Professor Gerald B. (Jerry) Bubis, who pioneered and shaped the field of Jewish communal service, died Friday evening (Aug. 21) at his Los Angeles home. Bubis was 91; his death followed a series of lengthy illnesses.

Funeral services will be held Monday at Mount Sinai Memorial Park, Los Angeles.

Bubis was the Founding Director of the School of Jewish Communal Service (now the Zelikow School of Jewish Nonprofit Management) at Hebrew Union College’s Los Angeles campus. He was the first to conceptualize, initiate, establish and sustain a program for the education and formation of professionals who would serve the totality of the Jewish community. He served as the Alfred Gottschalk Professor Emeritus of Jewish Communal Studies. His teaching and mentorship of generations of students created the field of Jewish Communal Service, while his leadership, publications, and guidance shaped and will continue to shape the Jewish nonprofit world he loved so much and served with distinction.

Jerry Bubis has been a visiting scholar at Hebrew University, Brandeis University, American Jewish University, U.C.L.A., and Haifa University. He has been a consultant, trainer and lecturer for the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Israel, Europe and Argentina. He also has served as a consultant, lecturer, and scholar-in-residence in synagogues, temples, JCCs, federations and national and international organizations in over 100 communities here and abroad.

Bubis is survived by his wife, Ruby, sister Joyce Nerman of Vancouver, Canada, son David Bubis of Los Angeles, daughter Deena Libman of San Diego, and grandchildren Rabbi Jonathan Bubis, Hannah Bubis and Molly Libman.