For Immediate Release: November 4, 2009
Further information: Rachel Day (617) 514-1662, rachel.day@jfklfoundation.org
BOSTON, MA - The Board of Directors of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation today announced that it unanimously elected Kenneth R. Feinberg as its new chairman. Feinberg is Founder and Managing Partner of Feinberg Rozen, LLP – the nation's foremost law firm for mediation, arbitration, and alternative dispute resolution – and currently serves as the Obama Administration’s Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, popularly called the “Pay Czar,” overseeing the compensation of top executives at companies which received federal bailout assistance.
Feinberg succeeds Paul G. Kirk, Jr., who resigned as Board Chairman in September when Governor Deval Patrick appointed him interim United States Senator from Massachusetts.
“We are truly honored that Ken Feinberg will be leading the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation during this important time,” said Caroline Kennedy, President of the Kennedy Library Foundation. “There are few people who have answered President Kennedy’s call to service more often, and with greater impact than Ken. He was a beloved friend and trusted counselor to my uncle, and I am so glad to be able to continue this relationship.”
Feinberg, 64, was born in Brockton, Massachusetts and earned a degree in history from the University of Massachusetts in 1967 and a law degree from the New York University School of Law in 1970. He worked for five years as an administrative assistant and chief of staff for U.S. Senator Edward M. Kennedy and as an Assistant United States Attorney. Before founding his own firm — The Feinberg Group, LLP — in 1993, he was a founding partner at the Washington office of Kaye Scholer LLP.
One of the nation's leading experts in mediation and alternative dispute resolution, Feinberg was appointed by Attorney General John Ashcroft to be Special Master of the U.S. Government's September 11th Victim Compensation Fund which distributed nearly $7 billion to more than 5,000 victims and families of victims of 9/11. Working entirely pro bono for 33 months, he developed the regulations governing the administration of the fund and administered all aspects of the program, including evaluating applications, determining appropriate compensation and disseminating awards.
In recognition of his outstanding service to the nation and to September 11th victims and their families, Senator Edward M. Kennedy presented Feinberg with the Kennedy Library Foundation’s Distinguished American Award in September 2004.
In presenting the Distinguished American Award, Senator Edward M. Kennedy said, “At a time when so many are asking what the country can do for them, it’s hard to think of a more perfect example of someone who asked what he can do for our country. When the 9/11 Fund was created, Kenneth Feinberg said ‘I can do that,’ and he did. And the whole country is very grateful for what this son of Brockton accomplished.”
Three years later, Feinberg agreed to administrate the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund, set up for the benefit of victims' families in the wake of the 2007 Virginia Tech mass shooting.
In July 2009, Feinberg was appointed by the Obama Administration to oversee the compensation of top executives at companies which received federal bailout assistance. As the Special Master for TARP Executive Compensation, popularly called the 'pay czar', Feinberg announced in late October that the Treasury Department would slash compensation for the 25 highest-paid executives at the seven firms that received the largest chunks of federal bailout money.
Feinberg is currently Chairman of the Board of the RAND Institute of Civil Justice. He is Vice-Chairman of the Board of Human Rights First and is a member of the Board of the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. He is also President of the Washington National Opera.
Feinberg was designated “Lawyer of the Year” by the National Law Journal in 2004 and has been named repeatedly on the Journal’s “Profiles in Power: The 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America.” Feinberg has taught as an adjunct law professor at Georgetown, the University of Pennsylvania, New York University, Columbia, and the University of Virginia. He is the author of numerous articles and essays on mediation, mass torts and other matters and is the author of, What is Life Worth? The Unprecedented Effort to Compensate the Victims of 9/11 (Public Affairs 2005).
He is married to Diane S. Feinberg and they have three adult children, and two grandchildren.
The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is a 501(c)(3), non-profit organization founded in 1984 to provide financial support, staffing, and creative resources for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, a federal institution under the National Archives. The Kennedy Library Foundation is not a grant-making foundation.
The John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum and the Kennedy Library Foundation seek to promote, through educational and community programs, a greater appreciation and understanding of American politics, history, and culture, the process of governing and the importance of public service.