses on environmental policy, he holds faculty appointments in five departments at Tufts. Dr. Bacow serves on the Board of Directors of the American Council on Education. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Bacow is a director of Tufts-New England Medical Center, Cummings Foundation and Campus Compact. He is an active participant with his colleagues in the New England Small Colleges Athletic Conference. President Bacow is a trustee of Wheaton College and a member of the Board of Overseers of Hebrew College. He is a frequent keynote speaker on higher education and environmental issues. Prior to coming to Tufts, Dr. Bacow was the Chancellor of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Lee and Geraldine Martin Professor of Environmental Studies.
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Dottie Bennett, Chair, Project Interchange:
Dottie Bennett is chair of Project Interchange, an Institute of the American Jewish Committee which sends influential non-Jews to Israel for educational purposes. She is also past chair, National Council, The American Jewish Committee, a member of AJC’s National Board of Governors, AJC’s Executive Committee and past president of the AJC Washington Chapter. She has also been AJC’s national chair, Inter religious Affairs. Dottie is also involved with AIPAC where she sits on the Executive Committee. She is a 2004 Presidential appointee to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Council where she chaired the Collections and Artifacts Committee and now chairs the Education Committee. She also serves on its Executive Committee. She serves on the Board of the United Jewish Endowment Fund and its grants and development committees where she works on major gifts and endowments. She also is a Board member of the Harold Rosenthal Fellowship in International Relations. Previously she served as Vice President for Multiple Appeals of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Washington. She works with Planning and Allocations and serves as support for Outreach and Engagement. She is a 2003 recipient of the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany.
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Herman A. Berliner, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Lawrence Herbert Distinguished Professor, Hofstra University:
Herman Berliner became Provost at Hofstra University in 1990. The Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs is second in command to the President at the University. As Chief Academic Officer, Dr. Berliner has oversight responsibilities for all the Colleges, Schools and academic programs of the University, as well as the Library, the Hofstra Cultural Center, the Hofstra Museum, Career Services, and the Saltzman Community Services Center. Dr. Berliner joined Hofstra University in 1970. He has served in a number of key administrative positions, including Dean of the School of Business as well as Acting Dean of the School of Education. He is also the former President and a lifetime board member of the Long Island Chapter of the American Jewish Committee and a TIAA/CREF Institute Fellow.
Back to Summit Highlights Elizabeth Bernold, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Elizabeth Bernold is a junior studying economics and international studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During her time at UNC, she has served as chair of Dimes for Darfur, a campus wide initiative led by Hillel to raise money and awareness for children in Darfur while memorializing those children who died in the Holocaust. Bernold went on Hillel's Gulf Coast alternative spring break trip in March of 2006, where she and 10 classmates from Israel roofed houses that had been destroyed in Biloxi, Mississippi. She participated in a Taglit -Birthright Israel trip in 2005 as well as Hillel's Leaders Assembly in winter 2007-2008. In March 2007 she joined the European Union of Jewish Student's conference at the UN's Human Rights Council in Geneva.
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Edgar M. Bronfman, Chairman, Hillel’s International Board of Governors As Chairman of Hillel’s International Board of Governors, Mr. Bronfman has fostered a global renaissance of Jewish life, and has visited over 110 Hillels on campuses throughout North America and overseas. Under Mr. Bronfman’s leadership, Hillel has substantially increased its resources and programs for students, and opened scores of new Hillels in North America, South America, Israel and the countries of the former Soviet Union. Mr. Bronfman became president of Distillers Corporation-Seagrams Ltd. in 1971. He became Chairman in 1975 and served in that capacity until its merger into Vivendi Universal in 2000. Mr. Bronfman is past-president of the World Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Restitution Organization. One of his crowning achievements was winning restitution for Holocaust victims whose assets had been held in Swiss banks. In 1999, President Clinton presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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Michael Brooks, Executive Director, University of Michigan HillelMichael Brooks is Executive Director of University of Michigan Hillel. He lectures and consults for Jewish federations, Jewish community centers, synagogues and schools on strengthening and stretching the boundaries of the Jewish community and creating a Jewish public culture that will make Jews feel that it is a privilege to be part of the Jewish community. He taught for many years at the University of Michigan in the Program on Studies in Religion. He has also served on the faculties of the Brandeis-Bardin Collegiate Institute, and the Wexner Graduate Fellowship and Wexner Heritage Program Summer Institutes. In 1997 he received the Covenant Award in recognition of his work as one of the country's outstanding Jewish educators, and he once opened for comedian Yaakov Smirnof.
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Michael Brown, CEO and Co-Founder, City Year, Inc. :
Michael Brown is the Co-Founder and CEO of City Year, a national youth service corps that helped to inspire the development of AmeriCorps. Founded in 1988, City Year now operatesin 17 cities across the U.S. and in Johannesburg, South Africa enlisting more than 1,500 young adults for a demanding year of full-time community service, civic engagement and leadership development and providing strategicleadership for the national service movement. For his work developing City Year, Michael Brown has been awarded several distinctions, most notably the Reebok Human Rights Award, and four honorary degrees. He was also chosen as one of America’s Best Leaders by US News and World Report in 2006. Mr. Brown is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, where he served as a member of the Harvard Law Review and was a clerk for Federal Judge Stephen Breyer.
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Daniel A. Burack, Managing Partner, Altman Burack Schenker PartnersDaniel A. Burack is a private investor in real estate and a Managing Partner of Altman Burack Schenker Partners, a real estate investment and asset management firm. Burack participates in a number of charities and was awarded the B’Nai Brith Brotherhood Award. He was National Alumni Chairman for the University of Vermont and was awarded a distinguished Service Award for his services and will receive an Honorary Doctoral Degree from UVM this spring. He is on the Finance Committee of White Plains Hospital. He is the founder of the Harrison Educational Foundation and served as its Chairman for a number of years. Carole and Dan Burack are members of the King David Society of UJA Federation and are very active supporters of Jacob’s Pillow in Becket, Massachusetts, where Carole serves on the Board.
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David D. Burstein, Founder, 18 in ’08:
David D. Burstein is the Founder and Executive Director of 18 in ’08, the nation’s largest youth run young voter engagement organization. The organization is based on David’s documentary film of the same name. 18 in ’08, aimed at getting young voters engaged with the political process, is the product of three years traveling the country, interviewing over 100 Congressmen, Senators, presidential candidates, policy makers, and activists. In May of 2005, David was appointed to serve on the Weston Commission for Children and Youth, responsible for advising his home town on issues and activities related to students and children. He has also won numerous awards for his work in fiction and journalistic writing as well as theater arts. He is a student at Haverford College in Pennsylvania.
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James Buschman, Senior Director of Institutional Relations, New York University’s Office of Global Education:
Dr. James Buschman is Senior Director of Institutional Relations for New York University’s Office of Global Education. NYU leads the nation in the number of its undergraduates abroad. Dr. Buschman has been a study abroad administrator for over 20 years, including two years directing a program in Brazil. His current work includes overseeing NYU's activities with professional associations in international education and working with administrators at colleges and universities across the United States who may be interested in sending their students on NYU programs of study abroad in Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America. He has recently been involved in the development of new NYU program sites in Shanghai and Buenos Aires.
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Nancy Cantor, Chancellor, Syracuse University:
Nancy Cantor is Chancellor and President of Syracuse University, as well as Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Women's Studies in the College of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Cantor came to Syracuse from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she was chancellor. Dr. Cantor is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. She is the past chair of the board of directors of the American Association for Higher Education and former chair of the board of the American Council on Education. She serves on the board of the American Institutes for Research and the advisory board of Future of Minority Studies, Paul Taylor Dance Foundation Board of Directors, and as an Honorary Trustee of the American Psychological Foundation. She has served as a member of the National Advisory Board of the National Survey of Student Engagement and on a Congressional Commission on Military Training and Gender-Related Issues.
Back to Summit HighlightsTheodore Chestnut, Research Analyst, Corporate Executive Board
Theodore Chestnut works as a research analyst for the Corporate Executive Board, a DC-based business research and consulting firm. He graduated from Harvard College in 2006 with a B.A. in Government and a concentration in Spanish. As a senior, Chestnut enrolled in Professor Ruth Wisse's class in Modern Jewish Literature, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
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Amy B. Cohen, Director, Learn and Serve America: Amy Cohen is director of Learn and Serve America at the Corporation for National and Community Service. Learn and Serve America is the federal resource for service-learning in schools, community organizations, and higher education. Prior to joining Learn and Serve America, Amy worked at the Center for Community Partnerships at the University of Pennsylvania.
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David M. Cohen, Vice Chair, Board of Directors, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life; co-chair, Summit 2008 David M. Cohen is a Vice Chair of the Hillel International Board of Directors and co-chair of the 2008 Hillel-University Summit. He also serves as the United States co-chair of the Hillels of Israel Committee. Cohen was elected Chair Emeritus of the Board of Cornell University Hillel in June 2003. He is serving his second term as a member of Cornell Council and is a long-time member of the Dean's Advisory Committee of the Cornell ILR School. Cohen is Deputy Commissioner and Labor Counsel of the New York City Police Department, where he is the principal advisor for all matters related to labor and employment law. In 2006, he retired as Assistant Vice President - Administration at the Columbia University Medical Center, and previously was Assistant Vice President - Employee and Labor Relations for Columbia for nine years.
