ICJS Staff
Dr. Christopher M. Leighton
Dr. Christopher M. Leighton is an ordained Presbyterian minister who has served as the Executive Director of the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies in Baltimore, Maryland since its inception in 1987. Dr. Leighton is a graduate of the Princeton Theological Seminary and Columbia University where he did his doctorate in Philosophy and Education. He has studied at the Baltimore Hebrew University, the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, and Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. In addition to his work at the ICJS, he has been an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins University and the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary's Seminary & University. After co-editing Talking About Genesis: A Resource Guide for the Bill Moyers series, he conducted a variety of educational programs which explored the challenges of reading and interpreting Genesis with public and independent high school students, individuals in retirement homes and a maximum security prison, as well as a diverse cross-section of churches and synagogues.
Dr. Rosann M. Catalano
Dr. Rosann M. Catalano has been with the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies since 1994 where she has served as its Roman Catholic Scholar and Associate Director. She currently serves as a staff scholar. From 1980-1991 she was Assistant Professor of Systematic Theology at St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, Maryland. She has also served as Adjunct Professor of Systematic Theology at the Ecumenical Institute of St. Mary's Seminary & University, Baltimore; and Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at the Weekend College, The College of Notre Dame of Maryland in Baltimore. A systematic theologian, Dr. Catalano holds the Doctorate in Philosophy in Systematic Theology from the University of St. Michael's College, Toronto, where she did her major work on the theology of God and the poetry of suffering in the Book of Psalms. She is a member of a number of professional societies and ecumenical and interfaith organizations. Dr. Catalano lectures widely to Protestant, Jewish, and Catholic audiences on theological and interfaith topics.
Dr. Adam Gregerman
Dr. Adam Gregerman is the Jewish Scholar at the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies. He focuses on the complex relationship between Jews and Christians from antiquity through the present. His articles have appeared in journals such as Interpretation, Cross Currents, Journal of Ecumenical Studies,and Studies in Christian Jewish Relations and in various edited books on Jewish and Christian polemics, biblical interpretation, mission and conversion, rabbinic theology, and Christian attitudes toward Israel. He has degrees from Amherst College (B.A.), Harvard Divinity School (M.T.S.), and Columbia University (Ph.D.), and studied at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Jewish Theological Seminary, and Union Theological Seminary. He is also a faculty member in Interfaith Studies at the Ecumenical Institute of St. Mary’s Seminary and University. He has presented lectures in diverse settings, including academic conferences, synagogues, churches, and community centers, and taught in seminaries and universities. Formerly, he was visiting assistant professor of religion at Connecticut College and instructor at Columbia University, Barnard College, and Union Theological Seminary. He is a member of the Committee on Church Relations and the Holocaust, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, on the board of the Baltimore Jewish Council, and a chair of the BJC/Muslims of Maryland Dialogue.
Rabbi Ilyse Kramer
Rabbi Ilyse Kramer is the educator at the Institute for Christian and Jewish Studies. She joins ICJS after spending 2007-08 in Jerusalem, Israel, as a recipient of an educational fellowship in the Melton Senior Educators program at Hebrew University. Her year-long project focused on teaching practices and curriculum development in Adult Education. As an accomplished educator, she has taught in a variety of adult education settings in the greater Baltimore and Washington, D.C. areas. From 1991-2000, she served as Jewish Chaplain at Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. She was ordained and received her M.H.L in 1992 by The Reconstructionist Rabbinical College, her M.A in Foundations of Education from Temple University in 1991, and her B.A in History from Lafayette College in 1984. She has lived and studied in Israel in 1982-83, 1987-88, and 1990-91 at Hebrew University, Neve-Schechter, and The Shalom Hartman Institute. Her published curricula include 'Tales from the Talmud' and 'Mahloket: Sacred Arguing in Jewish Tradition.' She is the writer and instructor of 'Bridges: from Jewish Learning to Jewish Living.'
Dr. Heather Miller Rubens
Heather Miller Rubens is the Roman Catholic Scholar at the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies. In her research she explores how religious minority communities navigate their political, legal, and cultural space in light of the experience of other minority communities. She focuses on the history of Catholic-Jewish relations in the British Empire, and how the histories of anti-Catholicism and anti-Semitism relate in the larger Anglophone world. While her research focuses on exhuming historical instances of analogical reasoning between Jews and Roman Catholics in the British Empire, the theoretical aspects of her project translate into contemporary inter-religious dialogue: when, where and how can two religious communities understand an affinity between themselves? She holds degrees from Georgetown University (B.A.), the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies (G.Dip.), and the University of Chicago (A.M. and Ph.D.). She has been an adjunct professor at Lewis University and DePaul University and has presented papers at the University of Chicago, the University of Notre Dame, the Midwest Victorian Studies Association, and the American Academy of Religion.
Leslie E. Goldsborough, III
Les Goldsborough is the Director of Development at the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies. Les graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Public Policy Studies magna cum laude. He earned a J.D. with Honor from the University of Maryland School of Law. Having studied religion at Duke and, while in law school, pursued advanced studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology, Les has a deep commitment to the mission of the ICJS. With considerable experience as a lawyer and Trust Advisor, most recently with Legg Mason, Les also brings a financial and legal background that adds a new dimension to our staff.
The Reverend Robert A. Waddail, Jr.
Bobby Waddail is the Business Manager at the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies. Bobby was Baptist Campus Minister at Towson University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County for almost thirty years before retiring in June, 2007. He holds a M. Div. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a B.S. in Business Administration, majoring in accounting, from the University of Kansas. Bobby is married to Christy, a Baltimore County ESOL teacher, and they have three boys. Bobby has participated in many ICJS programs and events over the years.
Josh Seipp-Williams
Josh Seipp-Williams is the Director of Technology at the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies. He comes to the ICJS after spending four years with the Maryland Institute College of Art, managing their image database and Web site content in the Office of Communications. He is a graduate of Hampshire College in Amherst MA, where he studied music performance and multimedia production. He continues to play music semiprofessionally and enjoys spending time with his wife, children, and menagerie in York, Pennsylvania.
Mary Ann Krastel
Mary Ann Krastel is an administrative assistant at the ICJS. She offers past experience with non-profit organizations, having worked with the Sisters of Mercy as an office manager, receptionist and editor of the sisters' weekly electronic newsletter; and with the Mission Helpers of the Sacred Heart as assistant Director of Development and editor of their quarterly magazine. Mary, who has a Masters Degree as a Reading Specialist from Loyola College in Baltimore, has also taught English and reading to both junior and senior high school students.
Janis L. Koch
Janis L. Koch is an Associate Scholar at the Institute for Christian & Jewish Studies. She received a B.A. from Goucher College with a major in Russian language and literature and spent twenty-seven years teaching Russian to children and adults. Ms. Koch received an M.A. in Theology with a concentration in Jewish-Christian relations from the Ecumenical Institute of Theology at St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, MD. Her Master's thesis is entitled Christology and Covenant: Covenantal Perspective and the Centrality and Function of Jesus Christ. Ms. Koch's primary interest is the Apostle Paul, and she teaches the ICJS Mini-courses called Rescuing Paul and Rescuing Romans 9-11.
