Lisa Goldberg, 54, Foundation President
Lisa Goldberg, president of the Charles H. Revson Foundation, died Monday of a brain aneurysm. She was 54.
From 2003 until her death, Goldberg had been president of Revson, which makes grants in the area of urban affairs, education, Jewish philanthropy and education, and biomedical research policy.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Lisa, who led the foundation with such wisdom and grace,” said Goldberg’s predecessor at Revson, Eli Evans. “She was deeply respected in the foundation world and beyond, in both the U.S. and Israel. With her intellect and vision, she inspired the many funders and grantees who have been partners in the Revson Foundation’s work — from the Israeli “Sesame Street” and the Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies to the Jewish Women’s Archive and American Jewish World Service. She combined rare qualities — warmth and brilliance, an analytical mind and an informed heart — which have left a mark on every accomplishment of the Revson Foundation.”
Goldberg started out at Revson in 1982 as a program officer. During her time there, the foundation provided funding for several television series, including “Genesis: A Living Conversation” with Bill Moyers, the civil rights documentary “Eyes on the Prize” and “Heritage: Civilization and the Jews” with Abba Eban. In addition to the entities named by Evans, during Goldberg’s time at Revson the foundation supplied grants to Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies and to the Jewish Funders Network. It also helped establish Israel’s National Science Foundation.
Goldberg had been a senior staff member of President Carter’s Commission for a National Agenda for the 1980s.
She is survived by her husband, John Sexton, president of New York University; daughter Katherine Lodgen Sexton; son and daughter-in-law Jed Sexton and Danielle DeCrette; granddaughters Julia, Ava and Natalie; brother Phillip Goldberg, U.S. ambassador to Bolivia, and sister Donna Eskind.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.