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Lisa M. Coleman, Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Diversity, Tufts University:
Lisa M. Coleman, Ph.D., is currently the Executive Director of the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) at Tufts University. She also teaches in the American Studies and Women’s Studies programs. Her Ph.D. work is in American Studies, specifically in Social and Cultural Theory and she also received a Masters of Arts in Africana Studies and a Masters of Arts in Women’s Studies. Coleman has worked with a number of institutions as a faculty member and on developing institutional diversity programs including the City University of New York, Vassar College, the Association of American Medical Colleges and Merrill Lynch. She has also served as a member of the New York Council for the Humanities, 2001-2007, speakers bureau. Coleman continues to present and lecture on diversity related subject matter.
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Maureen F. Curley, President, Campus Compact
Maureen F. Curley is president of Campus Compact, a national coalition of more than 1,100 college and university presidents dedicated to advancing campus-based service, service-learning, and civic engagement. Curley has served as Director of Public Policy for the Community Service Society of New York and as Executive Director of the Massachusetts Service Alliance. She also founded the Forum for Women Leaders of Nonprofit Organizations. Most recently she was the Chief Relationship Officer for Bridgestar, where she developed services to connect executive-level managers with career and board opportunities in the nonprofit sector. Curley has taught courses on nonprofit and volunteer management at Columbia University, New York University, and UMass-Boston. Currently she serves on the board of directors of the National Service-Learning Partnership and Friends of the Children - Boston.
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Rabbi James S. Diamond, Princeton University:
Rabbi James S. Diamond teaches in the Program in Judaic Studies at Princeton University. In 2004 he concluded a career in Hillel that spanned 36 years. During that time he served as Executive Director of Hillels at Indiana University, Washington University, and, more recently, at Princeton. He is a member of ARIL, the Association for Religion and Intellectual Life, and has served as a Scholar in Residence at its Coolidge Colloquium. Rabbi Diamond was ordained from the Jewish Theological Seminary.
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Neil DiBiase, President, Student Union, Tufts University:
Neil DiBiase is a Junior at Tufts University in Medford, MA majoring in History and Political Science. He is currently President of the Student Body and is active in Hillel, Intramural Soccer, Basketball, and Tennis, as well as Model United Nations. After graduation, Neil hopes to live in the Middle East analyzing Security Policy before returning to the States for Law School. This summer, he will be working for the State Department at the United States Embassy in Morocco. He is from the City of Champions, Pittsburgh, PA, home of the 5-time Superbowl Champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
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Michael V. Drake, Chancellor, University of California, Irvine:
Michael V. Drake, M.D., is chancellor of the University of California, Irvine. Prior to his arrival at UCI, Chancellor Drake served as vice president for health affairs at the University of California, overseeing education and research activities at UC’s 15 health sciences schools. Drake was elected to the National Academies’ Institute of Medicine in 1998 and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007, is the immediate past national president of the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society, and is chair of the board of trustees of the Association of Academic Health Centers. He was inducted into the Gold Headed Cane Society in 2003, received the Legislative Black Caucus Foundation’s Frederick M. Roberts Award and was awarded the 2007 Champions of Health Professions Diversity by The California Wellness Foundation.
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Gwen Dungy, Executive Director, NASPA:
Gwendolyn Jordan Dungy has been executive director of NASPA since 1995. Before joining NASPA, Dr. Dungy was associate director of the Curriculum and Faculty Development Network and coordinator of the National Diversity Network at the Association of American Colleges & Universities. Previously, she was a senior administrator at the County College of Morris (NJ), Montgomery College (MD), and Catonsville Community College (MD), and a member of the faculty at St. Louis Community College (MO). Dr. Dungy has served on the American Council on Education's Commission on Government Relations; as a member of the board of directors of the American Association of University Women's Legal Advocacy Fund, the AAUW Educational Foundation, and the Morris Shelter and Morris Museum; and as a trustee of Gettysburg College, the University of North Carolina, Asheville, and the California Institute of Integral Studies.
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Cheryl Strauss Einhorn, Columbia University:
Cheryl Strauss Einhorn teaches Business, Economic & Financial Journalism at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Before that, she worked for several years in the Investigative News Unit at Inside Edition, where she won the 2005 ACE Award for Achievement in Consumer Reporting for her news-breaking investigation into charities. Cheryl spent ten years as an editor and columnist at Barron’s, where her coverage of the futures markets won her the honor of being named the best commodities reporter in the country by TJFR Group. During her tenure at Barron’s, Cheryl also worked as an on-air analyst covering the futures markets daily for CNBC. Cheryl received her Masters in Journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. She graduated magna cum laude with a BA in history and government from Cornell University.
Back to Summit Highlights David Einhorn, President, Greenlight Capital, Inc.; Member, Hillel International Board of GovernorsDavid Einhorn is president of Greenlight Capital, Inc., which he co-founded in January 1996. Greenlight is a value-oriented investment advisor whose goal is to achieve high absolute rates of return while minimizing the risk of capital loss. Greenlight’s investment philosophy is to combine the analytical discipline of determining fair value with a practical understanding of markets. The firm believes that an investment approach that emphasizes intrinsic value will achieve consistent absolute investment returns and safeguard capital regardless of market conditions. Mr. Einhorn is Chairman of the Board of Greenlight Capital Re, Ltd. and a Director of BioFuel Energy Corp. He also serves on the boards of Hillel; The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research; Natan; and on the Leadership Council of the Robin Hood Foundation. Einhorn graduated summa cum laude with distinction in all subjects from Cornell University, where he earned a B.A. from the College of Arts and Sciences.
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Lisa Eisen, National Program Director, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation:
Lisa Eisen is National Program Director of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation (CLSFF) and Director of its Washington, D.C. office. She spearheads the Foundation's efforts to enhance Jewish life in the United States and to foster a vibrant dynamic American Jewish community. Lisa leads CLSFF's strategic initiatives to promote Israel education and advocacy on campus and to advance the standing of Israel in academia. The Founder and Steering Committee Chair of the Israel on Campus Coalition, she also designed the Schusterman Visiting Israeli Professors program and oversees CLSFF's plans to enhance Jewish studies in the U.S., including establishing the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at the University of Texas. Lisa serves on the national boards of BBYO, Inc., Hillel International, Hillel in the FSU, Panim and Project Interchange Seminars in Israel, where she formerly served as Executive Director.
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Joseph Eldridge, University Chaplain, American University:
Joseph Eldridge is University Chaplain and Adjunct Faculty in the School of International Service at American University. He has spent more than twenty five years working in the public policy arena as advocate and analyst on international human rights and humanitarian issues. In 1991 he established the Washington office of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights; during the mid-1980s he worked in Honduras consulting on human rights and development issues; and after a three year sojourn in Chile in the early 1970s he co-founded the Washington Office on Latin America and served as its first director. He has a MA in International Relations from American University, a MDiv from Perkins School of Theology at SMU, and a DMin from Wesley Theological Seminary.
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Rabbi Josh Feigelson, Campus Rabbi, Fiedler Hillel Center at Northwestern University :
Rabbi Josh Feigelson is the Campus Rabbi at the Fiedler Hillel Center at Northwestern University. He was ordained by Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, whose motto is Open Orthodoxy, in 2005. Rabbi Feigelson is a cum laude graduate of Yale University, where he studied music. He is a dynamic educator and speaker, and is a leading thinker about issues related to Jewish higher education and the the place of religion and moral development within the university. His writings have appeared in the Jerusalem Report, the JUF News (Chicago), Los Angeles Jewish Journal, and Zeek.net.
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Allison H. Fine, author, Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age:
Allison H. Fine is the author of the recently released Momentum: Igniting Social Change in the Connected Age (Wiley), winner of the 2007 Terry McAdam National Nonprofit Book Award. Momentum is a fresh, lively roadmap for social change in the digital age and was cited as a recommended read by the Wall Street Journal and the San Francisco Chronicle. She is a senior fellow at Demos: A Network for Thinking and Action where her work focuses on increasing political participation. Allison is the founder of Innovation Network, Inc. (InnoNet), the former CEO of E-Volve Foundation, and currently serves on the board of directors of Just Vision and The Hope for Henry Foundation.
Back to Summit Highlights Jeffrey H. Finkelstein, President and CEO of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh
Jeffrey H. Finkelstein is the President and CEO of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. The 96-year-old United Jewish Federation is one of the nation's oldest Federations and one of Pittsburgh's largest philanthropies. Mr. Finkelstein was named to his current position in 2004. Mr. Finkelstein joined the staff of the UJF in 1998 as Director of the Annual Community Campaign and was later named Vice President of Development. Under his professional leadership, the Pittsburgh Federation has raised more funds than at any other period in its history. In the past three consecutive years, The United Jewish Federation has been recognized as one of the 50 best places to work in Pittsburgh by The Pittsburgh Business Times. Mr. Finkelstein came to Pittsburgh following five years of development work with THE ASSOCIATED: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore.
Back to Summit HighlightsJulie Finkelstein, Coordinator, University of Maryland's Interfaith Dialogue ProjectJulie Finkelstein is the coordinator of University of Maryland's Interfaith Dialogue Project (IDP). She began her work with IDP during her time as Maryland Hillel's Jewish Student Life coordinator, in an effort to increase interaction and reduce friction among the different religious communities at Maryland. Thanks to a generous multi-campus grant from the Department of Homeland Security, Finkelstein has spent the past four semesters facilitating dialogue for over a hundred Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Buddhist, Hindu and other religiously affiliated students, and mentored IDP's student leaders to create interfaith programs, film series, speaker events and experiential opportunities, reaching the additional hundreds of students in the broader campus community. She is currently also the Assistant Director of Capital Camps and Retreat Center, the Jewish community residential summer camp for children and teens from the Mid Atlantic region.
