Pam B. Schafler To Succeed Roger Hertog As Chair Of The New-York Historical Society's Board Of Trustees

NEW YORK, Sept. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The New-York Historical Society announces Pam B. Schafler, a Trustee of the institution since 2006, as its next Board Chair. On September 10, she will officially succeed Roger Hertog, who served as Board Chair for seven years and will now become Chair of New-York Historical's Executive Committee.

"I think it's fair to say that to be a leader of the New-York Historical Society, one has to love history," stated Roger Hertog. "Pam Schafler is such a person. Her dedication and passion have been central to the revival of the New-York Historical Society. Speaking on behalf of our trustees, I want to say that we are truly fortunate to have her as our Chairperson."

"Thanks to the inspired leadership of Roger Hertog, Louise Mirrer, and a dynamic Board of Trustees, the New-York Historical Society has been transformed, in less than a decade, into a major destination for all who care about American history," said Ms. Schafler.  "It is a great privilege to be leading the board at this time of tremendous momentum. I look forward to working with the trustees, Louise Mirrer, and her gifted curatorial and library staff to expand public engagement with our stellar programs, groundbreaking exhibitions, and unique scholarly resources."

Commented Dr. Louise Mirrer, President and CEO of the New-York Historical Society: "I look forward to working closely with Pam Schafler in her new role as Board Chair.  Her service over the past seven years as Chair of our Chairman's Council has been exemplary.  Her passion for American history and her background in historical research make her an ideal successor to Roger Hertog, whose dedication to the power of ideas and the telling of the American story has left its mark on every nook and cranny of our institution. With Roger Hertog's continued guidance as Chair of New-York Historical's Executive Committee, and with Pam Schafler's vision and devotion to our institution, we have an exhilarating future ahead."

Pam B. Schafler
Pam Schafler served as Vice Chair of the New-York Historical Society from 2010 until this month. Since 2006, she was Chair of the New-York Historical Society's Chairman's Council, a group dedicated to securing the institution's future as pre-eminent in American History. Ms. Schafler is actively involved in community organizations, sitting on the boards of The Gracie Mansion Conservancy, the 10 Gracie Square River Corporation, and the Visiting Committee of the Ruth Keeler Memorial Library in North Salem, NY. She has held numerous leadership positions with the Anti-Defamation League, one of the nation's premier civil rights and human relations agencies. Ms. Schafler was an associate editor of The Papers of William Livingston, a federally and state-funded project to collect, edit, and publish five volumes of selected papers of the first governor of the State of New Jersey.

Roger Hertog
Outgoing Chairman Roger Hertog, who was elected to that post in 2007, first became a Trustee of the New-York Historical Society in 2003. A transformational Board Chair, he developed the idea of the Chairman's Council and chaired the planning committee that developed and executed New-York Historical's ambitious long-term Strategic Plan. Working together with Louise Mirrer, the New-York Historical Society reached new heights, including the completion of a $100 million capital campaign for the $70 million building renovation, the growth of the endowment from $20 million to nearly $50 million, and groundbreaking exhibitions and thought-provoking speaker programs. He established the Roger Hertog Fellowship in 2013, a two-year residency aimed at furthering the work of an eminent scholar through research in the New-York Historical Society's Patricia D. Klingenstein Library and its Museum; donated the Constitutional Convention notebooks of John Lansing, Jr., a New York delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, to the New-York Historical Society's Patricia D. Klingenstein Library, offering researchers and the public an eyewitness report of the creation of the U.S. Constitution; and in 2013 donated a John Singer Sargent portrait of Mrs. Jacob Wendell to the New-York Historical Society Museum through the Roger and Susan Hertog Charitable Fund with Jan and Warren Adelson. 

About the New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society, one of America's pre-eminent cultural institutions, is dedicated to fostering research, presenting history and art exhibitions, and public programs that reveal the dynamism of history and its influence on the world of today. Founded in 1804, New-York Historical is the oldest museum in New York City. New-York Historical has a mission to explore the richly layered political, cultural and social history of New York City and State and the nation, and to serve as a national forum for the discussion of issues surrounding the making and meaning of history.

New-York Historical is recognized for engaging the public with deeply researched and far-ranging exhibitions, such as Alexander Hamilton: The Man Who Made Modern America; Slavery in New York; Nature and the American Vision: The Hudson River School at the New-York Historical Society; Grant and Lee in War and Peace; Lincoln and New York; the Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society; Audubon's Aviary: the Complete Flock; and WWII & NYC. Supporting these exhibitions and related education programs is one of the world's greatest collections of historical artifacts, works of American art, and other materials documenting the history of the United States and New York. On October 11, 2013, New-York Historical will open its landmark fall exhibition, The Armory Show at 100: Modern Art and Revolution, which brings together more than 100 works of art from the legendary 1913 Armory Show, remembered as a turning point in American art history and one of the most important exhibitions ever held in the United States.

Media Contact
Laura Washington
[email protected]
(212) 873-3400 x263

SOURCE New-York Historical Society