Accomplished Leader in the Business World and the National Jewish Community Will Guide Museum into a New Era at Its Home on Independence Mall

The National Museum of American Jewish History, the country's only museum dedicated exclusively to telling the still-unfolding story of Jews in America, today announced the appointment of Michael Rosenzweig as its new President and CEO. The appointment was announced by NMAJH Co-Chairmen George M. Ross and Ronald Rubin.

"Michael Rosenzweig's business and legal background, along with his impressive leadership and fundraising experience in the Jewish world, make him the ideal leader for our Museum,” stated Ross, who also serves as the Museum’s Campaign Chairman. “He brings both a passion and a deep and abiding commitment to the educational mission of the institution, as well as great practical experience in leading both private and nonprofit institutions." Rosenzweig served most recently as Senior Vice President for Corporate Development and General Counsel at Johns Manville, a Fortune 500 company in Denver. Prior to that, he was a prominent corporate lawyer in Atlanta. He also brings academic experience to NMAJH, having been a professor on the faculty of the University of Michigan Law School.

His service to the Jewish community includes being the Founding President of The Weber School, one of the nation's first transdenominational Jewish day high schools. He is currently President of the American Pardes Foundation, the American arm of the Pardes Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. "I am honored to be joining the Museum at this exciting time in its history,” Rosenzweig stated. “I am deeply impressed by the Museum's ambitious educational mission and scholarly agenda, and by its commitment to utilizing the American Jewish experience to illuminate the many universal issues that challenge a country as diverse and inclusive as ours. I am especially excited by the opportunity to lead the Museum in realizing its vision as a truly national institution and a vital center of Jewish cultural life."

The Museum is currently building a striking five-story, 100,000-square-foot facility on Independence Mall in historic Philadelphia designed by Polshek Partnership Architects. When completed in late 2010, the new Museum will join Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the National Constitution Center and other landmarks at the site of America's birth, a fitting place to explore the promises and challenges of liberty as seen through the particular lens of the American Jewish experience. The capital and endowment campaign for NMAJH has raised nearly $120 million to date from donors across the country.

The search for the new director was conducted by a search committee organized in June 2008 under the leadership of Board Co-Chairmen George M. Ross and Ronald Rubin with NMAJH Board Member Mimi Schneirov serving as Committee Chair. The Museum’s current Executive Director, Gwen Goodman, will remain with the Museum as Executive Director Emerita until the opening of the new facility. “I look forward to working closely with Michael Rosenzweig on the grand opening of NMAJH’s new home on Independence Mall in late 2010,” she stated.