Dr. Stephen S. Wolnek – Past President of MERCAZ USA (2006-2010)

Dr. Stephen S. Wolnek came to the presidency of MERCAZ USA, the Zionist arm of the Conservative Movement, after a distinguished career in Jewish community affairs. A former international president of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism from 1997 to 2002, Dr. Wolnek currently serves as a vice president of the Jewish National Fund and chairman of the Israel and International Affairs Committee of the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York.

Dr. Wolnek has long been active in the Conservative Movement. Before he became United Synagogue's international president, he served as its financial secretary, treasurer and vice president. He was also president of the group's Metropolitan New York Region as well as chairman of its Youth Commission. In addition, he was president of the Solomon Schechter Day School of Nassau County and has served as a board member of Camp Ramah in the Berkshires, the National Ramah Commission and the World Council of Conservative Synagogues.

A committed Zionist since his youth, Dr. Wolnek spent a year in Israel in 1955 as a participant in the Machon Program, a Zionist program for young Jewish leaders. He attended the World Zionist Congress in 1997, 2002 and 2006 as an elected delegate representing MERCAZ USA and has participated on the WZO Zionist General Council (Vaad HaPoel) and the Jewish Agency Assembly. In 2005, he was elected as a vice president of MERCAZ Olami, the worldwide association of Conservative/Masorti Zionists, and thereafter, he was appointed a committee member of the Jewish Agency's Board of Governors.

Dr. Wolnek received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of New Hampshire. In 1999, the university honored him with a doctorate of humane letters. He is the President and C.E.O. of P & S Industries LTD and a member of the Construction Specifications Institute and the Presidents Council of the American Institute of Management. He and his wife Elysia have two children and five grandchildren.

MERCAZ USA is the Zionist voice of Conservative Judaism within the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Zionist Movement and the Conference of Presidents for Major American Jewish Organizations. A grass-roots organization lobbying on behalf of Conservative/Masorti Judaism, MERCAZ is supported by individual and family memberships. MERCAZ USA works together with MERCAZ Olami, the international umbrella for Conservative Zionist affiliates with chapters in North and South America, Europe and Israel.

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