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

	Dr Zvi Bekerman Zvi is the Director of the Melton Center for Jewish Education at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Zvi teaches anthropology of education at the School of Education and The Melton Center. He is also a research fellow at the Truman Institute for Peace at the Hebrew University. His main interests are in the study of cultural, ethnic and national identity, including identity processes and negotiation during intercultural encounters and in formal/informal learning contexts. Since 1999 he has been conducting, with the support of the Ford, Spencer and Bernard Van Leer Foundations, a long term ethnographic research project in the integrated/bilingual Palestinian-Jewish schools in Israel. He has also recently become involved in the study of identity construction and development in educational computer-mediated environments. In brief, his interests lie in human learning processes, their development, and practice, both in formal/informal and real/virtual environments; processes which, from the socio-historical perspectives within which he has been raised and which he ever learns, comprise a large portion of human activity.
	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.
	Prof. Ben-Sasson
	Randi Brenowitz Randi Brenowitz is a proud 2007 graduate of the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School and has attended each of the Melton Israel Seminars. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Alumni Association and co-chairs the 120 campaign. Randi also serves on the board of the Gideon Hausner Jewish Day School and since 2008 she has served on the National Board of the Jewish Reconstructionist Federation where she currently is a member of the Executive Committee and President of the Western Region. She represented the Reconstructionist movement at the World Zionist Congress in June 2010. Previously, Randi served on the National Board of Women’s American ORT and the International Board of World ORT, where she served on the Constitution and By-Laws Committee during a time of reorganization and restructuring. She is a Past President of the Women’s Philanthropy Division of her local Federation. Professionally, Randi spent many years as a Human Resources and Organization Development consultant in the high tech industry, both in the Boston area and Silicon Valley. Six years ago, she left the corporate world and went to work for the Oshman Family Jewish Community Center, where she has held several positions. Currently, she is the Director of Human Resources and Community Outreach. Randi has her BS in History and Education from Northeastern University and her MBA from Babson College in Wellesley, MA. She lives in Palo Alto, CA, with her husband, writer and therapist, Marty Klein.
	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.
	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.
	Charles (Chuck) Levine
	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.
	Chaim Mizrachi Chaim Mizrachi holds a B.A. degree in Economics and an M.A. degree in Business Administration from the Hebrew University. He worked in the Budgets and Economics Department of the Hebrew University for five years and as Deputy Controller in the Finance Division of the University for ten years. He served as Secretary General of the Hebrew University for four years and now serves as Head of the Administration Division. In addition, Mr. Mizrachi is in charge of ties with the subsidiaries of the Hebrew University and serves on the Board of Directors of some of these companies. Mr. Mizrachi has been active in sports all of his life and served for six years as President of Israel Shotokan (karate). He lives in Jerusalem, is married and has three children.
	Dr. Edward J. Septimus Dr. Ed Septimus, M.D., F.I.D.S.A, F.A.C.P, F.S.H.E.A, is originally from New York City. He received his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston in 1972. Dr. Septimus went on to complete his postgraduate training in internal medicine and infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. He is board certified in both internal medicine and infectious diseases. For the next 30 years Dr. Septimus practiced infectious diseases where he formed a 3 person specialty group in infectious diseases in Houston. He was also medical director of infectious diseases and employee health at Memorial Hermann Healthcare System until November 2005. Dr. Septimus then moved to Montana to become Medical Director of Patient Safety and Infection Control at Billings Clinic. His current position is Medical Director Infection Prevention and Epidemiology Clinical Services Group HCA Healthcare System. He finished a 3 year term on the Board of Directors of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) in 2009, and is on the IDSA Quality Improvement Task Force, the IDSA Antimicrobial Resistance Work Group and the IDSA/SHEA Antimicrobial Stewardship Work Group. He has also served on the IDSA Clinical Affairs Committee, IDSA Program Committee, and IDSA State and Regional Board including chair for two years. He was the first recipient of the IDSA Annual Clinician Award. He was recently awarded the John S Dunn Sr. Outstanding Teacher Award. He served on the Houston Medical Advisory Steering Committee on Terrorism and the MRSA Work Group for the Texas Department of Health and recently was appointed to the Healthcare-Associated Infections/ Preventable Adverse Events Advisory Panel for the Texas Department of State Health Services He is on the FDA Anti-Infective Drug Advisory Group. He holds a faculty position as Clinical Professor at Texas A&M Medical School and Professor, Distinguished Senior Fellow, School of Public Health, George Mason University. He is the chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee Center for the Study of International Public Policy and Practices at George Mason University. He currently serves on the Board International Society for Antimicrobial Resistance, the SHEA Public Policy and Governmental Affairs Committee, and is the chair for the IHI Antibiotic Stewardship Project. He is currently the president of the Texas Infectious Diseases Society. He has published over 90 articles and chapters. Current interests include patient safety, infection prevention, antimicrobial stewardship and resistance, public health including vaccine preventable diseases, sepsis, and human factors engineering. Dr. Septimus has lectured nationally and internationally on surviving sepsis, reduction of healthcare-associated infections, antimicrobial stewardship, influenza, MRSA, the economic case for quality, and employee health. He is past President of Congregation Emanu El in Houston (2100 families) and current President of Houston Hillel.
	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.
	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.