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Robert Wexler to step down as AJU president

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September 12, 2017
Robert Wexler. Photo courtesy of AJU.

After 25 years as president of American Jewish University (AJU) and its predecessor, the University of Judaism, Robert Wexler will step down at the end of the academic year.

“Leading such a remarkable institution for so long has been a great honor,” Wexler wrote in a Sept. 12 email to the Journal. “I truly appreciate the dedication of the men and women on the AJU staff and faculty, all of whom mean so much to me. It is they who have made AJU a major force in American Jewish life.”

Wexler’s involvement with the university began when he was 17 and an undergraduate student at the Bel Air campus, which was known as the University of Judaism until 2007, when it merged with the Brandeis-Bardin Institute. After his ordination at the Jewish Theological Seminary in 1978, he returned as the assistant dean of students, ascending to the presidency in 1992.

Under his stewardship, the university opened the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies in 1996 and merged with Brandeis-Bardin. He is credited with overseeing numerous campus construction projects and growing the university’s endowment from $5 million to more than $100 million.

Announcing Wexler’s departure on Sept. 12, AJU said in a press release it would soon begin to seek his replacement.

“American Jewish University has achieved a position of significant influence in the Jewish community and beyond,” Virginia Maas, chair of the AJU’s board of directors, said in the statement. “We hope to continue this record of achievement by conducting a nationwide search to identify a successor who will build on Dr. Wexler’s legacy of expansion and institutional growth.”

 

 

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