One-Hundred-Sixteenth Commencement Exercises May 17, 2010

honorary DEGREES
Mr. Gershon Kekst
Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa
Sponsored by
Robert S. Rifkind, Esq.
Dr. Alan Mintz
You are a steadfast pillar of wisdom and humanity, a blessing to JTS and to klal Yisrael.
Frequently called the dean of corporate public relations, you are the founder and leader of Kekst
and Company, one of the most successful firms of its kind in the world. You are counted among
the most powerful advisers and counselors, using your influence to act as the conscience of
business. It is your own strength of character, rooted in the Jewish values you learned from your
parents, who were Hebrew teachers, that has enabled you both to prosper in corporate life and
to demonstrate the crucial importance of character to your peers in the world of commerce.
You have focused your remarkable philanthropic efforts on Jewish communal education and
science, endowing professorships and serving on the boards of Brandeis University and of the
Weizmann Institute of Science, where you also chaired the board, and you have been named a
Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Your positive impact upon The Jewish Theological Seminary is unparalleled. You have been
a member of the Board of Trustees for over twenty years, serving as board chairman for an
unprecedented eighteen productive years, and are now the chair emeritus. You have guided
JTS during some of the institution’s most important growth and restoration. Your stewardship
included the construction of Kripke Tower, transforming the fire-scarred former library
stacks into the campus’s signature building; the dedication of the Women’s League Seminary
Synagogue; the establishment of the William Davidson Graduate School of Jewish Education,
the largest graduate program of its kind in North America; and numerous other milestones and
accomplishments. Your name is inscribed on a pillar in the JTS courtyard, honoring the great
strength and support you have been for our institution.
You are one of the great Jewish leaders of your generation, and your commitment to Jewish
values has been your compass throughout a life of rare accomplishments and profound service
to the Conservative Movement, the Jewish people, and all of American society.
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