Supporting Thriving Jewish Campus Life Through Hillel
The recognition that Jewish joy and resilience are critical needs for Jewish college students inspired donor Bob Pollack and his wife Marion to give a matching donation from their donor-advised fund (DAF) to Hillel International. Their generous gift is supporting the Ruach Fellowship, a new cohort program training and empowering 60+ student ritual and songleaders to add vitality and spirit to Shabbat and other core Jewish experiences at more than two dozen Hillels across the country.
Embracing the joys of Jewish history, culture, identity, and community has been a significant part of Bob Pollack’s life, going back to his childhood. He grew up in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in what was considered the “Jewish part” of Boston. Pollack’s connection to Jewish life deepened after he left home — when he went to the University of Massachusetts, he joined Tau Epsilon Phi, a historically Jewish fraternity.
After he received a master’s degree in mathematics at Penn State, Pollack worked at the National Institutes of Health in their computation lab, as a programmer and statistician analyzing data for the National Cancer Institute, which eventually led to the famous 1964 Surgeon General’s report linking smoking and cancer.
“I was a programmer before there were programmers,” he said. He also worked for a software company in Princeton, New Jersey, that pioneered the software products industry. His wife, Marion, was originally from the Bronx and worked as a teacher, a counselor, and then a private therapist.
Since retiring, Pollack has been able to focus his time on philanthropy, volunteering, and deepening his connection to the causes and communities he and his wife care about. He began exploring genealogy during the COVID-19 pandemic to learn more about his Jewish ancestors, and after discovering that all of his grandparents came from Ukraine and primarily spoke Yiddish, he decided to start learning the language. He serves on several boards and committees, and has been volunteering with his synagogue for over 50 years, including as president for 23 years.
He also began auditing courses with the Community Auditing Program at Princeton University and became a classical music DJ at their radio station, WPRB. Those activities, along with his involvement with the American Jewish Committee (AJC), served to increase his interest in learning more about how Jewish students thrive on campus. This interest led him to build relationships at and support the Hillel at Princeton University, known as the Center for Jewish Life.
“I got to see what they were doing and experiencing,” Pollack said. “After October 7th, all of us at AJC wanted to make sure that they knew there was a community in the outside world that was behind them.”
Around that time, when auditing a course on Shakespeare, Pollack met one of the students in the class who was the president of Hillel. “She was just wonderful in every way,” he said. “And I thought, here’s somebody you want to be out there as one of your leaders. And the fact that Hillel was helping, mentoring her along the way, was great.”
Connections and mentorships with students are just one of the ways that Pollack stays involved with supporting Jewish life. He is especially pleased to follow the progress of Hillel International’s Ruach Fellowship, sharing that he’d recently received a powerful update about the most recent gathering. “It’s so crucial to know that something positive is happening,” he said.
For Pollack, contributing to opportunities like the Ruach Fellowship comes naturally. He and Marion have long believed that investing in Jewish community is a great privilege. Their commitment to philanthropy and communal involvement has brought them deep purpose and joy, while leaving a lasting mark on organizations like Hillel International and the students they serve.
If you’d like to join Bob and Marion Pollack in supporting Hillel International, we’d love to help you do that. Reach out to Chuck Miller, Hillel International’s senior director of planned giving, at [email protected].