The Florence Melton Adult Mini-School FMAMS

Board of Directors

	Mr. Gordon Zacks Chairperson Elected chairperson of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Institute's Board of Directors in 1998, Gordon is a past president and chairman of the Columbus Jewish Federation. He is chairman and CEO of R.G. Barry Corporation. He served as a personal advisor to then-US President George Bush and has been active in the AIPAC, the National Jewish Coalition and the UJA's Young Leadership Cabinet.
	Mr. Donald L. Katz Vice-Chairman Donald is a trustee of the Melton Foundation and president of Capitol Manufacturing of Columbus, Ohio. He has served on the boards of Tifereth Israel Synagogue and the United Jewish Fund. He holds an MBA from Harvard Business School.
	Mr. Harvey M. Krueger Secretary Harvey is vice-chairman of Lehman Brothers, Inc. and sits on the Board of Directors of several corporations, including R.G. Barry. He is chairman of the Smithsonian Institute's Cooper Hewitt-National Design Museum and past chairman of the Board of Governors of the Hebrew University. He serves on the boards of Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, the Joint Distribution Committee and the Development Corporation for Israel - Israel Bonds.
	Mr. Barry Forman Treasurer Mr. Forman is a business consultant specializing in executive coaching, through peer groups for presidents of smaller companies. Through 2002, Mr. Forman served as the Mid Atlantic regional president for the buyer of the Forman companies. During a three-year transitional period he was instrumental in merging the corporate cultures and business systems of three unrelated businesses with the norms of the new corporate owner. For 25 years prior to the sale he had served as President of various family businesses. Mr. Forman and his wife Carole reside in Potomac Maryland. Both Barry and Carole are Melton Graduates.

Board Members

	Karen Altschul Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Karen and her husband Larry now reside in Boca Raton, Florida. In Cleveland, Karen was a lay leader in both the Jewish and general communities and was a staff member of the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland for nine years working in the area of public relations. In Florida, Karen continued her community involvement and after graduating from the Mini-School established the first local FMAMS alumni association. She currently serves as chair of the local alumni association and is a resource for sites interested in developing the program. Karen has attended many of the Israel seminars, and her family has dedicated a scholar’s curriculum in her honor.
	Professor Israel Bartal Israel Bartal is the Avraham Harman Professor of Jewish History, and the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the Hebrew University. He served as director of the Center for Research on the History and Culture of Polish Jewry, and the academic chairman of the Project of Jewish Studies in Russian at the Hebrew University. Professor Bartal was the co-director of the Center for Jewish Studies and Civilization at Moscow State University. In 2003 was appointed to serve as the academic chair of the Leonid Nevzlin Research Center for Russian and East European Jewry at the HU (until November 2006). Bartal is one of the founders of Cathedra, the leading scholarly journal on the history of the Land of Israel, and had served as its co-editor for over twenty years. Since 1998 he is the editor of Vestnik, a scholarly journal of Jewish studies in Russian. From 1995 to 2003 he chaired the Israeli history high-school curriculum committee. Bartal has published many books and numerous articles on the history and culture of East European Jewry, Jewish nationalism and the Jews of Palestine in the pre-Zionist era.
	Ms. Sandy Benjamin Sandy was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1949. Her primary and secondary education was at Methodist Ladies College and she graduated from Melbourne University with an Arts degree. She majored in psychology and with a degree in Social Work, practised for seventeen years. Sandy’s area of specialisation was family psychiatry and adoption. She lectured in the social work school at La Trobe University and played a leading role in the reform of adoption law in the state of Victoria, Australia. She also conducted a private counselling service for people with fertility problems. She became involved with the Jewish Museum of Australia when it was in its infancy in the late 1980s. Sandy became a member of the Executive and went on to serve as Chairman and then as President. The Florence Melton Adult Mini- School in Melbourne is run under the auspices of the Museum. She took the lead in establishing the program in 1997 and has been a member of the Committee of Management since its inception. Sandy has been a student in the program since it commenced.
	Ms. Lisa Brill Lisa is chairperson of early childhood education with the Jewish Community Center Association. She is a past president of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta and co-chaired the 2001 JCC Maccabi Games in Atlanta. In addition, she is a board member of and serves on the Executive Committee of the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta. Other affiliations include: vice-president of the Atlanta chapter of the American Jewish Committee; creator of Jewish Unaffiliated Task Force for Atlanta; chairperson of the Education Committee and Board member of the Anti-Defamation League (Southeast). Lisa is a graduate student of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School in Atlanta.