Back to Summit HighlightsAndrew Getraer, Executive Director, Rutgers HillelAndrew Getraer is in his 7th year as the Executive Director of Rutgers Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. With nearly 5,000 Jewish students, Rutgers University has the fourth largest Jewish population of any campus in America, and Hillel is the largest student organization at Rutgers. Under Getraer’s leadership, Hillel has quadrupled the number of students involved with Hillel, doubled Hillel’s annual budget, and is now embarking on a $15 Million Capital & Endowment Campaign. Before entering the field of Jewish communal leadership, Andrew spent nine years as Marketing Director for the Geothermal Power Company, a privately held international renewable energy company. Mr. Getraer has also worked for NBC News, and holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an M.Sc. from the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.
Back to Summit HighlightsMarc Gold, President, Federation CJA, Adjunct Professor, McGill University
Marc Gold is the President of FEDERATION CJA and the co-President of La Fondation de la Tolérance. Born in Montreal, Gold is a graduate of McGill University and holds law degrees from the University of British Columbia and Harvard Law School. A former law professor and Associate Dean at Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, he currently is Vice-President of Maxwell Cummings & Sons Holdings Limited and an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, McGill University. He is a member of the Executive Committee of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and a member of the Conseil de l’Université, Université de Montréal. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of United Israel Appeals Federations Canada, a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Canada-Israel Committee.
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Sergio Gonzales, Vice President for University Advancement and External Affairs, University of Miami:
Mr. Gonzalez currently serves as Vice President for University Advancement and External Affairs at the University of Miami. In this capacity, Mr. Gonzalez oversees all development, communications, community relations, government and alumni affairs for the University. He oversees all facets of the University’s advancement operations and played a lead role in the University’s $1.4 billion fundraising campaign which ended on December 31st, 2007 and well exceeded its goal. Mr. Gonzalez was instrumental in most of the leadership gifts of the campaign, including $100, $50, and $30 million gifts. During his tenure, the University broke a number of fundraising records and received numerous national fundraising awards. He works closely with University President, Donna Shalala, and the University’s Board of Trustees and Deans in formulating and implementing initiatives for the University. Prior to his appointment at the University of Miami, Mr. Gonzalez served as Chief of Staff to Miami-Dade County Executive Mayor, Alex Penelas, where he directed all of the Mayor’s operations. He has served on a number of community and corporate boards including the Dade Community Foundation, the Make-A-Wish Foundation and TotalBank. He is also a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute.
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Andy Guess, reporter, Inside Higher Ed :
Andy Guess, reporter, came to Inside Higher Ed from National Public Radio, where he worked on the organization’s podcasting initiative. His first journalism assignment, in sixth grade, was a computer game review for The Washington Post. Since then he has sought to combine his love of computers and new media with writing. He graduated from Cornell University, where he edited The Cornell Daily Sun and dabbled in documentaries. While there, he developed his interest in higher ed issues, becoming a contributor to the MetaEzra alumni blog after prolonging graduation to January 2006.
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Amy Gutmann, Ph.D., President, The University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Amy Gutmann is president of the University of Pennsylvania. She serves on the Board of Directors of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Board of Governors of the Partnership for Public Service. In 2005, Gutmann was appointed to the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board. She also is among the leaders of a select group of presidents of research universities from around the world who advise the U.N. Secretary General on a range of global issues, including academic freedom, mass migration, international development, and the social responsibilities of universities. Gutmann also serves on the Executive Committee of the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. Prior to her appointment as Penn's President, Dr. Gutmann served as Provost at Princeton University, where she was also the Laurance S. Rockefeller University Professor of Politics. She was the founding Director of the University Center for Human Values, a multi-disciplinary center that sponsorsteaching, scholarship and public discussion of ethics and human values. She served as Princeton's Dean of the Faculty in 1995-97 and as Academic Advisor to the President in 1997-98.
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Ralph J. Hexter, President, Hampshire College:
Ralph J. Hexter is of Hampshire College. Hexter taught for a decade in Yale’s Classics Department before moving to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where, as Professor of Classics and Comparative Literature, his primary administrative assignment was to direct the graduate program in comparative literature. In 1995 he joined the faculty of the University of California, Berkeley, soon becoming Dean of Arts & Humanities, and Executive Dean of the College of Letters & Science – for four years the last two concurrently. President Hexter serves on the board of trustees of the Pacific School of Religion in Berkeley and the Christian Gauss Award Committee for Phi Beta Kappa, and has recently been appointed or elected to the Board of Advisors of the Center for Free Inquiry at Hanover College, the Professional Matters Committee of the American Philological Association, Phi Beta Kappa’s Council Nominating Committee and the National Conference for Community and Justice.
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Robert Hollister, Dean, Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service, Tufts University:
Robert Hollister is Dean of the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service and Pierre and Pamela Omidyar Professor. Rob has led planning and development of Tufts’ uniquely comprehensive approach to education for active citizenship from its beginning. Previously, Dr. Hollister was Dean of the Tufts Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Director of the Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs and Chair of the Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. A specialist in citizen participation in public affairs, he has been engaged in teaching graduate and undergraduate students, practicing professionals, and citizens for over 30 years.
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Lisa Hostein, Editor, JTA:
Since 1994, Lisa Hostein has served as the editor of the JTA, the Global News Service of the Jewish People, an international news agency providing news and feature stories of Jewish interest to publications and subscribers around the world. Ms. Hostein formerly served as news editor of the Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia. In addition to writing widely on issues facing the American Jewish community, she has traveled extensively, exploring and writing about Jewish communities all over the world, including those in Israel, Russia, Argentina, France, India, Romania, Turkey, Tunisia and the former Yugoslavia. Ms. Hostein has won numerous journalism awards, and was the recipient of the American Jewish Press Association's Joseph Polakoff Award for Distinguished Service to Jewish Journalism.
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Jackie Jenkins-Scott, President, Wheelock College:
Jackie Jenkins-Scott is president of Wheelock College. From 1983 until 2004, Jenkins-Scott served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Dimock Community Health Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Prior to joining Dimock, she held several positions with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Departments of Public and Mental Health. Jenkins-Scott currently serves on the Board of Directors of The Boston Foundation, the Kennedy Library Foundation and Museum, the Boston Plan for Excellence, WGBH, the National Board of Jumpstart and the Council on Social Work Education. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Century Bank and Trust Company and the Tufts Health Plan. In April 2007, Boston’s Mayor Thomas M. Menino selected Jenkins-Scott to Co-Chair his School Readiness Action Planning Team, charged with developing specific strategies to prevent the achievement gap among the next generation of students.
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Richard M. Joel, President, Yeshiva University:
Richard M. Joel is Yeshiva University's fourth president. In assuming the leadership of one of the nation's top academic research universities at his investiture, he put forth a vision that embraces time-honored values in a 21st century context. That includes his desire to ennoble YU students' deepest human needs of intellectual curiosity and discovery, and to educate and enable them to care for others and contribute to society. President Joel's success in revitalizing Jewish campus life and activism defined his 14 years as president and international director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, where he greatly expanded programs, activities, and branches in the nation and around the world. President Joel was a Root-Tilden law scholar at New York University. He received an honorary doctoral degree from Boston Hebrew College. President Joel was an assistant district attorney in New York, an associate dean at YU's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, and member of its faculty.
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Yvette M. Jones, Chief Operating Officer and Senior Vice President for External Affairs
Tulane University
Yvette M. Jones is Tulane University’s senior administrative officer responsible for all non-academic functions and externally-related activities at the University. She oversees the University’s $700 million fundraising campaign and all related development and alumni activities, as well as government relations, public relations, and university communications. Ms. Jones also leads the university’s technology transfer and business development, strategic planning, and campus development efforts, and has responsibility for human resources and information technology and services. Ms. Jones serves as a member of the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP), among others. She is currently a facilitator for the Association of Governing Boards and has served as an evaluator of the Commission of Colleges of Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. She is a member of the boards of Idea Village, the Greater New Orleans Biosciences District, America’s New Orleans Fund, Inc., the New Orleans Regional Medical Consortium, and the New Orleans BioInnovation Center.
Back to Summit Highlights Laurel Price Jones, Vice President for Advancement, The George Washington UniversityLaurel Price Jones is GW’s Vice President for Advancement. She has initiated a number of important efforts, including a review of advancement activity, the establishment of a Parents Fundraising Council, and development of two mini-campaigns, one to create a legacy fund for President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg and another to develop scholarship support. Before coming to GW, Price Jones was vice president for development and alumni relations at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Price Jones was previously the managing director for development at University Hospitals of Cleveland, director of corporate and foundation relations for institutional advancement at the Cleveland Clinic, and director of corporate and foundation support at Oberlin College. As well as lecturing at conferences and colleges, Price Jones is committed to public service. She has served on the boards of the Hochstein School of Music in Rochester, the Northern Ohio Youth Orchestra, and the Oberlin Chorister’s Ensemble, where she was board president.
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Joseph S. Kanfer, International Board of Governors, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life:
Joe Kanfer is the Chair of the Board of Trustees of United Jewish Communities. He is a past chair of both UJC’s Jewish Renaissance & Renewal Pillar and Nominating Committee and served as the Chair of the 2005 General Assembly. Among many positions in the federated system, he has served as Campaign Chair for Young Leadership of United Jewish Appeal and Chair of Community Services for the Council of Jewish Federations. He has a special interest in Jewish Education and is a past Chair of JESNA, the Jewish Education Service of North America, and past President of the Jerome Lippman Jewish Community Day School. He serves on the Board of Jewish Family and Life and the Covenant Foundation. He is a member of Hillel’s International Board of Governors.
