Hillel international president Wayne L. Firestone to visit Syracuse University

Kelly Homan Rodoski
(315) 443-3784

Wayne L. Firestone, the international president of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, will visit Syracuse University on Wednesday, Oct. 7.

Firestone will attend the dedication of the Miriam Loewy Friend Hillel Program of Hillel at Syracuse University at 6 p.m. in the Lender Auditorium of the Winnick Hillel Center for Jewish Life.

Earlier in the day, Firestone will offer a public lecture, “If It Ain’t Broke, Break It,” at 2:15 p.m. in the Lender Auditorium, Room 007, of the Martin J. Whitman School of Management building. The lecture is co-sponsored by Hillel, the Whitman School and the Delta Sigma Pi professional business fraternity. Members of the SU and greater Syracuse communities are welcome to attend Firestone’s presentation.

In late afternoon, Firestone will meet with student representatives from various student organizations from across campus. On Thursday morning, he will attend a breakfast with the local Jewish community leadership, co-sponsored by Hillel at Syracuse University and the Syracuse Jewish Federation.

“The appearance of Wayne Firestone on this campus is a tribute to our achievements as an indispensable campus partner,” says Lowell H. Lustig, executive director of Hillel at Syracuse University. “The hallmark of Hillel at Syracuse University is students and staff working in tandem to add value to the student experience and the University community at large through varied programs that reach wide audiences.”

Firestone has held leadership positions in Jewish communal affairs since his undergraduate years at the University of Miami, where he was a Hillel activist. He was named Hillel’s executive vice president for the United States in September 2005, a position that has enabled him to direct the organization’s U.S. operations. He simultaneously served as the staff director of Hillel’s Strategic Planning Committee, which has developed a five-year plan for the organization. Firestone joined Hillel in a professional capacity in September 2002, when he was appointed executive director of the Israel on Campus Coalition, a partnership of Hillel and the Schusterman Family Foundation that brings together 35 pro-Israel groups working on college campuses.

Firestone has a lifelong commitment to the safety and security of the State of Israel. In 2001-02, he served as director of the Israel Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League. From 1998-2001, he helped strengthen Israel’s high-tech industry as founder and CEO of Silicon Wadinet Ltd., a firm that helped foster the capitalization and growth of technology companies. He worked in academia from 1995-98 as an administrator and adjunct instructor at Technion, the Israel Institute of Technology.

A graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center, Firestone was the lead case management associate in complex multinational litigation and negotiations with the prestigious firm Patton, Boggs, LLP, in Washington, D.C., from 1990-94. In that capacity, he developed international trade strategies for clients on import-export projects under the U.S.-Israel Free Trade Agreement.

As an undergraduate at the University of Miami, Firestone studied Judaic Studies and politics and public affairs. He graduated cum laude in 1984 and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society. He spent two semesters at Tel Aviv University and was a member of the National Student Secretariat, B’nai B’rith Hillel, from 1985-86.

The largest Jewish campus organization in the world, Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life provides opportunities for Jewish students at more than 500 colleges and universities to explore and celebrate their Jewish identity through its global network of regional centers, campus foundations and Hillel student organizations. Hillel is working to provoke a renaissance of Jewish life.

Hillel’s mission is to enrich the lives of Jewish undergraduate and graduate students so that they may enrich the Jewish people of the world. Hillel student leaders, professionals and lay leaders are dedicated to creating a pluralistic, welcoming and inclusive environment for Jewish college students, where they are encouraged to grow intellectually, spiritually and socially. Hillel helps students find balance in being distinctively Jewish and universally human by encouraging them to pursue tzedek (social justice), tikkun olam (repairing the world) and Jewish learning, and to support Israel and global Jewish peoplehood. Hillel is committed to excellence, innovation, accountability and results.