Rabbi Daniel S. Ross to Join HUC-JIR as Director of Alumni Engagement
Tuesday, March 12, 2024
Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion is thrilled to announce that Rabbi Daniel S. Ross ’18 has been named Director of Alumni Engagement at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR). Ross will join HUC-JIR in July 2024.
Reporting to the Vice President of Institutional Advancement Melissa Greenberg and working in collaboration with colleagues across North America and Israel, Ross will design and execute a comprehensive strategy for alumni engagement for the diverse community of HUC-JIR alumni. As a member of the senior Institutional Advancement team, he will work closely with the President, Provost, Deans, faculty, and other stakeholders to connect with alumni across North America, in Israel and globally.
Rabbi Daniel Kirzane ’14, Chair of HUC-JIR’s Alumni Leadership Council, says “Our alumni impact communities with sensitive, thoughtful, and creative teaching and organizing. No one is a better exemplar of this kind of Jewish professional leadership than Dan Ross. His patience, wisdom, and humor will benefit our alumni in every community where they serve, and his commitment to HUC-JIR’s highest ideals of Torah leadership will showcase the best of our movement in today’s Jewish world.”
Rabbi Ross has served as a rabbi at Central Synagogue since July 2019. During his five-year tenure, he devoted himself to the development of dynamic young adult engagement programs, including collaborating on the launch of the NYC Shabbat Collective, a partnership between seven Manhattan Reform synagogues and HUC-JIR. In addition, Rabbi Ross led efforts to deepen engagement with the community’s teens, proudly mentored Central’s rabbinic interns, and served as a member of Central’s dynamic pulpit clergy team. Prior to his time at Central Synagogue, he was the Senior Jewish Educator at the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale.
Ross shares, “As a proud alum, I could not be more excited to engage in the work of strengthening the connections between my inspiring colleagues and HUC-JIR. I believe wholeheartedly in the power of Jewish professionals to change individual lives and to make a difference in the wider world – what a blessing it will be to serve them as we seek to build a sustained, rich, and transformational relationship with HUC-JIR.”
Currently pursuing a Doctor of Ministry at HUC-JIR, Rabbi Ross was ordained in 2018 from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in New York where he was a Wexner Graduate Fellow. During his studies, he received awards for his achievements in Hebrew, liturgy, homiletics, and ecumenical studies. While in rabbinical school, he served for three years as rabbinic intern at Columbia/Barnard Hillel and for two years as student rabbi at Temple Beth Ha-Sholom in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. He also completed a summer chaplaincy internship at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.
Originally from Merion Station, Pennsylvania, Rabbi Ross graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in history and science, technology, and society. After graduating, he served for two years as a Teach For America corps member in Prince George’s County, Maryland, teaching 7th grade social studies while earning a Master of Arts in Teaching from American University. Following the Corps, Rabbi Ross worked for two years at the Advisory Board Company, a health-care research and consulting firm based in DC.
Rabbi Ross is married to Rabbi Jade Sank Ross ’18, who is an Associate Rabbi at the Community Synagogue in Port Washington, Long Island. They live in Forest Hills, Queens with their daughter Adina and their dog Rashi.
We look forward to welcoming Rabbi Dan Ross to HUC-JIR.