Back to Summit Highlights Irene R. Kaplan, President, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington
Irene is currently President of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, and is a Trustee of the United Jewish Endowment Fund. She has held many leadership positions at Federation including Vice President for Campaign, Major Gifts Chair, Vice President for Planning and Allocations, Jewish Education Division Chair, Long Range Planning Committee Chair, and Women’s Division at-large Board Member. Nationally Kaplan serves as a Trustee of United Jewish Communities. In other community positions, she served on the Boards of the Magen David Sephardic Congregation, the Jewish Community Council, and the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, and chaired the 2003 Jewish Population Survey of Greater Washington. Kaplan retired from the American Bar Association in 1999 after 19 years as a Senior Legislative Counsel in the Government Affairs Office. Prior to joining the ABA, she spent 11 years on the staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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Simon Klarfeld, Executive Director, Columbia/Barnard HillelSimon Klarfeld is the Executive Director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel. He has served as director of the Student and Academic Campaign for Soviet Jewry and executive director of San Francisco’s Bay Area Council for Jewish Rescue and Renewal. In 1996, he became founding director of Genesis at Brandeis University and an adjunct faculty member at Brandeis University’s Hornstein Program and Institute for Informal Jewish Education. Klarfeld then became Vice President of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies, New York, responsible for projects relating to Jewish Peoplehood and Jewish Education. He has written on various themes including: anti-Semitism, Jewish youth and adolescence, the Jews of the Former Soviet Union, Israel and Jewish education and is currently writing a book entitled Jewish Sources and Perspectives on Leadership.
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Ken Kramarz, Executive Campus Liaison, Schusterman International Center:
Ken is a native Californian where he earned degrees at UCLA and the UCLA School of Law. Ken left the adversarial world of lawyering in favor of the non-profit world of Jewish communal service, ultimately becoming Executive Director of Camp Tawonga, the resident camp of the San Francisco Jewish community. At Tawonga Ken facilitated the development of a wide variety of novel programs which engaged the broadest range of the community. Ken spent several years in the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue and helped launch the first ever Turkish-Armenian Dialogue group. In addition to representing SIC at Hillels throughout Northern California, Ken is lead trainer for the Inter-Congregational Emergency Response program of San Francisco Community Agencies Responding to Disaster.
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Peter A. Konwerski, Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff, Student and Academic Support Services, The George Washington University:
Peter A. Konwerski currently serves as Assistant Vice President and Chief of Staff for the Division of Student and Academic Support Services at The George Washington University. He also holds academic appointments in the GW Graduate School of Education and Human Development and the Sociology Department in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at GW. Konwerski brings nearly twenty years of experience working with Washington, DC area education, non profit and government agencies, through various Board, Staff, and Volunteer capacities, including as policy writer for the Corporation for National Service, where he helped write guidelines for Learn and Serve America funding, campus coordinator for the Partnership for Public Service, and with the Community Research and Learning (CORAL) Network.
Back to Summit HighlightsSusan Kurtz, Executive Director, Hillel at Virginia TechSusan Kurtz, executive director of Hillel at Virginia Tech, graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City with a BFA in illustration, drawing and design. She completed her Masters in education at Adelphi University on Long Island, NY. She has spent time studying, traveling and living in Europe and Israel. As an artist, Ms. Kurtz's work has been published in The New York Times, Readers Digest, and Sport Magazine. She held several leadership positions within the Jewish Community before being named executive director of Virginia Tech's Hillel in 2004.
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Rabbi Susan Laemmle, PhD, Dean of Religious Life, University of Southern California:
Rabbi Susan Laemmle has served as Dean of Religious Life at the University of Southern California since September 1996. Rabbi Laemmle was the first person to fill the newly formulated, expanded Dean of Religious Life position. She came to this role after serving as Director of the Hillel Jewish Center at USC, and previous to that as the Hillel Director for Valley and Pierce Community Colleges. Rabbi Laemmle was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, New York, in 1987. Rabbi Laemmle is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi honorary societies, the Modern Language Association, ACURA (the Association for College & University Religious Affairs), the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the Board of Rabbis of Southern California. She lived in Israel from 1989-1992, working at Ben Gurion University of the Negev, on Kibbutz Yahel, and for the National Council for the Child (a New Israel Fund grantee).
Back to Summit Highlights Patricia M. Lampkin, Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer, University of VirginiaPatricia M. Lampkin is Vice President and Chief Student Affairs Officer at the University of Virginia. She oversees the following areas that provide programming and services to undergraduate students. Prior to being named vice president, Ms. Lampkin served as interim vice president, and prior to that, associate vice president for student affairs. During the 2000-01 academic year, she devoted her full-time energies to the University's long-range planning initiative, Virginia 2020. Ms. Lampkin began her career with the University in 1979. In 1987 she was promoted to associate dean of students responsible for residence life. She is the recipient of several awards from the University community, including the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award in 2005 and the Elizabeth Zintl Leadership Award in 1998. In 2000 the University of Vermont presented her with the Salva Dignitate ("With Dignity Uncompromised") Award, which honors alumni who are exceptional educators and leaders in times of change.
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Doug Lederman, Co-Editor and co-founder, Inside Higher Ed:
Doug Lederman is one co-editor and co-founder of Inside Higher Ed. With Scott Jaschik, he leads the editorial operations of Inside Higher Ed, overseeing daily news coverage, opinion pieces, blogs and other features. Doug has been a higher education journalist for more than 20 years, and his work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, the Nieman Foundation Journal, The Christian Science Monitor, among others. He also speaks widely on the topic, at conferences and on radio and television. Before helping to found Inside Higher Ed, Doug spent 17 years at The Chronicle of Higher Education. He has won two National Awards for Education Reporting from the Education Writers Association. Doug began his career as a news clerk at The New York Times.
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Peter L. Laurence, Founder and Executive Director, Education as Transformation, Inc.:
Peter Laurence, Ed.D. (Columbia University) is Executive Director of the Education as Transformation Project at Wellesley College and in that capacity is currently serving as grant administrator for a federally funded project on Changing Attitudes across Religious Communities: Developing Models for College Campuses. He has been a consultant to various national and international interfaith organizations for the past twenty years, has served as Chair of the Board of the North American Interfaith Network and as a member of the Assembly of Religious and Spiritual Leaders for the Parliament of the World's Religions (Chicago, 1993; Capetown, 1999). Dr. Laurence is co-editor of Education as Transformation: Religious Pluralism, Spirituality, and a New Vision for Higher Education in America (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 2000), and co-editor of the Peter Lang book series, Studies in Education and Spirituality. He also serves on the Editorial Board of the Religion and Education journal and the Journal of College and Character, and is a member of the Collaborative on Spirituality in Higher Education (CSHE).
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Phyllis K. Leffler, Director, Institute for Public History and Professor in the Department of History, The University of Virginia:
Phyllis K. Leffler is the Director of the Institute for Public History and Professor in the Department of History at The University of Virginia. Her field of interest is public history, and she publishes in the area of museum studies and institutional culture. She has been the president of Congregation Beth Israel in Charlottesville, Virginia, serves on the board of the Southern Jewish Historical Society, and has taught courses in Southern Jewish History and on Jewish Museums. In prior years, she served as an assistant Dean in the College of Arts and Sciences and was on the board of the Charlottesville Hillel.
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Peter Levine, Director, CIRCLE:
Peter Levine is Director of CIRCLE, The Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement, in the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. He came to the University of Maryland in1993. In the late 1990s, he was Deputy Director of the National Commission on Civic Renewal. He is a member of the Deliberative Democracy Consortium’s steering committee, a co-founder of the National Alliance for Civic Education, and former chair of the Executive Committee of the Campaign for the Civic Mission of Schools. Levine is the author of The Future of Democracy: Developing the Next Generation of American Citizens, three other scholarly books on philosophy and politics, and a novel. He also co-edited The Deliberative Democracy Handbook with John Gastil and co-organized the writing of “The Civic Mission of Schools,” a report released by Carnegie Corporation of New York and CIRCLE.
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Jon A. Levisohn, Assistant Professor of Jewish Education and, by courtesy, of Philosophy, Brandeis University:
Jon A. Levisohn is Assistant Professor of Jewish Education at Brandeis University and also serves as Assistant Academic Director of the Mandel Center for Studies in Jewish Education. As a philosopher of education, his work focuses on the varieties of interpretive experience, in order to illuminate the goals and processes of education, both Jewish and general. Recent publications include "Introducing the Contextual Orientation to Bible: A Comparative Study,"Journal of Jewish Education 73:3 (2008), and "Community as a Means and an End in Jewish Education," in Jewish Day Schools, Jewish Communities: A Reconsideration, A. Pomson and H. Dietcher, eds. (Littman Library, 2008). In January, he chaired a major conference on the teaching of rabbinic literature, bringing together leading academics with Jewish educators from across the denominational spectrum.
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Harry Mairson, Professor of Computer Science, Brandeis University:
Harry Mairson, a faculty member at Brandeis University since 1987, does research in logic and programming languages. He has also held research positions at the University of Marseille, the Ecole Normale Superieure, and Oxford University. Professor Mairson served as chair of the Brandeis Faculty Senate from 2005 to 2007. During that time, he was involved in addressing several issues related to the Summit theme: the university administration's decision to remove an exhibit of drawings and biographies by Palestinian teenagers and the visit of President Jimmy Carter to Brandeis to discuss his book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid".
