Born and raised in New York. My parents were leaders in the Conservative congregation, the Bayswater Jewish Center (Congregation Darchay Noam) where I became a Bar Mitzvah. My dad served in many capacities including Men’s Club President and Synagogue President. My mom served as Sisterhood President and Choir Director.

Beyond New York. After graduating high school I took advantage of my educational opportunities to explore the United States. My training as a scientist taught me the value of asking questions and using the information provided in response as a basis for decision making. While in college and post-graduate school, I lived in Miami, Florida and Las Cruces, New Mexico before making my way to Nebraska. I have told many people that although I grew up in New York, it wasn’t until I attended my first graveside service in Lincoln, Nebraska that I fully grasped the concept of a Jewish community.

Omaha, in the middle of America. Jody and I made our home in Nebraska for twenty-five years; seventeen years in Omaha. There we raised our children and matured our relationship with Judaism. During those years I served in almost every conceivable leadership role at Beth El Synagogue (See my organizational resume for details).

In the earliest years we were members of a havurah of young couples, all of whom were seeking to create a relationship to our Conservative shul. Though decades have passed, although we now live in four separate communities, what binds us is that each of us remains active in our USCJ congregations. I lived the tension which has been described by so many of our 20’s and 30’s members; I lived it in communities large and small and know the importance of creating bonds between our congregations and post-boomers.

Jody and I served as co-Youth Directors for Beth El’s USY chapter for several years ultimately giving up the position to afford the USYers fulltime supervision. I remained involved with our shule’s kids, serving as the congregation’s Youth Commission Chairman for a few years.

I served as President of Beth El Synagogue for 3 years, only the second individual to have served more than 2 years in that office. There are many things that I am proud of having accomplished at Beth El but the most significant for me was the working relationship which I developed with the Rabbi. Our partnership was spotlighted in a presentation we made at the 1999 Biennial convention in Fort Lauderdale and serves as a model for ba’alei bayit and klei kodesh at all levels of USCJ. This working partnership allowed us to succeed. We shared vision and mutual respect. Together we led the congregation through a new building program which allowed the congregation to move to a new synagogue building (winner of a Solomon Schechter award for design for the physically challenged) free from long-term building costs or mortgage. This is a model which can serve USCJ well.

Now Minnesota. For nearly twelve years Jody and I have lived in Rochester, Minnesota. Our daughters have moved back to Omaha. We remain members of Beth El Synagogue there. We are also members of Congregation Sons of Abraham in La Crosse, Wisconsin. My congregational involvement continues as a Board Member at Beth Jacob Congregation in Mendota Heights, Minnesota where we are also members.

Professional life. My work career began in academia. I was an Assistant Professor of Biology at Creighton University for 8 years. During those years I learned the joy of assisting others in their personal growth. This skill has proved to be of great value in my later career choices.

My biology background led to several years in sales of pharmaceuticals, then to technology systems for pharmacies. The greatest lesson I gained from that experience was that learning comes best from listening to what customers want. Sometimes the most effective way to sell an idea is simply to stop talking.

For the past 18 years I have been associated with a small privately held technology corporation. I began in sales and then moved into management, including Director of Operations and, later, Vice President of Operations. In time I became the Chief Operating Officer of the company and, for the past 5 years, served as President of Us, Inc.

I moved forward in the organization by dedicating myself to three principles: growing your replacement; continuing to learn; and doing whatever needed to be done.

Growing and grooming your own replacement not only fulfills the desire to help others achieve their own goals, it also permits one to move ahead in leadership. This concept has helped me both in business and in organizational work.

When I moved from academia to the business world, I had much to learn. I knew virtually nothing about finance or management. As a life long student it was natural for me to seek teachers and learn from them. I continue to study management and leadership.

"Doing" is something that is important for leaders. Whenever possible, whenever equipped to do so, I do the work which needs to be done. The experience of "doing" the work helps one more fully appreciates the tasks at hand. The experience of "doing" can lead to a responsible and realistic delegation of tasks to others. Sharing tasks and responsibilities allows one to foster others’ growth and multiply impact.

When I became president of Us, Inc., the company was going through a major transition. We were not even close to profitability; employees were nervous about their own futures. My job was to lead the company through very dark times and to transform the organization. This required very difficult decisions. Expenses had to be cut; revenue had to be increased. The company is a technology service organization; our people are our product, so keeping qualified staff members who might otherwise leave was vital. I had to take actions which sent a clear message to our staff. In 3 years I turned the company around. Our employees stay; we are profitable I was rewarded for my efforts by being made a partner in the business.

USCJ and me. My involvement with USCJ began 16 years ago when, as President of my congregation; I attended my first USCJ International Biennial Convention, in Toronto. I became a Regional Board member in 1990. My regional career culminated in my 5 years of service as the last president of the Central States and Provinces Region. During my tenure as regional president, the CSP region held its first face-to-face board meetings. These meetings brought the region together and began the development of a strong leadership corps. Perhaps the highlight of my tenure was the merger of the CSP Region and the Southwest Region. This merger provided the congregations in this large geographic area with the next level of regional professional leadership. Both regions were surviving separately but together the shared financial resources provided the Mid-Continent Region with adequate funding to accomplish more for our region’s congregations. I am pleased with our success in achieving our goal of making a single region dedicated to serving all our congregations. We have strong lay leadership which bodes well for the future of the region and of USCJ.

For the past 9 years, I have served USCJ in many ways (See my organizational resume for details) on some eighteen committees or commissions. As Chairman of the Council of Regional Presidents I provided skill development opportunities to the members of the Council. We worked together with our Regional Directors to develop meaningful partnerships to benefit our regions. We began the transformation of regional activities from a sales model to a consultation model.

Today as Vice President for Services to Congregations, I have gathered people who have begun to provide answers to the question, "what do we get for our dues" which is too often heard in synagogue board rooms. Project Ezra is creating partnerships between our member congregations and Schechter Schools and vendors. Project Ezra is using the combined buying power of our numbers to leverage cost savings for our congregations.

Beyond. My organizational involvement with the Conservative Movement, although extensive, has not excluded the general community. I have served on several community based not-for-profit organizational boards, commissions and local government agencies. I bring vision, dreams, experience and skills as I run for President of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism.