Company: Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO)
Born: New York, New York
Education:
Research Fellowship, Philosophy Faculty, Center for the Study of Population, Moscow State University (1986)
PhD in Sociology and Soviet Studies, Columbia University, with Distinction (1976)
MPhil, Columbia University (1976)
BS, Lomonosov Moscow State University (1971)
BS, Harvard University (1966)
Certifications:
Certificate, Harriman Institute, Columbia University (1976)
Career:
Head, Looted Art and Cultural Property Initiative, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) (2004-Present)
Director of Research, Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany and World Jewish Restitution Organization (WJRO) (2003-Present)
Representative, Claims Conference to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) (2003-Present)
Executive Director, Victim List Project of the Swiss Banks Settlement (2003-2019)
Administrator, All Scholarly Exchanges, Joint Research and Conferences Between the United States and the Former Soviet Union in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Including Relations Between the Archives and Libraries of the Two Countries and in Art History
Career Related:
Advisor, Czech Republic for the Organization of the Prague Holocaust-Era Assets Conference, European Shoah Legacy Institute (ESLI) and ESLI Provenance Research Training Program (2009-2017); Representative, Intergovernmental Task Force International Cooperative on Holocaust Education, Remembrance and Research (1998-2001); Deputy Director, Washington Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets (1998); Adjunct Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Lecturer, Department of Sociology and Harriman Institute, Russian Institute, Columbia University (1972-1987); Guest Lecturer, Foreign Service Institute, U.S. Department of State (1976-1983); Visiting Lecturer, New School for Social Research (1978-1979); Assistant Director, Director of Soviet Programs, International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), American Council of Learned Societies, Social Science Research Council (SSRC), and Consortium of 132 U.S. Universities
Civic:
Co-Founder, Deputy Chair, Executive Board, Jewish Digital Cultural Recovery Project Foundation (2019-Present); Member, Advisory Board, European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (2010-Present); Executive Director, Chief Executive Director, National Museum of American Jewish History, Philadelphia, PA (2001-2002); Senior Founding Member, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C. (1993-2001); Consultant, Sakharov Museum (1997-2000); Member, Board of Directors, New York Association of New Americans; With, Advisory Program for Soviet Emigre Scholars; Member, National Jewish Welfare Board; Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society; Director of International Programs, Special Assistant to Museum Director, Acting Director, Deputy Director, Research Institute, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.
Creative Works:
Author, Principal Drafter, “Best Practices for the Washington Conference Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art and the Way Forward,” Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference of the Documentation Centre for Property Transfers of Cultural Assets of WWII Victims (2024); Author, “Holocaust-Era Looted Art: A Current Worldwide Overview” (2024); Author, “Will the Lost Museum Become the Found Museum?,” South Carolina Council on the Holocaust (2022); Author, “The Victim List Project,” Judah Gribetz and Shari Reig, “Final Report of the Swiss Banks Settlement Distribution Process,” Pages 1244-1289 (2019); Author, “Twenty Years After Washington – An Evaluation from the Claims Conference and the WJRO” (2019); Author, “International Directory of Organizations in Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research” (1998); Author, “A Scholar’s Guide to the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Baltics and the Soviet Union” (1992); Author, “The Soviet Marriage Market: Mate Selection in Russia and the USSR” (1980); Author, “The Moscow Gourmet: Dining Out in the Capital of the USSR” (1974); Author, “Social Stratification and Mobility in the USSR” (1973); Contributor, Articles, Guidebooks to Academy and Professional Journals
Awards:
Fulbright-Hays Fellow, Moscow State University (1970-1971, 1986)
Memberships:
Liaison, Soviet Union, American Sociological Association (1976-1986); Member, Harvard Club of New York City; Member, The Phi Beta Kappa Society
Religion:
Jewish
Family:
Son of Mitchell Salem Fisher and Esther (Oshiver) Fisher
Married: Regine Rayevsky (09/15/1979 – Present)
Children: Maxim; Katya
Grandchildren: Samuel
Hobbies:
Spending time with his family; Playing the piano