Back to Summit HighlightsBeatrice S. Mandel, Regent Emeritus, University of California; Member, Board of Directors, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life; Co-Chair, 2008 Summit
Beatrice S. Mandel, a Co-Chair of the 2008 Summit, has held numerous distinguished positions in the California higher education system. Mandel is a Regent Emeritus of the University of California and currently sits on the Board of Directors of the UCLA Foundation. She is currently the President of Woman and Philanthropy at UCLA. A graduate of UCLA, she was the first woman president of the UCLA Alumni Association. She is also on the Board of Directors of The California Council on Economic Education. Mandel has also dedicated her time to enhancing Jewish life on campus. She is a past chair of the Los Angeles Hillel Council and also a former Vice Chair of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. She currently sits on the Hillel: FJCL Executive Committee and is chair of the Accreditation program.
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Andrew Mangino, Co-Founder, Scoop08 and Editor-in-Chief, Yale Daily News:
Andrew Mangino, co-founder of Scoop08, is a junior political science and history major at Yale University. He spends most of his time in New Haven as the editor in chief of the Yale Daily News, the oldest daily college newspaper; he was its politics reporter last year. He is also co-president of the Davenport Pops Orchestra and was a director of the Yale Daily News Summer Journalism Program. Mangino, who interned last summer at The New York Observer, graduated in 2005 as valedictorian from James Caldwell High School in West Caldwell, New Jersey. In high school, he served for three years as editor in chief of The Caldron, a nationally award-winning student newspaper.
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Jenny Mandelbaum, Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, Rutgers University:
Jenny Mandelbaum has worked in higher education for more than twenty five years. She has been on the faculty at Rutgers University for the past twenty years. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication, where she served as Department Chair from 2003-2006. Dr. Mandelbaum teaches courses at all levels of the curriculum, from small freshman seminars and large (450-student) introductory courses, to graduate classes and supervision of doctoral students. She has won several teaching awards and grants, including the Rutgers University-wide Warren I. Susman Award for Excellence in Teaching. Her research and teaching interests are in conversation analysis, language and social interaction, and relationships and identity.
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Denise B. Maybank, Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Services and Director of Student Life, Michigan State University:
Dr. Denise B. Maybank is the Senior Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Services and Director of Student Life at Michigan State University. As a student advocate she supports student development, empowerment, academic success and responsibility throughout the campus community. As a keynote speaker and presenter, Dr. Maybank addresses the issues currently facing youth, young adults and those who work in academic and child welfare settings. Her focus is on building quality relationships and aiding in the development of systems to prevent negative life outcomes for young people. As a diversity consultant she has worked with major corporations around the country. Dr. Maybank has held a variety of offices on boards of directors, councils, coalitions and committees through which she has had the opportunity to serve others.
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Ruth W. Messinger, President, American Jewish World Service
Ruth W. Messinger is the president of American Jewish World Service, an international development organization providing support to 350 grassroots social change projects throughout the world. Prior to assuming this role in 1998, Ms. Messinger was in public service in New York City for 20 years. She is an active member of her synagogue and serves on the board of several not-for profit organizations. In honor of her tireless work to end the genocide in Darfur, Sudan, Ruth Messinger received an award from the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in 2006. She was recently awarded honorary degrees by both Hebrew Union College
(2005) and Hebrew College (2007). For the past seven years, she has been named one of the 50 most influential Jews of the year by the Forward.
Back to Summit HighlightsSusan Miller, The Miller Family FoundationSusan Miller currently serves on the Board of the Council for Educational Change, a Florida non- profit organization whose mission is to make systematic change in public education. She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Dade County and has been a Campaign Cabinet Member of the United Way for over twenty years. She is the Chair of the United Way of Dade County’s Individual Leadership Gifts and a Past Government Relations Committee Member of the United Way’s Foster Care Program. She is Vice-President, Board Member, and Founding Board Member of the Children’s Foundation of Greater Miami, Inc. In May 2008, she will receive an honorary Doctor of Human Letters degree from the University of Miami. Mrs. Miller was married to Leonard M. Miller, Chairman of the Board of Lennar Corporation, for 47 years.
Back to Summit HighlightsDanny Moldovan, Vice President, Strategy and Business Development, Change.orgDanny Moldovan is Vice President, Strategy and Business Development at Change.org - a new social network that connects and empowers nonprofits, donors, and activists worldwide. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Northwestern University's Center for Global Engagement - an international program design center which helps students move beyond "good intentions" to be a part of responsible, sustainable global problem solving. Moldovan was previously on the Board of Directors for Northwestern's Hillel and is currently advising several projects to improve how Jewish institutions and communities utilize social technology. Prior to this work, he was the Director of Finance and Development for a youth media initiative called The Passenger - a magazine project and nonprofit organization designed to bring today's young people together around common questions of generational identity and shared potential.
Back to Summit HighlightsLarry Moneta, Vice President for Student Affairs, Duke University
Larry Moneta serves as the Vice President for Student Affairs at Duke University. He joined the Duke community in 2001 after nearly 10 years at the University of Pennsylvania, most recently as Associate Vice President for Campus Services. Moneta holds adjunct faculty appointments at Duke in the Hart Leadership Program at the Sanford Institute of Public Policy and at the Graduate School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania where he teaches in the Higher Education Executive Doctorate Program. He has written numerous publications, presents frequently at professional meetings and serves on a number of corporate boards.
Back to Summit HighlightsKaren S. Moss, Co-Chair, FSU Committee; Member, Board of Directors, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus LifeFor 25 years, Karen Moss advocated for the freedom of Soviet Jews to emigrate – traveling to visit refuseniks and lobbying in Washington, D.C. and among our European allies. She served as a N.G.O. delegate to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe. Today, Karen serves on the executive committee and Board of the NCSJ and on the national board of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, where she serves as co-chair of Hillel in the FSU Committee, serving 27 Hillels throughout Russia, Ukraine, Moldova, Belarus, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan. Moss serves on the board of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and is the immediate past co-chair of JDC’s Committee on Central and Eastern Europe. In Columbus, Karen serves on the board of the Columbus Jewish Federation and is a past chair of the Women’s Campaign. She is a founding member of the Columbus-Kfar Saba P2K partnership and serves on its Steering Committee.
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Eric Mlyn, Director, Duke Center for Civic Engagement/DukeEngage:
Eric Mlyn is the inaugural Director of the Duke Center for Civic Engagement/DukeEngage. Prior to this he served for nearly 7 years as the Director of the Robertson Scholars Program, as well as an Adjunct Associate Professor of International Studies at UNC-CH, and Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Policy at Duke. He taught Political Science at UNC-Chapel Hill from 1990-1998 and directed a set of new programs aimed at reinvigorating the undergraduate experience, including the Burch Field Research Seminar Program. He is the author of The State, Society, and Limited Nuclear War as well as numerous articles on national and international security. He holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Minnesota (1991) and his BA from Tufts University (1983).
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Barry S. Myers, Anderson-Rupp Professor, Senior Associate Dean for Industrial Partnerships and Research Commercialization, Director, Duke University Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization:
Dr. Myers has been a member of the Duke faculty in Biomedical Engineering since 1991. He is Senior Associate Dean for Industrial Partnerships and Research Commercialization in the Pratt School of Engineering where he facilitates technology transfer and industrial interaction, including serving as Project Director for the Coulter Translational Research Partnership. He is Director of Duke University’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization which is dedicated to creating applied, interdisciplinary classes and co-curricular activities that link the principles of management and education with faculty research innovation to promote research commercialization. Dr. Myers ran a biomechanics consulting firm for 13 years prior to becoming an Executive-in-Residence at Pappas Ventures, a bioventure capital firm, in 2004. Pappas Ventures invests in early stage biotechnology, pharma, drug delivery, and medical device firms. He has served as Director of Undergraduate Studies and the Director of Graduate Studies for the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
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Pamela S. Nadell, Patrick Clendenen Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program, American University:
Pamela S. Nadell is the Patrick Clendenen Professor of History and Director of the Jewish Studies Program at American University, where she was also the 2007 Scholar/Teacher of the Year. Her publications include Women Who Would Be Rabbis: A History of Women's Ordination, 1889-1985, which was a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award.
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Dr. Kathy O'Byrne, Director, UCLA Center for Community Learning:
Dr. Kathy O'Byrne is the Director of the UCLA Center for Community Learning, the undergraduate curricular arm of the Chancellor's UCLA in LA Initiative. She chairs the Faculty Advisory Committee for the undergraduate minor in Civic Engagement, and teaches several service learning courses. Dr. O'Byrne provides ongoing training and professional development events; she also creates and maintains community partnerships for service learning courses, internships and community based research. Dr. O'Byrne administers a variety of AmeriCorps programs and specialized programs for other undergraduate minors. In 2004, California Campus Compact presented her with the Richard E. Cone Award for Excellence and Leadership in Cultivating Community Partnerships in Higher Education.
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Robert M. O’Neil, Director, Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression:
Robert M. O’Neil became founding director of The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression in August, 1990, after serving five years as president of the University of Virginia. After serving as law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan Jr., O’Neil began his teaching career in 1963 at the University of California Law School at Berkley, where he chaired the Academic Senate Committee on Academic Freedom. His administrative career began as provost of the University of Cincinnati. He was vice president of Indiana University for the Bloomington Campus, and later president of the statewide University of Wisconsin before coming to Virginia. He is currently director of the Ford Foundation’s Difficult Dialogues Initiative, and serves on the Board of Consulting Editors of Trusteeship, journal of the Association of Governing Boards. He is a member of the National Advisory Board of the American Civil Liberties Union. He chaired Committee A (Academic Freedom and Tenure) of the American Association of University Professors from 1992-99. He currently chairs AAUP Special Committees on Academic Freedom and National Security in Time of Crisis and the Effect of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans Universities.
