In a changing of the guard at the Boston library and museum dedicated to the memory of a much-loved president, the deputy director of the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation will be taking the helm after the current director steps down, the foundation said Thursday.
Rachel Flor will begin will begin transitioning into the director’s role next month and assume full responsibilities in January, the foundation said in a statement.
Steven M. Rothstein is wrapping up a three-year tenure marked by record fund-raising and “successful high-profile events,” including celebrations of President Kennedy’s centennial in 2017 and the 50th anniversary of the moon landing this year, the foundation said.
The foundation is a nonprofit that provides financial, staffing, and other support for the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Dorchester, a presidential library governed by the federal National Archives and Records Administration.
“The John F. Kennedy Library Foundation is fortunate that Steven came to us with his experience in education, human services, and government to create stability and reinvigorate our fundraising efforts, which resulted in one of the most successful periods in the Foundation’s history. We thank him for his dedication and tireless efforts on behalf of the Foundation,” the foundation’s board chairman Ronald Sargent said in the statement.
Caroline Kennedy, honorary president of the foundation and the daughter of John F. Kennedy, thanked Rothstein and wished him future success. She also said she was “thrilled” with Flor’s selection.
“She is a visionary who has quietly guided the Library’s most successful initiatives and is responsible for our greatest achievements over the past decade,” Caroline Kennedy said in the statement. “No one works harder or more effectively to ensure that John F. Kennedy’s legacy of public service and political courage remains a source of inspiration for new generations.”
Rothstein said in the statement his time with the foundation had been “an honor and a true labor of love.”
Flor said, “I can think of no greater honor than to lead the organization that I care about so deeply.”