• Jeremy Kasdin is the Eugene Higgins professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, emeritus, at Princeton University.  He retired from Princeton in 2019, after which he was the Assistant Dean for Engineering Programs at the University of San Francisco, retiring from there in 2022.  Dean Kasdin received his BSE from Princeton University in 1985 and his Ph.D. in 1991 from Stanford University’s department of Aeronautics and Astronautics.  From 1991 to 1998, Dean Kasdin was a project manager and the chief systems engineer for NASA's Gravity Probe B spacecraft, a satellite test of Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (GP-B was launched in April, 2004).  Dean Kasdin joined the Princeton faculty in 1999 where his research focused on astronomical instrumentation for high-contrast imaging, space systems design, astrodynamics, and control.  At Princeton, he created the collaborative team investigating high-contrast imaging techniques for detecting and characterizing exoplanets.  Dean Kasdin has led several Technology Demonstration for Exoplanet Missions studies and was PI for the CHARIS integral field spectrograph for the Subaru Telescope.  From 2014 to 2016 he was Vice Dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at Princeton where he led their self-study and strategic planning effort.  While at Princeton he served on the board of the Center for Jewish Life/Hillel for 6 years, including two as President of the board.  He has been on the SF Hillel board since 2021 and now serves as its President.


  • Design Director

    It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more.

  • Danielle serves as part of our Development Committee. Her drive and committment to our Hillel comes from her previous role here as our Israel Education and Experience Coordinator (2020-2023). Danielle is still deeply involved with Hillel, as she is currently the Assistant Director of Hillel of San Diego based at UCSD.

    Down in San Diego, Danielle is usually cooking up something delicious in her kitchen or playing at the beach with her pup Roxxie.

Board of Directors


  • Ilana was born and raised in San Francisco. As a child of refugees who escaped horrific anisemitism in the former Soviet Union, Ilana did not get exposed to many Jewish customs growing up. Ilana sought out opportunities to join Jewish clubs in high school and became an active participant in SF Hillel when she studied at the University of San Francisco (USF). Ilana
    joined SF Hillel's Board of Directors in 2019 as a student representative for USF. From 2019
    through 2020, Ilana shaped the future of SF Hillel by representing her fellow students and
    helped set the long-term direction for how the board supports students. While earning her
    Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Ilana served as the President of the Jewish Student Union (now SF Hillel at USF) and taught Kindergarteners at Sunday School in Temple Emanu-El. After graduating, Ilana stayed on the Board and has been serving as a Secretary since 2020.
    Ilana earned her juris doctorate from the University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law in
    2023. At McGeorge, Ilana restarted the Jewish Law Student Association (JLSA) and served as the
    President throughout her years as a law student. As President, Ilana planned and executed the first JLSA cross-campus event between McGeorge and UC Davis to host a Networking Fair
    Dinner. Ilana brings her years of being a student leader and cultivating inclusive spaces for Jewish and non Jewish students to learn and interact with Judaism to SF Hillel. Ilana began her legal career as a Research Attorney at the San Francisco Superior Court. She is looking forward to putting her Trial and Appellate Advocacy training to good use as she pursues meaningful work in civil litigation. Ilana sees serving on the Board of Directors at SF Hillel as an opportunity to continue learning and strengthening her Jewish identity while serving a community that has given so much to her.

  • Edward M. Luby is Emeritus Professor and Director of Museum Studies and former Director and Chief Curator of the Global Museum at San Francisco State University, where he was also Faculty Advisor for SF Hillel, and where he continues to serve on SF State’s Jewish Campus Climate Initiative Advisory Group.  

    Prior to San Francisco State, Professor Luby was Associate Director of the Berkeley Natural History Museums at the University of California at Berkeley, Director of the Repatriation unit at the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, and Special Assistant to the Vice Chancellor for Research at UC Berkeley, where he was also appointed as a Research Archaeologist.  Today, Professor Luby serves as Partner at the Archaeological Research Facility at the University of California at Berkeley.   

    Dr. Luby received a B.A. in Biology and Anthropology from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in Anthropological Sciences from Stony Brook University in New York, where he specialized in Middle Eastern Archaeology.   He has conducted archaeological field work in places such as Iraq, Syria, Mexico, and California, has worked on museum-and heritage-based projects around the world, and has developed partnerships with organizations such as the National Museum of Kenya and Tel Aviv University.  Dr Luby is the author of many academic articles about archaeology and museums as well as a newly published book about museum directorship.  

    A member for more than ten years of Peninsula Temple Beth El in San Mateo, where he is active in Torah Studies and Interfaith activities, Edward was also a member of Temple Sinai in Oakland for many years, where his children had their B’nai Mitzvah, and of Temple Beth El in Berkeley, where his children attended preschool and summer camp.  Born in New York, Edward lived first in Babylon, New York, and amazingly, while conducting archaeological field work in Iraq at Sumerian and Babylonian sites, found himself one day at the actual Babylon. 

  • Garrett grew up in Alameda, CA and had his Bar Mitzvah at Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland.   Garrett first joined the SF Hillel Board as a Federation Fellow in 2022 and became a full voting member of the Board in 2023.  He currently serves on the Finance Committee and also chaired a special committee to revamp SF Hillel’s vision statement.

    Garrett studied finance and computer science at Tulane University in New Orleans, where he was active in Hillel and Chabad and experienced firsthand how important Jewish life on college campuses is to creating the next generation of Jewish leaders.  Upon graduation, Garrett moved to Chicago to work for Uber Freight, first as an Account Manager and then as a Business Analyst.  While in Chicago, he was involved in several Jewish organizations, including Base Hillel, the Jewish United Fund as a member of the Back from Birthright Committee and a participant in the Mensches in Motion program, Anshe Emet synagogue, and Windy City Minyan.  

    Garrett moved back to San Francisco in 2021, and a few months later, joined Isometric Technologies, a software company providing transportation performance intelligence for the trucking industry, as a Senior Business Analyst.  Aside from SF Hillel, Garrett was part of the inaugural class of the Young Professional Social Impact Corps of SF JFCS, where he continues to volunteer and mentors a young adult with developmental disabilities who participates in the Shupin Social Club.  Garrett is also active in JLeaders and is a member of Temple Beth Abraham in Oakland.  Outside of Jewish life, Garrett serves on the board of Tulane’s Bay Area alumni chapter and enjoys running, golfing, and baking in his spare time.

  • Carol’s career in insurance and brokerage related fields spans over 50 years in the San Francisco community. Carol founded Weitz Medical Management in 2002, providing business support to physicians who specialize in the workers’ compensation field. 

    She has served on the Board of San Francisco Jewish Community Federation, National Women’s Philanthropy. She serves on the Board of Merola Opera Program attends Congregation Beth Sholom, is active in AIPAC and has traveled to El Salvador, Ghana and India with American Jewish World Service.  Carol currently is Co-Chair of J. The Jewish News of Northern California and serves on the Board of SF Hillel as Capitol Campaign Chair.