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Jill Piacitelli, Executive Director, Break Away:
Currently the Executive Director of Break Away, Jill works with students and staff from 150 college campuses who plan and carry out alternative breaks. These breaks, where students use school breaks to participate in week-long immersion volunteer projects for communities other than their own, have grown to involve over 41,000 students each spring. Her involvement with Break Away has spanned 10 years in various capacities:as a conference and retreat facilitator, the National Program Director, lead on curriculum development, a member of the Board of Directors, and chair of the Programs Board. Jill has worked with college students engaged in service-learning and volunteerism for over 10 years. She received her degree in Sociology from Brigham Young University, where work as a research assistant, particularly in a project involving the steelworkers of a recently closed steel plant, fueled her interest in service-learning and in social movements.She has worked on two college campuses coordinating service-learning, encouraging both faculty/staff driven models of community work and student led initiatives.
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Jules Polonetsky, Chief Privacy Officer and SVP for Consumer Advocacy, America Online:
Jules serves as Chief Privacy Officer and Senior Vice President of Consumer Advocacy at AOL. Prior to joining AOL in 2002, Jules worked as DoubleClick’s Chief Privacy Officer and Special Counsel. He has also served as the NYC Consumer Affairs Commissioner for Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as a state legislator and a congressional staffer.
Back to Summit Highlights Daniel R. Porterfield, Vice President for Public Affairs and Strategic Development, Georgetown University
Daniel R. Porterfield is Georgetown University's Vice President for Public Affairs and Strategic Development. In this role he leads Georgetown's communications, government relations, and community relations efforts and assists the President of the University with strategic planning. An assistant professor in the English Department, Dr. Porterfield regularly teaches courses on human rights, education, and social justice. Prior to coming to Georgetown in 1997, he served for four years as a senior aide to Health and Human Service Secretary Donna E. Shalala. In 1995-96, he helped develop the Secretary's "Safe Passages" initiative, which assisted parents and other adults in protecting their children from substance abuse and other risks. In the 1980's Dr. Porterfield founded Georgetown University's D.C. Schools Project and After School Kids Program, two on-going social justice projects that allow several hundred students a year to work with immigrant children and at-risk youth..
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Chris Powers, Director of Education Abroad Programs, Institute of International Education:
Chris Powers is the director of education abroad programs at the Institute of International Education. He oversees several international education programs, including the National Security Education Program David L. Boren Scholarships and Fellowships for U.S. undergraduate and graduate students. Prior to joining IIE, Mr. Powers served as director of special programs at NAFSA: Association of International Educators, where he managed a series of professional development programs for international educators and scholarship programs for international students. He has participated in or conducted international programs in Morocco, Korea, Japan, Cyprus, South Africa, Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and the United Kingdom.
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Robert D. Putnam, Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy, Harvard University:
Robert D. Putnam is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard, where he teaches both undergraduate and graduate courses. He is also Visiting Professor and Director of the Manchester Graduate Summer Programme in Social Change, University of Manchester (UK). Professor Putnam is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the British Academy, and past president of the American Political Science Association. In 2006, Putnam received the Skytte Prize, one of the world's highest accolades for a political scientist. He has served as Dean of the Kennedy School of Government. Putnam has written a dozen books, translated into seventeen languages, including the best-selling Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, and more recently Better Together: Restoring the American Community. He consults widely with national leaders, including US Presidents Bush and Clinton, British Prime Ministers Blair and Brown, Ireland's Bertie Ahern, and Lybia's Muammar el-Qaddafi. He founded the Saguaro Seminar, bringing together leading thinkers and practitioners to develop actionable ideas for civic renewal.
Back to Summit Highlights Brodie Remington, Vice President of University Relations, University of MarylandBrodie Remington has served as Vice President of University Relations at the University of Maryland since September 1999. He oversees fundraising, alumni relations, publications, media relations, marketing, and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation and its financial management. During Remington’s tenure, the University has gone from raising approximately $73 million per year to more than $125 million per year. Remington currently provides leadership for Great Expectations, a $1 billion campaign that was publicly launched in October 2006. Remington was also responsible for the incorporation of the University of Maryland College Park Foundation. Prior to joining the University of Maryland, Remington held vice president positions at Trinity College (CT) and the University of Oregon. He has extensive experience in fund-raising campaigns, having successfully completed campaigns at Trinity, Oregon, and the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the University of Maryland for a combined total in excess of $2.5 billion.
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Barbara Roswell, Assistant Professor of English, Goucher College:
Barbara Roswell has been on the faculty at Goucher since 1983, where she has often incorporated service learning into her courses in writing, linguistics and women’s studies. Barbara served as the founding Editor of Reflections, a scholarly journal devoted to writing, service learning and community literacy, and is the author, with Gail Goldberg, of Reading, Writing, and Gender, a book that explores gender and children’s literacy. Barbara sits on the Goucher Hillel Council and is past president of Hillel of Greater Baltimore. Most recently, Barbara has been volunteer teaching at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women, where she has been collaborating with a diverse group of community and university leaders to institute a college degree program at the prison.
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Julian Sandler, Chairman, Board of Directors, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
Julian Sandler is Chairman of the Board of Directors for Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. Sandler is the founder and CEO of Rent-a-PC, Inc., a nationwide provider of short-term computer, audio-visual and technology rentals to the IT community. He was also the founder and president of Brookvale Associates, which specialized in remarketing used digital hardware, and cofounder of Periphonics Corporation. He has served on the board of several public companies, including Manchester Equipment Corporation and MTI Systems Corporation. Mr. Sandler has been actively involved with Hillel on both the local and the national level since 1994. In addition to serving on the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life Board of Directors, he served as Hillel’s treasurer, was chair of Hillel’s Strategic Planning Committee and is a member of the Management Committee for the Hillels of New York. He is a member of the Rabbinical School Board of Overseers at the Jewish Theological Seminary.
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Morton Owen Schapiro, President, Williams College:
Morton Owen Schapiro is President of Williams College. He previously served as a member of the Williams College faculty from 1980 to 1991, as Professor of Economics and as Assistant Provost. In 1991 he went to the University of Southern California where he served as Chair of the Department of Economics until 1994 and then as Dean of the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences until 2000. During his last two years as Dean, he also served as the University's Vice President for Planning. Schapiro is among the nation's premier authorities on the economics of higher education, with particular expertise in the area of college financing and affordability, and on trends in educational costs and student aid. He is widely quoted in the national media and is regularly asked to testify before U.S. Senate and House committees on economic and educational issues. Professor Schapiro has received research grants and contracts from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, the World Bank, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the College Board, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and other groups to study the economics of higher education and related topics.
Back to Summit HighlightsMike Schaub, Executive Director, Career Education Center, Georgetown UniversityDr. Mike Schaub is the Executive Director of the Career Education Center at Georgetown University. He began at the Career Center in 2000 as Associate Director for Career Education & Counseling and assumed the Executive Director position in September 2006. As Executive Director, he coordinates all aspects of the Career Center including managing a staff of 14; working with students, employers, faculty, alumni, and parents; and ensuring that the career counseling and employer development efforts are responsive to students’ needs. Dr. Schaub conducts research and has published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national conferences during his tenure at the Center. He is a licensed psychologist in Virginia and Maryland and maintains a small counseling practice in Alexandria, VA.
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Lynn Schusterman, Chair, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, Co-Chair, Hillel’s International Board of Governors:
Lynn Schusterman is chair of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, a private philanthropic foundation headquartered in Tulsa with offices in Washington, DC. Through the Foundation as well as personal endeavors, she has become a world-renown advocate for the Jewish community. Founded in 1987, the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation is dedicated to advancing causes important to the Jewish people by supporting programs throughout the world that spread the joy of their culture, heritage, and values. She has been active in Jewish communal affairs for over forty years and currently holds a variety of distinguished leadership positions in organizations such as the JDC Executive Committee, STAR (Synagogues: Transformation and Renewal), Hillel, the B’nai B’rith Youth Organization, and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. A leading philanthropist in the Birthright Israel program, she is a founding member of the Birthright Israel Foundation and continues to serve on its board of directors. In 2007, Lynn received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion.
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Evan J. Segal, Member, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life Board of Directors:
Evan is a new member of Hillel’s Board of Directors, and a strong supporter of Pittsburgh Hillel. Evan was the President and Owner of Dormont Manufacturing Co., a leading manufacturer of flexible stainless steel gas appliance connectors, and recently sold his business. He is active with numerous civic and community organizations, including the Pittsburgh Jewish Federation, serving as Chair of the Pittsburgh AIPAC Council, a member of the UJF Pittsburgh Management Committee and a board member at the Community Day School. Evan received both his BS and MBA from the Carnegie Mellon University Tepper School of Business, where he now serves as an Executive-In-Residence and advises new and start-up businesses. He is currently a member of the Wexner Heritage Program.
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Donna E. Shalala, President, University of Miami:
Donna E. Shalala is Professor of Political Science and President of the University of Miami. A leading scholar on the political economy of state and local governments, she has also held tenured professorships at Columbia University, the City University of New York (CUNY), and the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She served as President of Hunter College of CUNY from 1980 to 1987 and as Chancellor of the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1987 to 1993. In 1993 President Clinton appointed her U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) where she served for eight years. In 2007, President George W. Bush chose Shalala to co-chair the Commission on Care for Returning Wounded Warriors. Shalala also served in the Carter administration as Assistant Secretary for Public Development and Research at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. In addition to numerous other honors, President Shalala has been elected to the Council on Foreign Relations; National Academy of Education; the National Academy of Public Administration; the American Academy of Arts and Sciences; the National Academy of Social Insurance; the American Academy of Political and Social Science; and the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Bruce Sholk, Vice Chairman, Board of Directors, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life:
Bruce Sholk has been active in a variety of community roles in Baltimore. He was a founding board member of Hillel of Greater Baltimore, and served as its president. He is currently vice chairman of the Board of Directors of International Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life. As an active member of The Associated: Jewish Community Federation of Baltimore, Sholk sits on the Board of Directors, Governance Committee, Finance Committee and Capital Campaign Committee. He chaired the Israel and Overseas Committee and The Associated’s 2007 annual campaign, and currently chairs overall Financial Resource Development. He will serve as chairman of the Board starting in 2010. Sholk is a member of the Board of Directors of UJC and chairs the Operation Promise Allocations Committee. He is also a member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel. Sholk has spent the majority of his business career identifying emerging growth companies for investment. He is a co-founder of Axcel Partners and Greenspring Ventures, venture capital limited partnerships.
