Ellen Smith named director of Hornstein program

Photo/Mike Lovett

Ellen Smith

Ellen Smith has been named director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University.

Smith has been an associate professor at Hornstein, as well as an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Near East and Judaic Studies. She also co-directs advanced training programs at Brandeis for Jewish professionals and organizations.

Hornstein offers four graduate-level dual-degree programs.

"Hornstein is the only location that is able to integrate these degrees, that is also a leader in non-profit and social justice management," Smith said.

She begins her post as director on July 1. Joseph H. and Belle R. Professor of American Jewish History Jonathan Sarna, with whom she's collaborated on various projects for the past 20 years and who is a past director, has been named chair of the program.

"We're excited to be working together again," Smith says. "We're a very happy team."

Smith is also a principal of Museumsmith, a firm specializing in museum exhibitions and historic site interpretations throughout the nation. She is a former curator of the American Jewish Historical Society and the National Museum of American Jewish History. Trained as both an academic historian and a museum curator, Smith has published more than three-dozen books, articles and catalogs including "The Jews of Boston, which she co-edited with Sarna.

A popular speaker locally and throughout the country, Smith sits on numerous academic and civic advisory boards, and is past president of Boston's Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center. 

"Her dedication to the Hornstein program ensures both a smooth transition and strong leadership ahead," Sarna says.