Howard M Rieger

From 1981 to 2004 he served as president of the United Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh. Under his leadership, the federation had immense success in fundraising efforts to support projects and initiatives, including an annual financial resource development effort totaling over $25 million; the 1990-91 Exodus Campaign, which raised $15 million to resettle Jews from the former Soviet Union; redesigning of services to older persons in the Pittsburgh Jewish community; conceptualization and implementation of the $60 million 1996-99 Renaissance Community Capital Campaign for the development and renovation of seven local agency facilities; the 2000-01 restructuring of the federation; the development of multiple Hesed/community centers throughout the former Soviet Union; and a worldwide Jewish communal training program. Rieger was a key player in the merger of the Council of Jewish Federations with United Jewish Appeal, resulting in UJC’s creation in 1999. He was chair of UJC’s National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000-01 Publication Advisory Committee and served in other leadership roles in federation projects in Israel, Argentina, the former Soviet Union and elsewhere overseas. After serving as an assistant professor at the State University of New York, Rieger joined the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland. During an 11-year tenure there, he served in virtually every area and as the federation’s assistant executive director and its first director of operations. A Chicago native, Rieger earned his Ph.D. in Government at Southern Illinois University. He received an undergraduate degree in political science and a graduate degree in public administration from Roosevelt University in Chicago.