This lecture is named after one of the most dynamicand prolific leisure educators of our time. At the time of his death, Prof Hillel Ruskin served as Chairman, The Cosell Center for Physical Education, Leisure and Health Promotion and Director of the School of Public Health, College of Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel. Dr. Ruskin served the World Leisure Organization with distinction in a number of leadership roles, most notably the most prolific leader, conference organizer, fundraiser, and promoter of leisure education, as chairperson of the Education Commission. He was well schooled, as a student of Pioneer - J. B. Nash at New York University where he received his PhD in 1968. In 1973, he founded and served as Chair of the Israel Leisure and Recreation Association. For 35 years, Dr. Ruskin’s idealism and drive produced numerous publications, conferences, workshops, curricula, consultations, and brought the message of leisure as a social, economic, political, and cultural force in human life to governmental and nongovernmental agencies. The Hillel Ruskin Memorial Lecture serves to honor the memory and legacy of a WLO colleague unmatched in commitment and zeal toward the best of one’s leisure life. This presentation speaks to the need for leisure education in educational and other settings.