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Heather Smith, Executive Director, Rock the Vote:
Heather Smith is the Executive Director of Rock the Vote. Prior to Rock the Vote, Ms. Smith founded and directed Young Voter Strategies, a nonpartisan project in partnership with The Graduate School of Political Management at The George Washington University with support from The Pew Charitable Trusts, that provided the public, parties, candidates, consultants and nonprofits with data and research on the youth vote as well as best practices to effectively mobilize young people. In 2006, Smith and Young Voter Strategies coordinated the nation’s largest non-partisan project to register young voters using innovative and replicable methods of voter outreach. The project registered over 540,000 youth ages 18-30 and played a large role in the young voter turnout increase in 2006.
Back to Summit Highlights Julia Smith, Community Outreach Coordinator, Idealist.orgJulia Smith is a Community Outreach Coordinator at Idealist.org, a global organization and website which aims to help people translate their good intentions into action, perhaps best known for connecting thousands of people to nonprofit jobs and internships each year. Based here in Washington, DC, Julia spends her days blogging, podcasting, event planning and maintaining the resource center
www.idealistoncampus.org. Prior to joining the team at Idealist, she worked with several nonprofits including The Goodman Theatre in Chicago; Global Youth Partnership for Africa in Uganda; and Planned Parenthood's Action Fund here in DC. Before all of that Julia was a theatre major at Washington University in St. Louis.
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Rabbi Daniel Smokler, Senior Jewish Educator, UCLA Hillel:
Rabbi Daniel Smokler currently works as UCLA Hillel's Senior Jewish Educator, and has been a Jewish educator and community organizer for over 10 years. Dan began teaching in 1997 in the Jewish community of Cuba, working on behalf of the Joint Distribution Committee. That year, he founded Jews in the Woods, a quarterly interdenominational gathering for college students to join in Jewish study, fellowship and prayer. In 2001, Dan graduated cum laude from Yale University and immediately began working as a labor organizer for the Hotel and Restaurant Employees Union. In 2004 he founded Organizational Solutions, a consulting group that designed and successfully executed the 2005-06 Writers Guild of America election and reorganization in Los Angeles and New York. In 2006, Dan was ordained an Orthodox rabbi by rabbinic authorities in Israel.
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Saúl Sosnowski, Associate Provost for International Affairs, University of Maryland at College Park:
Saúl Sosnowski has served as the Associate Provost for International Affairs at University of Maryland at College Park since 2000. In this capacity he leads the Office of International Programs, which coordinates the university's international partnerships, provides faculty travel grants, oversees services for international students and scholars, and sponsors international programs and events on campus. During his tenure at the University of Maryland, Dr. Sosnowski has served as a Professor of Latin American Literature and Culture, Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese (1979-2000) and Director of the Latin American Studies Center (which he founded in 1989). Over the years, he served on advisory boards for National Public Radio and the JCLAS (SSRC-ACLS), as a member on NEH, CIES and ACLS panels, and on several literary and cultural award committees. He is a Fulbright Senior Scholar (2003-2008).
Back to Summit Highlights Stephen P. Steinberg, Advisor to the President, University of PennsylvaniaDr. Stephen P. Steinberg is currently Advisor to the President at the University of Pennsylvania. Since 1990, he has worked closely with Penn Presidents Sheldon Hackney, Claire Fagin, Judith Rodin, and Amy Gutmann as a writer and advisor on faculty and academic affairs, undergraduate education, campus issues and student conduct policies, freedom of expression, and national educational and cultural issues. From 1996 to 2004, he served as Executive Director of the Penn National Commission on Society, Culture and Community. A Lecturer in Philosophy and in Communication, his teaching, research, and writing interests include the philosophy of nationalism and the role of ideology in ethno-political conflict; public discourse, culture, and community; phenomenology, existentialism and postmodernist thought; psychoanalysis; and contemporary issues in higher education. He is co-editor and a contributor to Public Discourse in America: Conversation and Community in the Twenty-First Century (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2003).
Back to Summit HighlightsBluma B. Stoller, Member, 2008 Summit Planning Committee; past Co-Chair, Weinberg Tzedek Hillel Committee; former Member, Board of Directors, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus LifeBluma B. Stoller recently completed her term as Co-Chair of the Weinberg Tzedek Hillel Advisory Committee and as a member of the International Hillel Board of Directors; she was the recipient of Hillel’s 2003 Exemplar of Excellence Award for her commitment to social justice and Tikkun Olam. She continues her commitment to Hillel and is working with student members of the Hillel Board of Directors and as a member of the Summit 2008 Planning Committee. She has held leadership positions in the Jewish Relations Council of Greater Boston; The Boston-Haifa Connection; and Project Otzma. Stoller is currently developing an after-school arts and culture program for Boston children and teens at risk.
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LeNorman J. Strong, Assistant Vice President for Student and Academic Services, Cornell University:
LeNorman J. Strong currently serves as Assistant Vice President for Student and Academic Services at Cornell. Before coming to Cornell in 1998, he served as Assistant Vice President for Student and Academic Support Service and Adjunct Professor of Higher Education Administration at the Graduate School of Education and Human Development at The George Washington University from 1987-1998. He was a co-founder of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Foundation; a founding member of the Washington, D.C. Regional Task Force on Bigotry; a participant in the “World of Difference” program of the Anti-Defamation League; Chair of the Multicultural Education Commission of the National Association for Campus Activities; and President of the Association of College Unions-International. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the United Way of Tompkins County, New York where he chairs the Youth and Philanthropy Committee.
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Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit, Executive Director, Hillel Foundation at Tufts University
Rabbi Jeffrey A. Summit is the Executive Director of the Hillel Foundation at Tufts University, where he also serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Music. He also holds appointments as Lecturer in the Department of German, Russian and Asian Languages and Literatures and as the University's Jewish Chaplain. He is the author of The Lord's Song in a Strange Land: Music and Identity in Contemporary Jewish Worship (Oxford University Press, 2000) and together with photojournalist Richard Sobol, is co-author of Abayudaya: The Jews of Uganda (Abbeville Press, 2002). He is currently co-directing a project funded by the Department of Homeland Security establishing Muslim/Jewish/Christian dialogues and inter-religious education on five university campuses. Rabbi Summit was awarded B'nai B'rith's Jacob Burns Prize for the Promotion of Ethics on Campus. He has also received the Benjamin J. Shevach Memorial Award for distinguished achievement in Jewish educational leadership. Rabbi Summit is past-president of the National Hillel Professional Association.
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Ralph S. Taber, Dean of Students and Hillel Advisor, Franklin & Marshall College
Ralph S. Taber, Ph.D., has served in many capacities at Franklin & Marshall College over the past 22 years. For the last fourteen years, he has volunteered as Adviser to Hillel and served as Dean of Students for the College. This summer, Ralph will assume a newly created position as the Associate Dean of the College and Director of the Klehr Center for Jewish Life. The Klehr Center scheduled to open mid-October, 2008. He welcomes this new opportunity to focus his efforts full-time to the Klehr Center, to working with Jewish students, alumni, parents, and to coordinating religious and spiritual life activities for the rest of the campus.
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Elizabeth Traubman, co-founder, Jewish/ Palestinian Living Room Dialogue:
Elizabeth "Libby" Traubman is a retired clinical social worker. In 1982, Libby was a founding member of the Beyond War Movement, now Foundation for Global Community. In 1991, she helped organize the Beyond War conference for Israeli and Palestinian citizen-leaders which resulted in a historic signed document, FRAMEWORK FOR A PUBLIC PEACE PROCESS. Libby then co-founded the Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group of San Mateo, 15 year-years-old in early 2008 and preparing for its 189th meeting, having inspired dozens of other Dialogues to begin and continue. Libby is a Trustee of the Foundation for Global Community, and in 1994 was inducted into the San Mateo County Women's Hall of Fame.
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Lionel Traubman, co-founder, Jewish/ Palestinian Living Room Dialogue:
Lionel "Len" Traubman retired in 2000 from his practice of Dentistry for Children in San Francisco. He is a former Director of the San Francisco Dental Society, and was Editor of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and of the California Society of Dentistry for Children. For 25 years, Len has published on war and peace from personal experience with Russians and Americans, Armenians and Azerbaijanis, and Jews and Palestinians. Len, with his wife, Libby, conceived and co-produced two 2007 documentary films -- PEACEMAKERS: Palestinians & Jews Together at Camp, and DIALOGUE AT WASHINGTON HIGH, and created the accompanying TEACHER'S GUIDE freely downloaded on the Internet.
