"It is my pleasure to announce the appointment of Rabbi Ilan Schwartz as our new Executive Director of Emory Hillel," said Elliot B. Karp, CEO of Hillels of Georgia. "With the assistance of Hillel International we conducted a nationwide search and had several excellent candidates apply for the position. Rabbi Schwartz impressed our two search committee panels with his passion, commitment, experience, convictions and creativity," noted Karp. "Both our Hillel student leadership and Board members found Rabbi Schwartz to be committed to student engagement and empowerment as well as being dedicated to building a warm, welcoming, safe, diverse and inclusive Jewish community on campus."
"We are very excited to have Rabbi Schwartz on our professional staff team," noted Karp. "He brings to Emory Hillel and Hillels of Georgia a great deal of Hillel experience and expertise as well as his personal passion and commitment to developing vibrant and dynamic Jewish life on campus for our Jewish students and the greater Emory community."
Rabbi Schwartz comes to Emory Hillel having served Hillel at the Ohio State University since 2015 when he joined their staff as Senior Jewish Educator. He was promoted to Assistant Director of OSU Hillel in 2018. At Ohio State Rabbi Schwartz was responsible for programs and initiatives advancing Hillel's mission and vision serving the more than 2,700 Jewish students on campus. He has a wealth of experience ranging from programming, leadership development, Jewish education and staff supervision and coaching to advocacy on behalf of Israel, combating antisemitism as well as fundraising and development experience.
Rabbi Schwartz grew up in Rockland County, New York. He attended college at both Columbia University where he earned a BA in History and the Jewish Theological Seminary where he earned a BA in Talmud. Rabbi Schwartz attended the Ziegler School of the American Jewish University and was ordained as a Conservative Rabbi in 2015. Following his ordination Rabbi Schwartz made a commitment to serve Hillel and Jewish college students as his career. Rabbi Schwartz and his wife, Rebecca, have five sons. He is a life-long and die hard Mets fan as well as an avid Peloton rider.