Meeting of the Board of Regents | May 2007

SUMMARY

Issue for Consent Agenda

Appointment of Harold Holzer to the Board of the Archives Partnership Trust

Reason(s) for Consideration

              Required by State statute

Proposed Handling

The appointment will come before the Cultural Education Committee on May 21, 2007 for consideration.  The Committee will vote on the appointment and recommend approval to the Full Board on May 22, 2007.

Procedural History

              The New York State Archives Partnership Trust Act (Chapter 758 of the Laws of 1992, as amended) gives the Board of Regents four (4) appointments to the Trust Board.  Harold Holzer will fill the Regents vacancy created when John Jerome resigned from the Trust Board in March of 2007.  Therefore, at the May 22 Regents meeting, if approved, Mr. Holzer would begin a new 3-year term as a Regents appointee.  The other Regents appointments are:  Ms. Barbara A. Brinkley, Dr. Ann L. Buttenwieser, and Dr. John Jay Iselin.  These appointees’ terms are not yet due to expire.

Background Information

The Archives Partnership Trust is a 501(c)(3), public benefit corporation for the sole benefit of the New York State Archives.  The Trust provides private funds, services and support to sustain the excellence of the State Archives, particularly in the areas of education, public programs and preservation to ensure that one of New York’s most valuable cultural assets is available for future generations.  The Trust is governed by a Board of leading citizens, appointed by the Governor, Legislature and the Board of Regents.  It is requested that the Regents appoint Harold Holzer to a three-year term beginning on May 22, 2007.

              Harold Holzer is Senior Vice President for Communications at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.  He is also one of the country's leading authorities on Abraham Lincoln and the political culture of the Civil War era.  He is a prolific writer and lecturer and serves as co-chair of the United States Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, appointed by President Clinton in 2000, and co-chair of the New York State Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, appointed by Governor Pataki in 2006.  Mr. Holzer has been instrumental in making the public events of the Trust successful fundraisers.  He has not only obtained the services of historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, C-SPAN founder Brian Lamb, and actors Richard Dreyfuss and Sam Waterston to appear in our public programs, but has generously offered to personally participate in these programs.  Mr. Holzer also served as lead historian for the Archives' sponsored The Union Preserved Civil War Symposium and co-edited two books on New York and the Civil War published by the Archives Partnership Trust.  Mr. Holzer has served on the Trust Board as a Governor’s appointee.

Recommendation

The Regents should approve the appointment of Harold Holzer to the Board of the Archives Partnership Trust.

Timetable for Implementation

May 22, 2007