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Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, President Emeritus & University Professor of Public Service, The George Washington University:
Stephen Joel Trachtenberg was the 15th president of The George Washington University. He served GW from 1988 to 2007. Trachtenberg was previously president and professor of law and public administration at the University of Hartford. Prior to that, he was at Boston University as Dean of Arts and Sciences and Vice President. During the Johnson Administration, he served as secretary for a White House Task Force on Education. He was also special assistant to the U.S. Education Commissioner, Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Preceding his academic career, he was an attorney in the New York office of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and an aide to a U.S. Congressman. Recognitions for his contributions to education include 15 honorary degrees, most recently from Columbia University. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Council on Foreign Relations and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is a clinical senior client partner at Korn/Ferry International where he helps to identify leadership for institutions of higher education.
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Ilan Troen, Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies, Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies, Brandeis University:
Ilan Troen is Director of the Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and holds the Stoll Family Chair in Israel Studies at Brandeis University. In Israel, he has served as Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences at Ben-Gurion University and as Director of the Ben-Gurion Research Institute and Archives, Sede Boqer. He has authored or edited numerous books in American, Jewish and Israeli history. His most recent books are Imagining Zion: Dreams, Designs and Realities in a Century of Jewish Settlement and, with Jacob Lassner, Jews and Muslims in Arab Lands; Haunted by Pasts Real and Imagined. He is also the founding editor of Israel Studies (Indiana University Press).
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Diana Chapman Walsh, President emeritus, Wellesley College:
Diana Chapman Walsh was the twelfth President of Wellesley College, from 1993 to 2007, and the fourth alumna to head Wellesley. During her tenure, the college undertook a number of successful educational initiatives, including expanded programs in global education and service learning. Before assuming the Wellesley presidency, Dr. Walsh was Florence Sprague Norman and Laura Smart Norman Professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, where she chaired the Department of Health and Social Behavior. Walsh currently serves on the boards of Amherst College and the State Street Corporation and as a member of the MIT Corporation. She chaired the board of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and of Phi Beta Kappa.
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David Ward, President American Council on Education:
A leading spokesperson for American higher education, David Ward is the 11th president of ACE. Ward is chancellor emeritus of the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Prior to becoming chancellor at UW-Madison, Ward also served as associate dean of the graduate school from 1980 to 1987 and as vice chancellor for academic affairs and provost from 1989 to 1993. He also has chaired the Government Relations Council of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges, and served on the Committee on Undergraduate Education of the Association of American Universities, the Science Coalition, and the Kellogg Commission on the Future of State and Land-Grant Universities. As president of ACE, he has been appointed to the Council of the United Nations University and to the Commission on the Future of Higher Education, convened by Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings.
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Kathleen Maas Weigert, Ph.D., Executive Director, Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service at Georgetown University:
Kathleen Maas Weigert is the Executive Director of the Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching and Service at Georgetown University, a Center created in January 2001 when Dr. Maas Weigert joined the University as the first director. She is a Research Professor in both the Department of Sociology & Anthropology and the Program on Justice & Peace. Prior to coming to Georgetown, she held a variety of positions at the University of Notre Dame, including Associate Director for Academic Affairs and Research at the Center for Social Concerns, Concurrent Associate Professor in American Studies, and Fellow in the Joan B. Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. In 1997 the national Peace Studies Association gave her its award "in recognition of her steadfast commitment to the development of Peace Studies.” She was one of the ten finalists selected for the national Campus Compact’s 1999 Thomas Ehrlich Faculty Award for Service-Learning. She serves on the boards of CARA (Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate), Washington D.C.’s Perry School Community Services, Inc., and the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University, New Orleans.
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Aaron Weil, Executive Director, Hillel at the University of Pittsburgh:
Aaron Weil, executive director of Hillel at the University of Pittsburgh, arrived on campus in June 2003 after spending the previous decade in Israel, where he was a media and marketing strategist. Aaron also acted as a Communications Advisor for former Deputy Prime Minister of Israel, Natan Sharansky’s Yisrael B’Aliyah Party, during the 2003 elections. Prior to this, Aaron was co-founder and CEO of Coast 2 Coast Communications, an Israeli public relations and marketing firm for high tech start-ups and political mobilization. Aaron was a Captain (Res.) in the Israel Defense Forces and served in the IDF Spokesperson unit dealing directly with the foreign press. Prior to Israel, Aaron worked on Capitol Hill for both AIPAC as well as the UJC’s Washington Action Office.
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Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, co-founder and North American Director, Encounter:
Rabbi Melissa Weintraub is the co-founder and North American Director of Encounter,an educational organization dedicated to providing Jewish Diaspora leaders from across the religious and political spectrum with exposure to Palestinian life.An alumnus of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship program, Melissa was ordained as a Conservative Rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary andcurrently represents the Seminary as a Rabbinic Fellow in Conservative communities throughout the country. Melissa has also served as Director of Education and Outreach at Rabbis for Human Rights-North America, where she authored several articles treating the subjects of human dignity, war ethics, and human rights in Jewish sources. She has lectured and taught on Jewish theology, mysticism, and ethics in an array of conferences, synagogues, and adult education settings throughout North America, including the Parliament of World Religions, Princeton Theological Seminary, and Elat Chayyim Jewish Retreat Center. She has served as a prison chaplain in Indiana and is a veteran of Jewish-Muslim and Israeli-Palestinian people-to-people initiatives . Recipient of a grant from the Samuel Ruben Foundation, Melissa is currently working on a book exploring Jewish religious responses to terror.
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Rev. Gloria Elaine White-Hammond, M.D., Co-Pastor of Bethel AME Church:
Rev. Gloria E. White-Hammond, M.D. is the Co-Pastor of Bethel AME Church in Boston, MA and a pediatrician at the South End Community Health. She also has a long history of involvement in community service. She is the founder of and consultant to the church-based creative writing/mentoring ministry called “Do The Write Thing” for high-risk black adolescent females. Rev. White-Hammond is Co-Convener of The Red Tent Group with Rabbi Elaine Zecher of Temple Israel, which brings together Christian women and Jewish women for Torah/Bible study. In 2002 Dr. White-Hammond’s co-founded My Sister’s Keeper, a humanitarian women’s group that partners with women of Sudan in their efforts toward reconciliation and reconstruction of their communities. In February 2005, Dr. White-Hammond traveled into Darfur to listen and learn from female victims of genocide in Internally Displaced Persons camps. She recently served as the National Chairperson of the Million Voices for Darfur campaign and is the Co-Founder of the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur. Rev. White-Hammond is a member of the Board of Trustees of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the Board of Overseers for the Tufts University College for Community and Public Service and the Board of Christian Solidarity International (Zurich).
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John W. Whitehead, President, The Rutherford Institute:
John W. Whitehead’s concern for the persecuted and oppressed led him, in 1982, to establish The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit legal and educational organization whose international headquarters are located in Charlottesville, Va. Deeply committed to protecting the constitutional freedoms of every American and the integral human rights of all people, The Rutherford Institute has emerged as a prominent leader in the national dialogue on civil liberties and human rights and a formidable champion of the Constitution. Widely recognized as one of the nation’s most vocal and involved civil liberties attorneys, Whitehead’s approach to civil liberties issues has earned him numerous accolades and accomplishments, including the Hungarian Medal of Freedom. Whitehead has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law, human rights and popular culture. Whitehead’s weekly newspaper commentaries, distributed to daily and weekly newspapers across the country and published on a regular basis, take the pulse of the nation, of what’s happening and what’s news.
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Ralph Williams, Professor of English, Language and Literature, University of Michigan:
Ralph Williams is a Professor in the Department of English, Language and Literature at the University of Michigan. He has studied 15 languages including Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic, and uses Italian, French, and Latin, especially frequently. He specializes in Medieval and Renaissance literature, Shakespeare, literary theory, comparative literature and Biblical studies. He has taught such wide-ranging courses as The Bible in English, plus the literature of Chaucer to Frederick Douglass, to the works of Primo Levi and the Memory of Auschwitz. Professor Williams was Associate Chair of the Department of English (for the second time) from 1999 to 2002. He also served from 1996 to 1999 as Director of the Program on Studies in Religion. While Associate Chair of the English Department, he was instrumental in creating and developing the Royal Shakespeare Company Residency program at the University of Michigan.
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Ruth R. Wisse, Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature, Harvard University:
Ruth R. Wisse is Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University. Before that she taught at McGill University where she helped to found the Jewish Studies Department. She has written several books on literature, including The Schlemiel as Modern Hero, A Little Love in Big Manhattan: Two Yiddish Poets, and The Modern Jewish Canon: A Journey through Literature and Culture, and two political studies-- If I Am Not for Myself: the Liberal Betrayal of the Jews and Jews and Power (2007).
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Judy Woodruff, Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer:
Broadcast journalist Judy Woodruff has covered politics and other news for more than three decades at CNN, NBC and PBS. Most recently, she signed on as a senior correspondent and 2008 political editor for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. In early 2007, Woodruff concluded initial reporting and production, along with MacNeil/Lehrer Productions, on Generation Next: Speak Up. Be Heard. In addition, she anchors a monthly program for Bloomberg Television, “Conversations with Judy Woodruff.” Through fall 2006, Judy was a visiting professor at Duke University’s Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, teaching a weekly seminar course on media and politics. In the fall of 2005, she was a visiting fellow at Harvard University's Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy. Woodruff is a founding co-chair of the International Women's Media Foundation, an organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging women in communication industries worldwide. She serves on the boards of trustee of the Freedom Forum and Global Rights: Partners for Justice and in 2005 became a member of The Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics and the Board of the National Museum of American History. Woodruff is a graduate of Duke University, where she is a trustee emerita.
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Nancy D. Young, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC)
Nancy Young currently serves as the Interim Vice President for Student Affairs at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). She provides leadership for student services including career, counseling, health, commuter, and transfer student services as well as assessment, housing, residential education, judicial