	Mr. Ronald Brill Ron recently retired as executive vice-president and chief administrative officer of The Home Depot Inc. in Atlanta, Georgia. He joined Home Depot at its inception in 1978 and for over 20 years held various positions with direct responsibility for many areas of operation. He was also a member of the Board of Directors for 13 years. Ron is a trustee of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta and Kennesaw State University. He serves on the Board of the High Museum of Art, the Governing Board of Woodward Academy and the Board of the Art Alliance for Contemporary Glass. Ron is a graduate of Fairleigh Dickinson University.
	Professor Jonathan Cohen Professor Cohen teaches Philosophy of Jewish Education and Curriculum Studies at the Hebrew University's Melton Center for Jewish Education. He is also head of the Philosophy of Education Division of the University's School of Education, and in charge of Humanistic and Jewish Studies for the Jerusalem Fellows Program of the Mandel School for Professional Development. Dr. Cohen is the author of many textbooks on Rabbinic Literature and Jewish Thought - designed for both Israeli and Diaspora schools. He was also the director of Melton's curriculum project on the teaching of Jewish Values in the Diaspora. He has written numerous articles in Jewish Thought and the Philosophy of Jewish Education.
	Mr. Carmi Gillon Carmi Gillon is today the Vice President for External Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Mr. Gillon studied at the Gymnasia High School in Rehavia, Jerusalem, and at the Jerusalem Academy of Music. He earned a B.A. in Political Science and Public Administration from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and an M.A from Haifa University. He is a graduate of the National Defense College, and of the Harvard Business School - Advanced Management Program in the U.S. He has also participated in courses in management and public administration at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. Carmi Gillon was born in Jerusalem in 1950, and resides in Mevasseret Zion. He is married to Sari and they have three daughters. Mr. Gillon has had a distinguished and varied career in both public service and in the business sector. Amongst these positions, he has served as head of the Israeli Security Service, CEO of the Peres Peace Center, Mayor of Mevasseret Zion and Ambassador of Israel to Denmark. He also serves on a number of nonprofit and public sector boards, including that of Variety Israel, of the Friends of the Israel Firefighters (FIS), Bnai Brith, Israel, the Israel Intelligence Heritage Commemoration Center, and that of the Council for Peace and Security. Mr. Gillon's book "Shabak in Tears" was published in 2000.
	Professor Gabriel Horenczyk Professor Gabriel Horenczyk is the Director of the Melton Centre for Jewish Education and an Associate Professor at the School of Education, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. His teaching and research areas include: the psychological study of cultural and ethnic identity; identity transitions; education and immigration; cultural identity processes during intergroup contact; acculturation and identity processes among immigrants. He has published extensively in various scientific journals, and has co-edited two books: Language, Identity, and Immigration (with E. Olshtain), and National Variations in Jewish Identity (with S. Cohen). Some of his current research projects: A multidimensional socio-psychological approach to Jewish identity; the acculturative school context and the adaptation of immigrant students; a multidimensional conceptualization of religiosity and spirituality; the intergroup encounter: strategies, outcome, and the role of collective identity.
	Mr. Alan D. Hoffmann Alan is director general of the Department of Jewish Zionist Education, Jewish Agency. He previously served as director of the Mandel Center for Jewish Continuity at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as executive director of the Council for Initiatives in Jewish Education and as director of the Hebrew University's Melton Centre for Jewish Education. Alan was also the founding director of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School.
	Judy Mars Kupchan Judy, the Director of the North American Division, has served the division in many capacities since 1994, most recently as Associate Director and Director of Educational Services. She began her long tenure with the Melton Mini-School as founding director of the BJE Chicago site where she launched the Mini-School for Educators and co-authored the Teacher Enrichment Program with Betsy Katz. She remains on the faculty of the BJE Chicago school, where she has taught Rhythms and Ethics. Judy holds an MA in Jewish education and Contemporary Jewish Studies from Brandeis University. She is an alumna of the Melton Centre for Jewish Education's Senior Educators Program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has worked in Jewish teacher education since 1974 and is the founding director of Jewish teacher centers in Washington D.C and Chicago. Judy was a recipient of the Kohl International Teaching Award.
	Dr. Martin Mendelsohn Martin is chairman of the Eversheds European Franchise Group. He is a lawyer and author, a legal consultant to the British Franchise Association, fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and editor of the International Journal of Franchising and Distribution Law. Martin is also a speaker for franchising legal and business conferences. He has been active in many parts of the world in providing support and assistance to Franchise Associations.
