By Stephen Silver
It’s a time of flux for the Philadelphia-based Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History as the museum searches for a new CEO while also pursuing a transfer to the Smithsonian Institution.
In early August, the Weitzman announced some additional changes: Mark Oster, as of July 1, is serving as co-chair of the Board of Trustees, joining previous co-chair Sharon Tobin Kestenbaum. In addition, Sherrie Savett has been named board secretary, while Jane Weitzman, the wife of museum namesake Stuart Weitzman, has joined the board as a trustee.
In a wide-ranging interview with the Jewish Exponent last week, Mark Oster discussed the museum’s plans for the next year, including its executive search.
We asked Oster what’s on the agenda for the coming year.
“We’re really going all-in on the idea that the Weitzman is the nation’s Jewish museum. There are a number of institutions that are Holocaust museums, and as you know, we’re not that. Holocaust museums really show us the end result of antisemitism when taken to its worst extreme. But what we’re trying to do at the Weitzman is to combat and prevent antisemitism, really by educating … Jews and non-Jews about who we are, what’s our history, our culture, our values, our contributions.
“And as we highlight the intersection of American and Jewish values and the significant role that Jews have played in the broader American history and culture, really from our nation’s founding forward, we think that’s a real opportunity to come at the antisemitism issue through this idea of education. And museums are one of the few trusted information sources left in our society today.”
Another priority is to move forward with the proposal to make the Weitzman a part of the Smithsonian Institution, of which the museum is already an affiliate. A bill has been introduced in Congress, with bipartisan support, called the Commission to Study the Potential Transfer of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History to the Smithsonian Institution Act.
Oster called the Smithsonian move “longer than a one-year play” but sees momentum for it.
“What an affirmation that would be, in terms of the significant role that American Jews have played in the broader American society and culture, and what an endorsement, in a sense, it would be for Jews and all Americans, that Jews belong here, and that we’re embraced by America,” he said.
Dr. Misha Galperin, the Weitzman’s president & CEO, announced last November that he planned to step down in 2024, although no announcement has been made yet about a successor.
“It’s ongoing, stay tuned,” Oster said of the search. “I think that there will be announcements coming very soon … we’re very excited, and we believe it’s really going to be extremely well-received, and extremely exciting, and attention-getting.”
Oster cited other priorities, including the idea of the Weitzman as a “center for Jewish life and culture,” which entails serving as a “convener” of conferences and other national events, citing last fall’s Jewish Priorities Conference.
Oster has been a Weitzman trustee for ten years, serving on various committees, and has had a stint as secretary.
In addition, Oster is a past North American board member of the Union for Reform Judaism, and he also served a “poetically Jewish” 18 years on the board of his synagogue.
In his professional life, Oster spent 26 years with Grant Thornton, becoming the national managing partner for the firm’s Not-for-Profit and Higher Education practices prior to his retirement.
Oster lives in New Rochelle, New York, but he’s not without Philadelphia ties. He is an alum of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, and his two daughters also went to Penn. Given his new role, he estimates that he’ll get down to Philadelphia about 15 times a year.
“Philadelphia is like a second home to me, so I’ve spent a lot of time there, and I truly love it as a city. But that actually has nothing to do with why I’m involved with the museum. I was involved with the museum because of my connection to its mission.”
Oster, near the end of his time on the synagogue board, was looking to “take on a role of more national prominence,” he said. He happened to be seated next to the museum’s then-CEO at a business function.
In addition to Kestenbaum and Oster as co-chairs and Savett as secretary, the new slate of officers includes honorary chair and trustee Lyn M. Ross and treasurer Andrew Klaber.
Stephen Silver is a Broomall-based freelance writer.