MuseumFred S. Zeidman was appointed Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council by President George W. Bush in March 2002. The Council, which includes 55 Presidentially appointed members and ten members from the U.S. Congress, is the governing board of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. The Museum is America’s national institution dedicated to remembering the Holocaust and teaching its lessons to future generations.
Almost 30 million people have visited the Museum since it opened in April 1993. The Museum has welcomed 88 heads of state and hundreds of dignitaries from 132 nations, but its most important visitors have been the more than 7 million schoolchildren from across the nation. A public-private partnership, the Museum receives over half of its $78.7 million budget from the federal government; the private sector supports its educational outreach and scholarly programming. In his capacity as Chairman, Mr. Zeidman is leading the Museum’s plans for its second decade, including building the institution’s endowment campaign.
A prominent Houston-based business and civic leader, Mr. Zeidman is a Principal at XRoads Solutions Group. He is also Chairman of the Board at SulphCo, and serves on the Board of Directors of MegaWest Energy Corp, Hyperdynamics Corp and Prosperity Bank. He serves on the Jewish National Fund’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee and chairs its audit committee. He is also National Board Member, Development Corporation for Israel; Texas State Chairman, Israel Bonds; Vice Chairman, Republican Jewish Coalition; and Vice Chair of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Development Board. He serves on the Executive Committee of the Houston Ear Research Foundation.
He is the former Chairman of the Board of Seitel, Inc. He is past Vice Chairman of the Board of Regents, Texas Southern University; past Chairman, Southwest Region, Anti-Defamation League; former Vice President and Director, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, former member of Texas Inter-Faith Housing Corporation’s Executive Committee, and has played a leadership role in a number of other organizations, including the Jewish Federation of Greater Houston; as a member of the Alumni Board of Governors, Washington University, St. Louis; and as a Director of the American Jewish Committee.
In April 2004, Mr. Zeidman served on the U.S. delegation to the Antisemitism Conference in Berlin, a major international conference organized by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The recipient of many awards, he has been recognized with the American Jewish Committee’s National Institute Human Relations Award (2009), the Hineni Triumph of the Spirit Award (2009), the Orthodox Union IPA Public Service Award (2006), the Texas Southern University Lifetime Hero Award (2005), the Thomas Jefferson Citizen Diplomat Award (2004), AIPAC’s Southwest Region Distinguished Leadership Award (2001), and Israel Bonds’ Shalom 2000 (1994) and Jerusalem 3000 (1996) Awards. Mr. Zeidman has been named by the Forward newspaper as one of its “Forward 50” Jewish leaders three times (2004, 2005, and 2006). In 2002 his leadership was recognized by the American Friends of Lubavitch, who honored him at their annual Washington gala.
Mr. Zeidman holds a Bachelor’s degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Master’s in Business Administration from New York University. He is married with four children.
January 21, 2010
