Rabbi Mel Gottlieb

Rabbi Mel Gottlieb, Ph.D., serves as President of the Academy of Jewish Religion California and Interim Dean of the Rabbinical School. He previously served as President (2008-2012) as well as Dean of the Rabbinical and Chaplaincy Schools. During his presidency, he co-founded AJRCA’s groundbreaking collaborative initiative in interreligious studies with Claremont School of Theology and the Islamic Center of Southern California. Rabbi Gottlieb serves as Senior Fellow on the Academic Leadership Team at Claremont Lincoln University and is a member of the Board of Directors. Rabbi Gottlieb was ordained at Yeshiva University. He holds a doctorate in Mythology/Depth Psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute where he has served as an Adjunct Faculty member. Rabbi Gottlieb has also taught at Columbia, Yeshiva University, and the University of Southern California’s Graduate School of Social Work. His essays have appeared in publications such as the Huffington Post, the national journals Ideas and Shma, and the book Illuminating Letters. He is a frequent guest lecturer at the C.G. Jung Institute of Los Angeles as well as at synagogues of all denominations throughout Southern California. Rabbi Gottlieb is the former Director of Hillel at MIT and Princeton, and was the Rabbi at Kehillat Ma’ariv in Santa Monica as well as Westwood Village Synagogue.

https://ajrca.edu/about/staff/