Cindy Spungin, the Director of Student Activities for Brandeis Hillel, received an international award from Hillel for professional excellence last month. Spungin and nine others were selected for the Richard M. Joel Staff Exemplars of Excellence for 2005 and were presented with the award at a Hillel staff conference in Stamford, Conn., Hillel President Avraham Infeld said.

Spungin, who has worked at Brandeis for seven years, was unavailable for comment at press time, as she was in Israel leading a Hillel Birthright trip.

According to the Hillel Web site, recipients have "remarkable passion and outstanding devotion to the Jewish campus community [which] set a standard for all Hillel professionals to emulate."

A review committee handles the selection process and makes the final determinations, Infeld said.

Spungin received the award for her "fierce commitment to promoting leadership opportunities for Brandeis students, devotion to fostering a diverse array of Jewish opportunities on campus and concern for engaging a myriad of students in the joy of living Jewishly," Infeld said.

Hillel Administrative Assistant Ellen Afienko said she was delighted when she heard Spungin had been recognized for her work. "It is well deserved," Afienko said.

The award, presented annually since 1994, was renamed in 2003 to honor the work of Rabbi Richard Joel, the president and international director of Hillel from 1989-2003.