Judith S. Goldstein

Dr. Judith S. Goldstein received a BA degree from Cornell University in 1962 with a concentration on European and American history. As a Woodrow Wilson Scholar at Columbia University, she received a master's degree in European history and wrote her thesis on the “Mouvement Republicain Populaire and the Franco Vietnamese War, 1946 -1954.” In 1972 she completed her doctoral studies at Columbia University in American history after writing her dissertation on the “The Politics of Ethnic Pressure: The American Jewish Committee Fight Against Immigration Restriction: 1906 -1917.” This work was the beginning of a sustained concentration on immigration and diversity in American and Europe.

Over the next ten years she conducted an independent project in the Oral History Department at Columbia University on ethnic groups and American foreign policy. In 1992 William Morris published her book, Crossing Lines: Histories of Jews and Gentiles in Three Communities. Subsequently, she worked as the Executive Director of Thanks To Scandinavia, a non-for-profit organization.

In 1997, she founded Humanity in Action. She has served as its Executive Director for the past 16 years. Humanity in Action, based in New York City, develops and conducts annual educational programs for American, Danish, Dutch, French, German and Polish college and university students concerned with the protection of minorities. Fellows now include students from Turkey, Ukraine and Bosnia. Programs include fellowships and internships in Europe and the United States, annual publications, photography exhibitions and conferences. Over 16 years the organization has engaged over 1,400 university students in its programs and raised over $20 million.