HYDE PARK – The Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum has announced three new Library Trustees: Rabbi Bruce Alpert (Beth Israel Synagogue, Wallingford, CT), J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives Associate Anita Sonawane, and Crowell & Moring Energy Litigator Tyler O’Connor. The Trustees are charged with ensuring FDR’s legacy is preserved and accessible to the public for generations to come.
Roosevelt Library Director Paul Sparrow said, “President Roosevelt created the Trustees to ensure that this first Presidential Library would have both financial and popular support. We are proud and honored to welcome these three incredibly accomplished people to the Trustees and look forward to working with them for many years.”
Bruce Alpert is the rabbi of Beth Israel Synagogue in Wallingford, Connecticut where he has served since 2007. Prior to his rabbinical work, he served as president of Pentron Clinical Corporation, which developed, manufactured and sold dental restorative materials world-wide. He earned a bachelor’s degree in political economy from The Johns Hopkins University and a master’s degree in Jewish Studies from Gratz College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Alpert’s rabbinic ordination is from The Academy for Jewish Religion in Yonkers, New York. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy and is chair emeritus of the Board of Trustees of the Academy for Jewish Religion. Alpert is married to Terri Alpert an entrepreneur and business consultant. They have two daughters: Sarah, a children’s book editor and Rachel, a law school student. They live in Madison, Connecticut.
Anita Sonawane works as a Global Alternatives Associate at J.P Morgan Asset Management. She founded the Roosevelt Network (Roosevelt Institute) chapter at Queens College in 2009, where she graduated valedictorian with a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics. As an undergraduate, Anita participated in multiple Roosevelt activities and served as a lead strategist in the Network for Economic Development. She is a recipient of CUNY Chancellor’s Award for Academic Excellence and a former intern at the Brookings Institution and the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. After graduating, Sonawane worked as an Analyst at Moore Capital Management before pursuing her MBA at Columbia University and her MSc in Financial Economics at the University of Oxford. She currently resides in New York City.
Tyler O’Connor is an Energy Litigator in Crowell & Moring’s Washington, DC office, where he represents clients in the federal appellate and trial courts, arbitration, state court, and before the Department of Energy, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and the Department of Interior. He has co-authored Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit amicus briefs on behalf of the American Bar Association and NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund, respectively; served as co-counsel with the ACLU in securing a major First Amendment victory at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit; and counsels refugees seeking asylum in the United States. He received his JD magna cum laude and Order of the Coif in 2014 from the Emory University School of Law, where he was a member of the school’s law review. Tyler co-founded the Emory chapter of Roosevelt Network (Roosevelt Institute), participated in the inaugural Hyde Park conference in 2006, and co-authored an article, “Solutions for the South” — exploring the economic and academic benefits on LEED certification for public schools.
Designed by Franklin Roosevelt and dedicated on June 30, 1941, the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum is the nation’s first presidential library and the only one used by a sitting president. Administered by the National Archives and Records Administration since 1941, the Library preserves and makes accessible to the American people the records of FDR’s presidency. The Roosevelt Library’s mission is to foster a deeper understanding of the lives and times of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and their continuing impact on contemporary life. This work is carried out through the Library’s archives and research room, museum collections and exhibitions, innovative educational programs, and engaging public programming. For more information about the Library or its programs call (800) 337-8474 or visit www.fdrlibrary.org.
