Janet Krasner Aronson, PhD
Interim Director
Janet Krasner Aronson, PhD, is the interim director of the Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and Steinhardt Social Research Institute at Brandeis University. Janet has been part of CMJS/SSRI since earning her PhD in social policy at the Heller School for Social Policy. Janet has been Associate Director for Research at CMJS/SSRI since 2016 and led the local Jewish community studies research team. She has directed studies in Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington, DC, and Miami, among many other communities. She is interested in emerging trends in Jewish engagement and how best to measure, understand, and respond to these trends.
Before joining CMJS, Janet worked as a computer programmer, a graphic designer and religious school teacher. She was a member of the first cohort of the Barnard College/Jewish Theological Seminary double-degree program, in which she earned bachelor's degrees in computer science and Bible. She has an MA in applied sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.