	Dr. Yonatan Mirvis As International Director of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Institute since 1991, Jonathan is the Hebrew University of Jerusalem's foremost academic specialist in adult education and the new field of social entrepreneurship. He lectures to graduate students and conducts research on these subjects at the Hebrew University’s School of Education and Melton Centre for Jewish Education, The School of Social Work’s Program in Non-Profit Management and The Business School’s MBA Program. He holds a doctorate in adult education from Surrey University in England, participated in the Jerusalem Fellows program and is a graduate of Yeshivat Kerem B’Yavneh in Israel. Jonathan was awarded a Kaye Innovation Prize by The Hebrew University in 2003 for his development of the social franchise model and in 2006 received a special recognition by the Rector of the university for excellence in teaching.
	Ms. Wendy Platt Newberger Wendy is the founding president of the Chicago Jewish Day School, a multi-denominational elementary school which like the FMAMS, values diversity in Jewish education. Wendy has sat on various local and National boards including the Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago, Hillel Commission of Illinois, United Jewish Communities, National Jewish Coalition for Literacy, and Mt. Sinai Hospital. In addition, she is a former national co-chair of the UJC's Young Leadership Cabinet. Wendy, a mother of four children ranging from two to 11 years old, is a graduate of the Florence Melton Adult Mini School and the Wexner Heritage Programs. She holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA from Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
	Prof. Chezy Ofir Professor Ofir conducts research and teaches marketing and strategic topics at the School of Business Administration, Hebrew University. Professor Ofir won the American Marketing Association best paper award for the relevant area. The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) funded his research program, which is executed jointly at Stanford University and the Hebrew University. His research received significant media coverage in Financial Times, MIT Sloan Management Review, etc. Professor Ofir is the founder and academic director of the Executive MBA in Strategic Management, tailored for CEO's. He also has served fifteen years as the head of the Marketing Area in the school of Business and is the Chairman of the Magid Institute of the Hebrew University. He teaches occasionally at the University of California at Berkeley. Professor Ofir holds Masters Degree and Doctorate in Business Administration from Columbia University. He serves (reserve) as a Major in the Military.
	Ms. Lisa Katz Shimoni Lisa has managed online Jewish content since 1994 - first for CompuServe, then for Microsoft Network, and currently for About.com. Lisa's Web Design and Management company, WebPresentIt, designed the FMAMS Web Site. Lisa, her husband Giora, and their four children live in Modiin, Israel. In Modiin, Lisa served as the coordinator for a pilot Mini-School and helped to found the innovative Yachad School, which educates Israeli children from all religious backgrounds together. Lisa holds a BA from the University of Michigan and an MBA from Ohio State University.
	Mr. Norton Wasserman Unsatisfied with the extent of his education at the Sholem Aleichem Folk Institute, The University of Chicago and Yale Law School, Norton enrolled in the Florence Melton Adult Mini-school from which he proudly graduated in 2002. He is retired from his active litigation law practice in which he concentrated on insurance disputes and appellate advocacy. Norton has served as an officer and board member of both the Board of Jewish Education of Metropolitan Chicago and the Solomon Schechter Day School of Metropolitan Chicago. He is on the Illinois Executive Council of AIPAC, and serves as President of the American Committee for MELABEV. He also serves as a member of the Plan Commission for his home town of Deerfield, Illinois. Norton enjoys long distance cycling, Mozart and good Canadian whiskey, all of which he claims only marginally impair his judgment.
	Carole Weinstein Carole Weinstein, from Richmond, Virginia, shares a passion for education with her husband Marcus. Their involvement, commitment and philanthropy in education extends from preschool to college campuses, from holocaust education to anti-discrimination education to health and fitness education, and most recently to the building of an international center with its focus on global education. A former English instructor, Carole holds a B.A. and M.A. in English Literature from the University of Richmond where she also served on the Board of Trustees and was granted an honorary Doctorate of Letters. She currently serves on the Board of the Library of Virginia, has established a Virginia Poetry Prize, and quietly pursues her writing avocation. She is a Melton graduate from both Richmond, VA, and Boca Raton, FL.
	Ms. Rose Weitz Rose is a 5761 graduate of the FMAMS in South Palm Beach County. She is a founding Chair of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School International Alumni Association. She is also a Board Member of the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County Women’s Board, on the Executive Board of Jewish Education Commission, a member of the Jewish Education Task Force and Chairs the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School Advisory Board. Rose has been an active volunteer throughout childhood and adult life, including the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, Jewish Center of the Aged, and National Council of Jewish Women. She has worked for twenty-five years in advertising, including management at KSDK TV in St. Louis, Missouri.