Rabbi Shirley Idelson, Ph.D. is the Director of the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management (Zschool). Dean of the New York campus from 2007-2016, she returns to HUC-JIR after serving as Leon A. Jick Director of the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program at Brandeis University. In that position, she provided strategic oversight for the M.A. in Jewish Professional Leadership and oversaw four dual degree programs in addition to teaching and fostering collaborative relationships across the University.

Prior to her work at Brandeis, Idelson served as Senior Advisor at the Harold Grinspoon Foundation and Visiting Rabbi at Dartmouth College. Earlier in her career, she was a producer and newscaster for Minnesota Public Radio, Director of Arts and Religion in the Twin Cities, Associate Chaplain at Carleton College, and Director of Religious Activities and Chaplaincy Services at Vassar College.

She is the author of We Shall Build Anew: Stephen S. Wise, the Jewish Institute of Religion, and the Reinvention of American Liberal Judaism (University of Alabama, 2022) and has contributed to numerous books and publications. She currently serves on the board of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.