Our Staff
Rabbi Joseph PolakDirector
In the Fall of 2012, Rabbi Polak begins his 43rd year at Boston University, and his 46th year at Hillel. Even though he is not the oldest Hillel director, nor does he hold the Hillel record for job longevity, the students at Boston University love him just the same.
Rabbi Polak’s passions include students, the possibilities and limits of pluralism, a Torah-based intellectual life and jogging around the Charles River. Rabbi Polak is the father of five children and grandfather of ten grandchildren.
Rabbi Polak is currently on sabbatical and can be reached via e-mail or at 617-358-0512.
Rabbi Michael Beyo
Acting Executive Director 
Rabbi Beyo was born in Milano, Italy where he attended the local Jewish day schools. After graduating from High School, he attended Yeshivot in London, Paris, and ultimately Kerem Be Yavne in Israel, where he received 3 Rabbinical Ordinations. Michael then obtained a B.A. and M.A. in Political Science, as well as an M.A. in Jewish History. Rabbi Beyo has over 15 years of international business experience and spent the last 6 years as a partner in a Renewable Energy Company with projects in Solar and Wind in the USA, Italy and Israel. From 2007 until 2012, Michael was a regular guest lecturer at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, GA where he taught Intra-Israel conflicts and Israeli social movements. He has published 2 books in Italian on Bioethics and Jewish Law and has been an avid scholar of the Rambam, which he enjoys teaching on a daily basis; he is also working on a new commentary on the Guide of the Perplexed. In his spare time, Michael trains and teaches Krav Maga - Israeli hand-to-hand combat - that he mastered while serving in a Special Unit of the State of Israel under the Prime Minister in charge of counter terrorism. Michael is the new Rabbi & Associate Director at BU Hillel, a position that will transition to Executive Director as of January 2013. Check out Rabbi Beyo's blog!
Susan Sloane
Director of Operations and Events Manager
Susan Sloane is a native of the Boston area, growing up just 15 minutes from BU Hillel. After graduating from The American University in Washington, DC, Susan pursued a career in hotel management and achieved her goal of being a hotel General Manager in record speed- making her the youngest woman hotel manager in the Boston area. After 13 years in the hotel industry, Susan went into the family business (since 1939!) as a candy wholesale distributor. During her 12 ‘sweet’ years in the candy industry Susan was also President of the Boston Confectionery Sales Club and Vice President of the Board of Directors of the National Candy Salesman’s Association.
Leaving the candy business in the capable hands of her younger brother, Susan decided to move on to an arena that had always intrigued her- event management. Although not a golfer, Susan managed the corporate transportation logistics for the 1999 Ryder Cup Matches held in Brookline, MA, along with several PGA Championships and other transportation logistic events for major conventions throughout the US. She continued in another aspect of the events area as Executive Director for a firm that handled speaker management and concert production.
A lover of the ocean, Susan lives on the South Shore just 5 minutes from the beach where she takes advantage of being able to walk seaside every chance she gets. Her passions- family, friends, jazz vocals, old movies and chocolate chip cookies!
Joshua H. Tolub
Director of Development
A native New Yorker, Josh considers himself ‘a stranger in a strange land’ – not out of a great connection to the book of Exodus, but of his remaining an unabashed Yankee fan in the heart of Boston.
Josh is no stranger to fundraising in the Jewish community, having previously worked in Development for Hebrew College and Combined Jewish Philanthropies. A graduate of Clark University, Josh has spent the last 15 years working on political campaigns, public relations and fundraising. He lives in South Easton with his wife and two children.
Jen Gutman
Director of Student Activities
Born in New York, raised in New Jersey and has since lived in Italy and Israel, Jen is thrilled to be making Boston her home and working for Hillel, the place where she began her own personal Jewish journey.
Prior to joining BU Hillel, Jen worked at the David Project where she regularly engaged students across North America in Israel advocacy and educated hundreds of Birthright and gap year students about the Arab-Israeli conflict. She worked closely with Israel’s Ministry of Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs and was invited regularly to speak on campus activism panels across Israel. In 2012, Jen was honored to join a special press delegation to the 4th Israeli Presidential Conference under the auspices of Shimon Peres, President of the State of Israel, where she covered the conference as a blogger and contributed to conversations on the future of the State of Israel and Jewish Identity. Jen holds an MA in Government with a focus in Counter-Terrorism and Homeland Security from the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, and a BA in Media & Communication and Jewish Studies from Muhlenberg College.
Jen is excited to be at BU to help inspire and empower Jewish student life on campus.
Lindsay Eagle
Office Administrator
Originally from South Florida, Lindsay moved to Boston in 2004 to pursue an undergraduate degree at Boston University. Though ultimately graduating from Suffolk University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, Lindsay is absolutely delighted to come full-circle and return to BU. She is excited to join the team at Hillel, where she hopes to learn more about her Jewish heritage and nurture the House's already abundant sense of community and love.
For Lindsay, the theatre is slightly more than a hobby and slightly less than a profession. She loves to act, sing, and direct, and can be seen doing all of these things with local fringe theatre companies around the Boston area. (And if you're sneaky, you might also catch her performing the occasional karaoke song!)
Lindsay lives in Cambridge with her boyfriend David and snuggly cat Lily.
Holland Dieringer
Gallery Director - The Rubin-Frankel Gallery
Though born in Hawaii, Holland has since lived in California, Virginia, Massachusetts, and Oregon, and considers herself an Oregonian at heart. She graduated from Boston University College of Fine Arts in 2005 with a major in painting.
Aside from the view from her office, Holland enjoys the opportunities she gets in running the Rubin-Frankel Gallery to meet artists from all over the world. She is thankful to be able to work with such a fantastic staff and group of students.
When Holland is not at Hillel she works in her painting studio, tends to an ever-growing garden, and plays violin for the New England Philharmonic.
KateLynn Plotnick
Program Associate for Taglit-Birthright Israel
KateLynn is from Framingham, MA. She graduated with a degree in Public Relations and Jewish Studies in May 2009, from Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.
Due to her exceptional love for Israel, KateLynn is dedicated to educating others about Israel. KateLynn attributes her knowledge, experience and her interest in advocating for Israel from running the organization, Temple Students for Israel, along with attending a semester at Tel Aviv University. She is thrilled to “go back to school”, interact with students and be a part of such a welcoming and warm Jewish community.
KateLynn insists that she cannot live without chapstick, chocolate, or her Shih Tzu, Teddy.