Harvard Hillel Associate Director Michael Simon will leave Harvard at the end of the academic year to assume the role of Executive Director of Fiedler Hillel at Northwestern University.

After seven years with Harvard Hillel, Simon said he decided to put himself back on the job market when his wife Claire Sufrin also began looking for a new job.

Simon—who graduated from Harvard Kennedy School in 1997—took a job as Harvard Hillel Programming Director in 2003 after he contacted Harvard Hillel Director Bernard Steinberg. Simon later rose to the position of Associate Director.

Before coming to Harvard Hillel, Simon spent significant time in Israel, an experience to which he credits his decision to pursue a job in the Jewish community.

“[It was] a time that was very meaningful and very special because I was doing extensive Jewish learning for the first time since my childhood,” Simon said.

Throughout his time at Harvard, Simon spearheaded many educational programs for students, including Netivot—a yearlong program for Jewish undergraduates that includes a trip to Israel. He has also served as an advisor for the Harvard Hillel’s Undergraduate Steering Committee.

Students and Harvard Hillel leadership said they would remember Simon for his ability to develop close and personal relationships.

“We’re losing somebody who can connect really closely with students,” said Gabriella L. Soble, Director of Student Activities at Harvard Hillel.

Steinberg, who worked closely with Simon during his time at Harvard, said that when working with students, Simon “felt he was having a conversation with the future.”

“He’s able to make individual connections where people will feel comfortable because they know him,” former Hillel President Rebecca D. Gillette ’10 said.

Simon, too, said he considered the personal connections he made with people at Harvard Hillel what made his work most exciting.

“First and foremost I’ll miss the people and the relationships that I’ve developed,” he said.

Simon added that his departure would be a bittersweet experience, because while he was sad to leave his partners at Harvard, he was also excited to seek out new opportunities at Northwestern.

“Students are at the center and the heart of this work, and that will definitely be the case at Northwestern Hillel as well,” he said.