Jewish Foundation for the Righteous appoints new leader for education programs

The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous has appointed veteran educator Andrew Buchanan as its senior education program associate. Buchanan joins the foundation after more than 21 years teaching middle and high school students about the Holocaust. He will report to JFR Executive Vice President Stanlee Stahl.

The JFR continues its work of providing monthly financial assistance to more than 130 aged and needy Righteous Gentiles, living in 13 countries. Since its founding, the JFR has provided more than $42 million to aged and needy rescuers – helping to repay a debt of gratitude on behalf of the Jewish people to these noble men and women. Its Holocaust teacher education program has become a standard for teaching the history of the Holocaust and educating teachers and students about the significance of the Righteous as moral and ethical exemplars. For more information, visit https://www.jfrorg/.

Prior to his joining the JFR, Buchanan was an educator in the Randolph, New Jersey public school system where he specialized in Holocaust and Genocide studies. Buchanan has also advanced Holocaust education through his educational entrepreneurship, has launched an educational consulting firm and has served as a summer teacher training facilitator at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC. He has also lectured at the college level having served as an adjunct professor for the Holocaust Resource Center at Kean University, a JFR Holocaust Center of Excellence, as well as teaching Middle Eastern history at the County College of Morris. 

In 2012, Buchanan received The Jewish Foundation for the Righteous’ Robert I. Goldman Award for Excellence in Holocaust Education. He previously participated in the foundation’s Alfred Lerner Summer Institute for Teachers and its JFR European Study Program in Germany and Poland. He’s also been recognized at the county level as the Morris County Teacher of the Year and at the local level as the Randolph Township School District and the Randolph High School Teacher of the Year. 

Buchanan is tasked with using his teaching experience to advance the JFR’s academic programs to new levels, including its internationally renowned professional development programs for Holocaust educators worldwide. He will also manage all aspects of the JFR’s educational portfolio including the JFR-produced classroom materials and serve as its liaison with its stakeholders in the education community.

“Over the years, Andrew has not only distinguished himself in numerous capacities within the JFR arena but has also furthered Holocaust education for the many hundreds of students he has taught throughout his career.” said Stahl. “We are so glad to have Andrew join us at this critical moment for our organization as we continue to expand our Holocaust teacher education programs.”

Buchanan resides in Sparta, NJ with his wife, Patty, and three children.