Dr. Erica Brown is associate professor of education and human development at George Washington University. (Courtesy of the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington)

(JTA) — Erica Brown, a popular Washington-based author and educator on Jewish values, will lead a new academic center at George Washington University focusing on Jewish education and training Jewish communal leaders.

The Mayberg Center for Jewish Education and Leadership, named for university trustees Louis and Manette Mayberg, will offer graduate-level training and convene symposia among academics and practitioners.

Brown, recently named associate professor of education and human development at George Washington, is the author of 11 books, including “Inspired Jewish Leadership,” a finalist for a National Jewish Book Award.

A gift from the Florida-based Mayberg Foundation covers initial program, academic and administrative expenses of the center at the Washington, D.C., school, as well as seeding an endowment to support the center’s continuing operations, according to a news release.