Jonathan F. Fanton, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, who has served as Chair of the Board at Human Rights Watch since 1998, is stepping down in January next year after serving two terms. Under his leadership, Human Rights Watch successfully completed a $45 million endowment campaign, and the organization grew by more than 50 percent. Mr. Fanton replaced Robert L. Bernstein, former CEO of Random House, who founded Human Rights Watch in 1978.
“Jane Olson is the perfect person to carry on in the great tradition of Bob Bernstein and Jonathan Fanton,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “She brings energy, insight, and a vast store of international experience to this important leadership role.”
"I have seen personally how the work of Human Rights Watch helps to prevent human suffering by shining a light on abuses and holding perpetrators accountable," said Jane Olson. "The Human Rights Watch Board plays a critical role in supporting that work, and it will be a high honor to serve as chair."
Human Rights Watch is the largest U.S.-based human rights organization, with an annual budget of $22 million and a worldwide staff of 180.
“Human Rights Watch has grown at an astonishing pace in the last five years, and under Jane Olson we feel the future looks just as bright,” said Roth. “We will be glad of her support as we face a number of dramatic challenges in promoting human rights around the world.”
Roth said the war on terror had led many countries to abuse human rights in the name of promoting security. He also cited the growing isolation of the United States on many issues of international human rights standards.
Three new vice chairs will assist Ms. Olson in her work: James F. Hoge, Jr., editor of Foreign Affairs magazine and chair of the Nominating Committee of the Board of Human Rights Watch; Sidney Sheinberg, former President and Chief Operating Officer of MCA, Inc, partner of entertainment company The Bubble Factory, and co-chair of the California Committee South at Human Rights Watch; and John J. Studzinski, co-head of HSBC’s global Corporate, Investment Banking & Markets business and chair of the Investment Committee of the Board of Human Rights Watch.
Short biographies of the new board leadership follow:
Jane Olson
Ms. Olson of Pasadena, CA, has devoted her life to international justice and humanitarian work. She co-founded and served as co-chair of the California Committee of Human Rights Watch from its inception in 1989 until 2000. She also serves on the national board and executive committee of Human Rights Watch and the advisory board of its Europe and Central Asia Division. Ms. Olson has been on many missions to the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, South America, South Asia, the Middle East and Africa to look at problems with refugees, human rights issues, HIV/AIDS and landmines. Using her journalism training in investigative reporting and photography, she documented and provided witness to the critical problems and needs of some of the most vulnerable people in the world. She received numerous awards for her efforts in promoting peace around the world, including Silver Achievement Award from the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles in 2001, Community Achievement Award from Public Counsel and Corita Kent Peace Award by Immaculate Heart College Center. Ms. Olson received a B.A. in history and journalism from University of Nebraska in 1964 and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from California Lutheran University this year.
James F. Hoge, Jr.
Mr. Hoge spent three decades in newspaper journalism, serving as a Washington correspondent, editor in chief and publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times and then publisher and president of the New York Daily News. He became editor of Foreign Affairs in 1992. Under his leadership, the Chicago Sun-Times won six Pulitzer Prizes for journalistic excellence and the New York Daily News won one. He was a Fellow at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government in 1991, a Senior Fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University in 1992 and a Congressional Fellow of the American Political Science Association in 1962. A former director of the Council on Foreign Relations, he is currently chairman of the International Center for Journalists and a trustee of the Foundation for a Civil Society and Human Rights Watch. He is chairman of the Program Committee of the American Ditchley Foundation and a former vice chairman of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations and chairman of the Adlai Stevenson International Center. Mr. Hoge has a B.A. in political science from Yale University, an M.A. in European and American history from University of Chicago. His publications include The American Encounter: The United States and the Making of the Modern World and How Did This Happen? and Terrorism and the New War.
Sidney Sheinberg
Sid Sheinberg presently is a partner in The Bubble Factory, an entertainment company formed in July 1995 with his sons Jon and Bill. From its headquarters in Beverly Hills, California, the company has produced nine motion pictures. In June 1973, Mr. Sheinberg was elected President and Chief Operating Officer of MCA, Inc. During the years of his tenure, Universal Pictures, a division of MCA, Inc., released the highest-grossing films of each of the past three decades, beginning with Jaws in 1975, following with E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial in 1982 and concluding with Jurassic Park in 1993. Mr. Sheinberg attended Columbia College and later Columbia Law School, where he was both a Harlan Fiske Stone and a James Kent Scholar. In 1959, he joined the legal department of Revue Productions, MCA's former television subsidiary, and began his career in the entertainment industry. Mr. Sheinberg serves on the National Board of Human Rights Watch and is co-founder of The Children's Action Network. He has received many awards for his professional achievement and humanitarian work. Among them are the 1995 Simon Wiesenthal Center's Humanitarian Award and the 1998 Columbia Law School Medal for Excellence, the Law School’s highest honor for achievements by its alumni/ae and faculty.
John J. Studzinski
John Studzinksi became co-head of HSBC’s global Corporate, Investment Banking & Markets business in June 2003. Previously, he worked for Morgan Stanley for over two decades. He moved to London in 1984 as vice president on Mergers and Acquisitions European business, and was promoted to managing director in 1989. He became head of Investment Banking Europe at Morgan Stanley in 1997. Before he left Morgan Stanley to work for HSBC, he was serving as Deputy Chairman of Morgan Stanley International. Privately, he has been involved in a broad range of projects and charitable initiatives dealing with the arts and the homeless in London. He was one of the founding members and trustees of the Passage Day Centre in Westminster, one of the largest day care centers in London for homeless people. He is chairman of Business Action on Homeless. Mr. Studzinski also serves as a trustee of the Tate Gallery and was extensively involved in the creation of Tate Modern, and serves as a life trustee of the Sir John Museum. In 2001, he was made a Knight of the Order of St. Gregory by Pope John Paul II for his humanitarian work for the homeless. In 2000, he received the Prince of Wales Ambassador’s Award in recognition of his contribution to the homeless issues in the United Kingdom. Mr. Studzinski received a double B.A. in biology and sociology from Bowdoin College in 1978 and received an MBA in finance and marketing from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in 1980.
