Press/Journalists

Press Release
Press Release · Wednesday, April 25, 2001

Press Release
April 25, 2001
National Archives Appoints New Kennedy Library Director

College Park, MD. . . Archivist of the United States John W. Carlin announced today the appointment of Deborah Leff as the new director of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston, MA.

In making the appointment, Mr. Carlin said "I am extremely pleased that Deborah Leff has agreed to become the new director of the Kennedy library. She brings to the position tremendous leadership skills and a wide variety of experience as president of a billion dollar private foundation, as an award-winning producer of ABC News, and as the Chief Executive Officer of one the nation's largest charities. We welcome Ms. Leff into the Presidential library system."

Ms. Leff is currently the President and CEO of America's Second Harvest, the nation's largest domestic hunger relief organization. Her responsibilities include overseeing a network of more than 200 food banks and food rescue organizations in every state of the union. As a key national spokesperson on hunger and welfare reform policy issues, she has elevated the issue of hunger on the national agenda. Under her leadership, the organization doubled its revenues, increased food distribution by 500 million pounds, and launched a major technology initiative partnering with Hewlett-Packard and Cisco.

Prior to coming to America's Second Harvest in 1999, for seven years Ms. Leff was the President of the Joyce Foundation. As CEO and member of the Board of Directors of the $1 billion, policy-oriented foundation, she was responsible for the strategic programmatic focus of the foundation, staff management, investment policy and budget.

Ms. Leff was an award-winning local news producer in Washington DC and Chicago, before becoming a senior producer at ABC News for nine years, working on "Nightline," "20/20," and "World News Tonight with Peter Jennings."

Ms. Leff graduated from Princeton University in 1973 and earned a J.D. in 1977 from the University of Chicago Law School.

The John F. Kennedy Presidential library is one of ten Presidential libraries operated by the National Archives and Records Administration. Located at Columbia Point, in Boston, Massachusetts, it houses the official records of the Kennedy Presidency, including more than 32 million pages of materials, 146 thousand photographs, and 17,000 gifts given to President and Mrs. Kennedy. The 134,293 square foot facility is both a major research institution and a museum, showcasing the collections and hosting travelling exhibitions. Last year 179,000 visitors toured the museum or participated in various public programs.

For additional PRESS information, please contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at (301) 837-1700 or by e-mail.

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