President Obama Appoints Elie Wiesel to Museum Council

June 3, 2016

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, President Obama announced his intent to appoint the following individual to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council:

Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel is President and Co-Founder of The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity, positions he has held since 1986.  Mr. Wiesel is a writer, political and human rights activist, and a Holocaust survivor.  He was formerly the Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the Humanities at Boston University from 1976 to 2013 and the author of a number of works of fiction and non-fiction.  Night, his memoir based on his experiences in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps, is considered among the most important works of Holocaust literature.  Mr. Wiesel was appointed as Chairman of the President’s Commission on the Holocaust in 1978.  In 1980, he became the Founding Chairman of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council and has continuously served as a Presidential appointee on the Council.  Mr. Wiesel was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States Congressional Gold Medal, and the rank of Grand Officer in the French Legion of Honor.  Mr. Wiesel was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1986.