New York City –
The head of a Boston technology investment firm has been named chair of
the board of directors of HIAS, the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society, at
the organization’s annual meeting here June 4. With offices on five of
the world’s continents and headquartered in New York City, HIAS has
helped to rescue and resettle more than 4.5 million refugees since it
began operations in 1881.

“I am truly honored to be taking this leadership position at HIAS,”
says Michael Rukin, who serves as CEO of Concord Hill Group Trust in
Boston. “This organization means so much to so many people around the
world. In its 125-year history, it has resettled more than four million
Jews, including my grandparents and father, to lands of safety. In this
ever shrinking planet, still sadly engaged in genocide and oppression,
HIAS expresses the Jewish value: I am my brother’s keeper. I am looking
forward to the challenges that lie ahead, including the implementation
of a new strategic plan that will help us move forward in these
uncertain times.”

Rukin has been active in local, national and international Jewish
organizations for the past three decades, including the Combined Jewish
Philanthropies in Boston, where he was chairman of the board from 1996
to 1999. He led the effort of the then Council of Jewish Federations to
establish Hillel: the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, whose board of
directors he chaired from 1995 to 1998. He has also served on the
boards and executive committees of United Jewish Communities,the Union
for Reform Judaism, and the Joint Commission on Social Action of Reform
Judaism.

An early activist in the Soviet Jewry movement, Rukin served on the
boards of the National Conference for Soviet Jewry and the Union of
Councils for Soviet Jewry. In Israel he has chaired the board of
overseers of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and served on the
board of governors of the Jewish Agency for Israel. He holds a BEE
degree from the City College of New York and an MSEE from Northeastern
University. He is active in the arts world and collects 20th Century
art of Japan. He was the founder and CEO of Analytical Systems
Engineering Corporation, a pioneer in the fields of radio navigation
and physical security systems.

In addition to the selection of Rukin as its chair, the board named
as vice chairs: Sanford K. Mozes, of Philadelphia; Suzette Brooks
Masters, of New York City; Barbara S. Rosenthal, of Cleveland; Marc
Silberberg, of New York City; Sandra Spinner, of Cincinnati; and
Kenneth Weiser, of New York City. Norman Resnicow, of New York City,
was named secretary; and Allan Rodolitz, of Woodmere, N.Y., treasurer.

Others named to the board include:

Bobbie Abrams, New York City
Robert Aronson, Minneapolis
Elliott Benjamin, Beverly Hills, Calif.
Hon. Harold Berger, Philadelphia
Norman M. Berkman, San Francisco
Eugenia Brin, Hyattsville, Md.
W. Stewart Cahn, New York City
Rafael Chikvashvili, Baltimore
Marsha Cohen, Tucson
Hon. Betty W. Ellerin, New York City
Annette S. Eskind, Nashville
Tali Farhadian, New York City
Donald J. Fleishaker, New York City
Karen Friedman, New York City
Alan Gidwitz, Chicago
Yona Goldberg, Tarzana, Calif.
Helen G. Hoffman, Palm Beach, Fla.
Orde Kittrie, Tempe, Ariz.
Caryl Kligfeld, New Haven, Conn.
Charles W. Kramer, Linwood, N.J.
Jacqueline Levine, West Orange, N.J.
Jeffrey M. Loewy, New York City

Jamie Metzl, New York City
Laura Newmark, New York City
David I. Portman, Holmdel, N.J.
Neil Posner, Chicago
James Prusky, New York City
Barry Rosenthal, Chicago
Jeffrey C. Rubenstein, Chicago
Philip M. Schlussel, New York City
Rabbi Arthur Schneier, New York City
Dale Schwartz, Atlanta
Eric P. Schwartz, Washington, D.C.
Evelyn Seelig, Jericho, N.Y.
Jack Serber, Bethesda, Md.
Alex Silberwasser, New York City
Inna Simakovsky, Columbus, Ohio
Gregory H. Siskind, Nashville
Rita Sostrin, Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Harry Sterling, Denver
Jerome Stern, Portland, Ore.
Robert S. Whitehill, Pittsburgh
Leon Wildes, New York City

Emeritus chairs include: Carl Glick, New York City; Neil Greenbaum,
Chicago; Robert L. Israeloff, Manhasset, N.Y.; Martin Kesselhaut,
Livingston, N.J.; and Jerome Teller, Cincinnati, the organization’s
outgoing chair.