Ann Kirschner

Ann Kirschner is Acting Executive Director of Meyer Family Philanthropies, where she directs strategic initiatives across education, public health, humanitarian aid, and the Jewish community. A seasoned strategist bridging philanthropy, higher education, and innovation, she also serves as Special Advisor to the presidents of Arizona State University and the University of California.

Her board leadership includes service as trustee of NYC First and the Paul and Daisy Soros Foundation, independent director of Strategic Cyber Ventures and the Movado Group (MOV), and member of the Management Committee for EdPlus and Learning Enterprise at Arizona State University since 2018.

She brings deep institutional knowledge from her tenure as interim President of Hunter College and Dean of Macaulay Honors College at The City University of New York. Her strategic expertise spans sectors, with executive roles at five ventures, including NFL.COM for the National Football League and FATHOM, a pioneering online learning company that partnered with Columbia University.

She is the author of two acclaimed books: Sala’s Gift, chronicling her mother’s Holocaust survival, now adapted for stage and featured in educational programs nationwide, and Lady at the OK Corral, the biography of Josephine Marcus Earp.

Ann Kirschner received her Ph.D. from Princeton University, where she was Whiting Scholar in the Humanities and an elected trustee, and is an alumna of the University of Virginia and the University of Buffalo. Based in New York City, she is the mother of three grown children and grandmother of four.