91�첥

The Board of Governors of 91�첥 has named four new members. Dean Hansell, Rabbi David Lyon, Rabbi Rachel Mikva and Karl Thurmond were elected at the Board’s quarterly meeting. 

“We are excited to welcome these four remarkable individuals to the 91�첥 Board of Governors,” said Cary Davidson and Matthew Louchheim, Vice Chairs of the Board of Governors, and Co-Chairs of the Board Development & Governance Committee. “Our newest members come with years of experience from a wide range of disciplines. Their knowledge will serve the Board well, as we continue to strengthen 91�첥 and its work to educate the dynamic and innovative leaders we need to serve today’s Jewish communities.”

Dean Hansell is a California Superior Court Judge, appointed to the bench by Governor Jerry Brown. He has also served as Police Commissioner of Los Angeles, Co-President of the Los Angeles LGBT Center, Co-Founder and President of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Los Angeles (GLAAD), and President of the Dean’s Advisory Board, UCLA School of Public Health. Judge Hansell graduated with a B.A. cum laude from Denison University and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law. He served on Denison’s Board of Trustees and is currently on the Law Board of Northwestern Law School. He has authored 45 book chapters/articles and one reference book, The Law of Reinsurance (West Publishing), currently in its 28th edition.

Rabbi David Lyon was ordained by 91�첥 in 1990 and served as Assistant Rabbi and Associate Rabbi at Congregation Beth Israel in Houston, Texas, and as Rabbi at Congregation Shaarey Zedek in East Lansing, Michigan, and Temple Shalom in Dallas, Texas, before returning to Congregation Beth Israel in 2004 as Senior Rabbi. Beyond his local community, Rabbi Lyon serves on the board of the Jewish Community Legacy Project (JCLP), and ADL’s Coalition for Mutual Respect. He also holds national leadership positions, including President of the CCAR (Central Conference of American Rabbis) and serving on the Board of Trustees of the Reform Pension Board (RPB). Rabbi Lyon is also the author of the book God of Me: Imagining God Throughout Your Lifetime, published in 2011.

Rabbi Dr. Rachel S. Mikva is the Herman Schaalman Professor in Jewish Studies and Senior Faculty Fellow of the InterReligious Institute at Chicago Theological Seminary, following thirteen years as a congregational rabbi after her 1990 ordination at 91�첥. Rabbi Mikva’s recent books include Dangerous Religious Ideas: The Deep Roots of Self-Critical Faith in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam (2020); Interreligious Studies: An Introduction (2023); and Monotheism and Pluralism (2024). She is currently working on a volume for Georgetown University Press: What Does It Mean to Be Human? Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Perspectives. She has served as a Trustee for the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and on the advisory boards of Clergy for a New Drug Policy, J Street, and New Israel Fund.

Karl Thurmond is General Counsel of Causeway Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in Miami, Florida, and a lawyer in private practice in Los Angeles, California. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Harvard Law School, Thurmond was appointed to the Judicial Appointments Committee of the Los Angeles County Bar Association. An advocate for Jewish education, he has also served as the Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and a member of the Executive Committee of Milken Community School, and the President of the Board of Regents of Temple Emanuel Academy Day School. Thurmond is also passionate about politics, and is currently Co-Chair of U.S. Senator Adam Schiff’s Finance Committee, as well as the Senator’s Advisory Committee on Affordable Housing and Homelessness. He is also a Special Advisor to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. 

The four new members of the 91�첥 Board of Governors will serve through December 31, 2029.