Rate My Professor Jeffrey Kress

Jeffrey S. Kress serves as Provost and Dr. Bernard Heller Professor of Jewish Education at the Jewish Theological Seminary (JTS). He earned a BA cum laude in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1990 and MS and PhD degrees in clinical psychology from Rutgers University in 1994 and 1998, respectively. Before joining JTS in 2000 as Senior Research Associate in the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education, he worked as a program-development specialist and school-based trainer for the Social Decision Making/Social Problem Solving program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s Community Mental Health Center, where he also completed an internship in clinical/community psychology.

At JTS, Dr. Kress progressed through numerous leadership roles, including Assistant Professor (2001-2010), Associate Professor (2010-2018), Area Coordinator and Department Chair of Jewish Education (2007-2013), Academic Director of the Experiential Learning Initiative (2010-2014), Interim Dean of the William Davidson Graduate School (2013-2014), Director of the Research Center (2015-present), and Provost (2021-present). His research specializations include social, emotional, and spiritual development in Jewish education; experiential Jewish education in formal settings; education for Jewish identity and values; implementation of educational innovations; social and emotional learning and character education; and program evaluation. He has authored and edited key books such as Nurturing Students’ Character: Everyday Teaching Activities for Social and Emotional Learning (Routledge, 2020, with Maurice J. Elias), Growing Jewish Minds, Growing Jewish Souls: Promoting Spiritual, Social, and Emotional Growth in Jewish Education (URJ Press, 2013), and Development, Learning, and Community: Educating for Identity in Pluralistic Jewish High Schools (Academic Studies Press, 2012), the latter earning a National Jewish Book Award. Other notable works include Ramah at 60: Impact and Innovation (National Ramah Commission, 2010, coedited with Mitchell Cohen) and Building Learning Communities with Character (ASCD, 2002, with Bernard Novick and Maurice J. Elias). Dr. Kress has published numerous journal articles in outlets like the Journal of Jewish Education on topics including inclusion at Jewish summer camps, mussar-based initiatives, and social-emotional learning in congregational schools. He chaired the Network for Research in Jewish Education, served as a Dr. Jonathan Woocher Fellow of the Lippman Kanfer Foundation for Living Torah, and regularly presents at academic and professional conferences while contributing to initiatives like the Fellowship in Educating for Applied Jewish Wisdom.