Valerie S. Thaler, Ph.D. is the Mid-Atlantic District Synagogue Consultant for USCJ, serving congregations in New Jersey as well as Central and Eastern Pennsylvania. Previously, she served as Executive Director at Beth Israel Congregation in Owings Mills, Maryland, and was a Jewish history instructor at the high school, college and graduate levels. Valerie has a Ph.D. from Yale University in Religious Studies, specializing in 20th C. American Jewish History, as well as a dual MA from Brandeis in Jewish Education and Jewish Communal Service. She grew up just outside Philadelphia and today lives in the Baltimore area.