Rabbi Julie Roth Wins 2013 Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award

Rabbi Julie Roth of Princeton Hillel Wins Top Professional Award from Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life

Rabbi Julie Roth, executive director of The Center for Jewish Life: Hillel at Princeton University, is one of seven to win the 2013 Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence Award from Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.

The award is given each year to professionals in various stages of their careers who have offered especially innovative approaches to enhancing campus life for Jewish students. Roth’s passion for pluralism, Jewish life, and multiculturalism has helped her build a campus environment that welcomes students of all backgrounds and simultaneously challenges and nurtures them. She inspires her colleagues to reach every Jewish student and seeks multiple entry points to develop relationships with individual students. An inspiring educator, Roth also has the extraordinary ability to respond to challenges with thoughtfulness. 

“The Princeton University Center for Jewish Life/Hillel Board of Directors is tremendously proud that the institution's Executive Director, Rabbi Julie Roth, has been recognized with the Richard M. Joel Exemplar of Excellence award at the recent Hillel Institute in St. Louis,” said Darcie Crystal, Board Chair of the Center for Jewish Life. “Rabbi Roth is a courageous and visionary leader who seeks excellence in every aspect of her work. She is a mentor and role model to the rest of the CJL staff, a teacher and pastor to the hundreds of students on campus who seek her out, and a true partner in our mission of reaching and impacting the life of every Jewish student at Princeton.”

Rev. Alison L. Boden, Dean of Religious Life, added "What a wonderfully appropriate honor for Rabbi Julie Roth, and a most fitting acknowledgement of her work to make Princeton's Hillel such a magnificent resource for the University community."

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Roth has lived in New York City, Boston, and Washington where she worked for Hillel on both local and international levels. She was ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary in 2005 and holds a B.A. in Comparative Religion from Brown University. She is also a recipient of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship.