(JTA) — Richard Stone, the chairman of the NCSJ, was elected unanimously as the next chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Stone, a New York attorney, was elected Monday at a meeting of the Presidents Conference in New York. He will assume his new position on June 1, succeeding Alan Solow.
NCSJ, formerly known as the National Conference on Soviet Jewry, advocates for the Jewish communities in the republics of the former Soviet Union.
Stone said his goals as chair of the Presidents Conference, an umbrella organization of the American Jewish community focusing on national and international issues, includes prioritizing the fight against the delegitimization of Israel, strengthening ties with Israel and promoting unity among the American Jewish community.
"I look forward to working with all of the members of the Conference of Presidents to advance the U.S.-Israel relationship and address the pressing issues that face the Jewish people throughout the world," he said.
Stone has served as vice president and on the Executive Committee of the New York Jewish Community Relations Council and currently chairs its Government Relations Commission. He was the chairman of the Institute for Public Affairs, the public policy arm of the Orthodox Union, from 1992 to 2002, and served on the board and executive committee of Jewish Council for Public Affairs from 2005 to 2009.
He currently serves as a member of the board of the Hebrew Free Loan Society, the America-Israel Friendship League, the American Zionist Movement and the New York Metropolitan Coordinating Council on Jewish Poverty.
Stone is on the faculty of Columbia University Law School, where he has held the Wilbur Friedman Chair in Tax Law since 1991.
