Board of Directors & Professional Guiding Council

Ambassador Eizenstat, the former Chairman of the Weizmann Institute's Board of Governors, is currently a partner of the legal firm Covington and Burlington LLP and heads the firm's international practice. He grew up and was educated in the public schools of Atlanta. He is a Phi Beta Kappa, cum laude graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Harvard Law School.

After Eizenstat's appointment was unanimously approved by the Institute's board of directors, Avinoam Bar-Yosef, JPPPI's Director General, sent the board a letter in which he emphasized his deep gratitude to Dennis Ross for his volunteering his leadership. "Ambassador Ross has our deepest gratitude for his leadership and professional guidance." Bar-Yosef added, "Ambassador Eizenstat's experience in public service, which spans three US administrations, and his profound commitment to the Jewish people made him the best candidate for this position."

Selected Previous Experience:

US Government
• Deputy Secretary of the Treasury (1991-2001)
• Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs (1997-1999)
• US Ambassador to the European Union (1993-1996)
• Chief Domestic Policy Adviser and Executive Director of the White House Domestic Policy Staff (1977-1981)

Jewish or Israeli Institutes and Organizations
• Chairman of the Board of Governors, Weizmann Institute of Science (2002-2005)
• President, Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington (1989-1991)
• Founding Chairman, Institute of US Jewish-Israeli Relations of the American Jewish Committee (1982-1986)

Ambassador Eizenstat has played a very significant role in providing belated justice for victims of the Holocaust and other victims of Nazi tyranny during World War II. His leadership within the Clinton administration as Special Representative of the President and Secretary of State on Holocaust-Era Issues was central to major agreements negotiated with the Swiss, Germans, and Austrians covering restitution of property, payment of slave and forced laborers, recovery of looted art and bank accounts, and payment of insurance policies. His book on these events, Imperfect Justice: Looted Assets, Slave Labor, and the Unfinished Business of World War II, has been favorably received in publications such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Business Week, and Publisher's Weekly. It has been translated into Czech, French, German, and Hebrew.

Ambassador Eizenstat has been awarded several honorary doctorate degrees. He has received high civilian honors from the governments of Israel (Courage and Conscience Award), France (Legion of Honor), Germany, Austria, and Belgium, as well as from Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Secretary of State Madeline Albright, and Secretary of the Treasury Lawrence Summers.