John Ruskay To Leave Top Spot at UJA-Federation

John Ruskay Image by getty images

By JTA April 23, 2013

John Ruskay will be leaving his position as executive vice president and CEO of UJA-Federation of New York.

John Ruskay Image by getty images

The federation announced Ruskay’s departure on Tuesday. His last day as head of the nation’s largest federation will be on June 30, 2014.

Ruskay joined the federation in 1993 and has been CEO since 1999. In Ruskay’s time at the helm, UJA-Federation raised more than $2.7 billion and increased its endowment from $330 million to more than $860 million, according to the federation.

“I have been blessed to have a job that has enabled me to bring together three of my lifelong passions: my conviction that Judaism enhances life; my commitment to care for every being; and my belief in the value of community,” Ruskay said in a letter announcing his departure.

The search for Ruskay’s successor will be handled by the federation’s executive committee and guided by board chairwoman Alisa Doctoroff, the federation said.

Ruskay came to the federation from the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary of America, where he was vice chancellor. In the early 1980s, Ruskay was educational director of the 92nd Street Y on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and earned a doctorate in political science from Columbia University.

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

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.

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO