PETER GOTLIEB

Peter Gotlieb is a member of Temple Beth Shalom in Livingston, NJ and a Past President of its Men's Club. He is also a Past President of the FJMC's Northern New Jersey Region and has previously served on the FJMC's Executive Committee where he provided oversight for the organization's leadership development/training portfolio. Peter worked with Burt Fischman (aka Captain Ruach) and current FJMC President Allan Kahan for several years in providing such leadership development training for the FJMC Executive Committee.

He has served for many years as an advisor to the New York Metro Region and has been a regular presenter/trainer at a number of retreats in several regions, as well as at multiple FJMC Conventions. He has visited and provided consulting support to clubs in a number of FJMC regions with respect to leadership development of club officers and initiating Keruv interfaith activities. In recent years Peter provided partial oversight of the FJMC New York City Office and helped in the closing of that office and its transition to Officense while serving on the organization's Office Operations Committee. He is a current Board Member of the FJMC Foundation for Jewish Life and a long-term monthly contributor to the Friends of FJMC. Most recently, Peter served on the organization's Nominating and Executive Director Search Committees and was selected as one of eight Club Consultants who will be providing assistance to member clubs needing special support. As a Past President, he continues to serve on the Northern NJ Region Executive Board.

Personal notes and reflections: I have shared my life for the last 52+ years with my wife Diane. We currently split our time between a town house in West Orange, NJ and a pieds-a-terre apartment on the Upper West Side of Manhattan with membership in Temple Beth Shalom of Livingston, NJ and its Men's Club, as well B’nai Jeshurun in Manhattan.  Our kids (2) and grandkids (3) live in NYC.  I grew up on Long Island and studied at the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate and continued for graduate work at UCLA and Columbia. My professional life consisted of several positions in higher education administration first in a short stint at Brooklyn College/CUNY, followed by nearly 39 years at Saint Peter's University. My professional field of expertise was experiential education, actively serving as a Board Member in both the Society for Experiential Education and the Cooperative Education & Internship Association, conducting training at annual conventions and consulting for many higher education institutions. In addition, I served the higher education community more broadly as a member of a number of accreditation teams for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

Thanks so much to the FJMC leadership for selecting me for this incredible honor. In addition, I want to offer my congratulations to fellow honorees Richard and Joe who each contributed immeasurably to my engagement with and commitment to FJMC. Thanks to guys like them, and countless others at the Region and International level, I have grown so much as a man, leader and Jew. And finally, a very special thanks to my life partner Diane, whose support has enabled me to pursue not only an active professional life, but also this amazing and life-changing journey in FJMC.