The Board of Directors of American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) is pleased to announce its unanimous appointment of Jennifer Gross as Chief Executive Officer, beginning September 2019. Ms. Gross previously served as Vice President of UJA-Federation of New York, heading its Affinity Campaign, and was a member of UJA's senior management group.
"Jennifer is an extraordinary combination of leader, relationship builder and executive who bridges the gap between the public and private sector and offers a true passion for Israel and TAU," said Clement Erbmann, Chair of the Search Committee and National Chairman of the Board of Directors. "She has truly excelled in her current role at UJA and we are thrilled to welcome her to AFTAU to build on the accomplishments of this organization."
While at UJA, Ms. Gross oversaw the Affinity Campaign, which raised $78 million in her final year. She brought innovative fundraising approaches and initiatives, as well as inspiration and leadership to a team of 70.
"Our 14-member committee reviewed and considered a number of high-quality candidates through our extensive national search conducted by Sandler Search, a leading executive search firm," said Mr. Erbmann. "We know Jennifer will bring an important level of energy and growth to AFTAU. We are confident she is the right leader for this moment in our organization."
Before joining UJA professionally in 2014, Ms. Gross was a principal and managing director at Archview Investment Group, an event-driven credit opportunities hedge fund seeded by Blackstone, where she led the capital-raising team.
"I am honored to take the helm of this important organization," said Ms. Gross. "AFTAU plays a critical role in ensuring that Tel Aviv University is able to be a hub of innovation, research and higher learning and to provide a top tier education to students from all of Israel and around the world. This role enables me to combine my passion for and desire to support Israel and my dream of ensuring access to quality education for all students."
Ms. Gross has an impressive track record of lay leadership and community involvement. Throughout her financial services career, Ms. Gross was an active lay leader at UJA, chairing its Women's Executive Circle, Investment Management Division, and serving on UJA's Board of Directors, Wall Street Strategic Council and Campaign Steering Group. She is a chair of AIPAC's Women's Division, a member and past chair of Hadassah's Investment Group and a board member of the Jewish Center of Atlantic Beach, Meir Panim and Northwestern University Hillel. Additionally, she is a Mandel Executive Leadership Fellow. Ms. Gross received her BA from Northwestern University.
AFTAU supports Israel's most influential, comprehensive and sought-after center of higher learning, Tel Aviv University (TAU). TAU is recognized and celebrated internationally for creating an innovative, entrepreneurial culture on campus that generates inventions, startups and economic development in Israel. TAU educates 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students a year, coming from all sectors of Israeli society and is ranked ninth in the world, and first in Israel, for producing startup founders of billion-dollar companies. To date, 2,500 U.S. patents have been filed by Tel Aviv University researchers — ranking TAU #1 in Israel, #10 outside of the U.S. and #66 in the world.
