News

Joel Levy Set To Be Named Center for Jewish History Chief

By Paul Berger September 15, 2014

Joel Levy, a former official at the Anti-Defamation League, is poised to become the new top executive at the Center for Jewish History, the Forward has learned.

Levy’s appointment to run the Manhattan institution is expected to be approved at a meeting of the Center’s board later this week, according to several well-placed sources at the Center.

Levy was most recently director of development for the not-for-profit Vera Institute of Justice. Previously, he served as New York regional director of the Anti-Defamation League.

This year has been a turbulent one for the Center, which houses one of the world’s largest and most important collections of Jewish art, archives and artifacts Its longtime top executive, chief operating officer Michael S. Glickman, resigned in May.

In August, the two billionaire co-chairmen of the Center’s board, Joseph Steinberg and William Ackman, stepped down.

The Center is home to five Jewish institutions: YIVO, the Leo Baeck Institute, the American Jewish Historical Society, the Yeshiva University Museum and the American Sephardi Federation.

Each of the partners has its own separate operations and board.

Steinberg and Ackman both advocated an idea to streamline the Center by bringing the five boards under one single board of directors.

Amy Goldman Fowler, vice chairman of the Center’s board, recently told the Forward that such an idea had been considered, but she declined to elaborate.

Fowler said that the Center’s board would discuss plans to streamline the running of the Center, and other cost-cutting measures, in the coming weeks.

Contact Paul Berger at [email protected] or on Twitter @pdberger

Paul Berger was a staff writer at the Forward from 2011-2016, covering crime and healthcare issues, such as sex abuse, circumcision, and fraud. He is a fluent Russian speaker and has reported from Russia and Ukraine. He also likes digging into historical mysteries.

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