Eric Fingerhut, a former congressman and leader of Ohio’s system of public universities and colleges, has been tapped to serve as the next president and CEO of Hillel.

Eric Fingerhut photo/jta-courtesy of hillel

Fingerhut’s hiring was approved July 14 by Hillel’s board of directors. He comes to the international campus organization after serving most recently as a corporate vice president at Battelle, an independent research and development organization based in Columbus, Ohio.

Fingerhut, 54, was an Ohio congressman in 1993-94.

Hillel boasts a network of 550 branches at colleges, universities and communities in North America, Israel, the former Soviet Union, Europe and Latin America.

When Fingerhut’s predecessor, Wayne Firestone, announced his decision last year to step down, Hillel board members said the next president and CEO would need to focus on securing new funding sources. — jta