Richard Joel - at Hillel

At Hillel

From 1989 to 2003, Joel served as President and International director of Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, an organization which supports Jewish life for college and university students throughout the world. In 1994, Joel orchestrated Hillel's independence from B'nai B'rith, its parent organization since 1925. Joel also increased the organization's financial stability and prestige by bringing on board major philanthropists such as Michael Steinhardt, Edgar Bronfman, Sr., and Lynn Schusterman and Charles Schusterman. During his tenure, Hillel partnered with Birthright Israel, and launched the Steinhardt Jewish Campus Service Corps, a group of recent college graduates tasked with engaging unaffiliated Jews and drawing them to Judaism and Jewish events. Hillel also expanded to the former Soviet Union and South America. Joel's tenure at Hillel has been criticized by some as providing stylish instead of substantive Judaism. However, Joel has also been credited for his “skilled management, magnetism, personal warmth” and “clarity of vision.” Joel is credited as the one who "transformed this movement (Hillel) and put Jewish renaissance at the forefront of the community's agenda," and his contributions to Hillel have been defined as "immeasurable" by its past and present leadership.