Diane Tobin served on the board of Directors of the San Francisco Jewish Community Center from 1980-1986 and as President from 1986-1989. In her role as president, she attended the 1988 JWB Biennial in St, Louis where she met presenter, Dr. Gary Tobin z’l, director of the Maurice and Marilyn Cohen Center of Modern Jewish Studies at Brandeis University. According to Gary, “We have not yet formulated a set of beliefs, behaviors, and institutional structures that define what it means to be a Jew in a pluralistic society that we ourselves have helped to build.” Diane began publishing the research for CMJS, and this message would become the foundation of their work together over next two decades.