Roger Hertog (born July 5,1941)
is an American businessman,
financier
An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital the investor usually purchases some species of property. Types of in ...
, and conservative
philanthropist
Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...
. Hertog pursued a career in business, later becoming president of
Sanford Bernstein (now
AllianceBernstein
AllianceBernstein Holding L.P. (AB) is a global asset management firm providing investment management and research services worldwide to institutional, high-net-worth and Investor, retail investors.
AllianceBernstein's headquarters are located ...
). He currently serves as president of the Hertog Foundation and chairman of the
Tikvah Fund, which promotes Jewish thought and ideas.
Personal life and career
Born to German Jewish immigrants, Hertog was raised in the Bronx and attended public schools. His first job was in the mail room of a financial company while attending City College at night. Eventually, he joined
Oppenheimer & Co. in a clerical position. At Oppenheimer, he met his future business partner,
Sanford Bernstein. In 1967, Hertog joined Sanford C. Bernstein, & Co. Hertog remained president of the firm until its merger with Alliance Capital Management in 2000. He retired in 2006 from AllianceBernstein L.P. and remains Vice-Chairman Emeritus.
His wife, Susan Hertog, graduated from
Hunter College
Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
and earned her M.F.A. from
Columbia University School of the Arts
The Columbia University School of the Arts (also known as School of the Arts or SoA) is the fine arts graduate school of Columbia University in Morningside Heights, New York (state), New York. It offers Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degrees in Film, ...
in 1993.
Roger and Susan Hertog have three grown children.
Philanthropy

Hertog is co-president of the Hertog Foundation. He currently serves as the executive committee chairman for the
New York Historical Society’s board of directors, and as a board member at the Alexander Hamilton Society. Hertog has spent time on the boards of the
American Enterprise Institute
The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right think tank based in Washington, D.C., that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare ...
,
Thomas Jefferson Foundation, the
Washington Institute for Near-East Policy, and is a chairman emeritus of the
Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. He was a part-owner of now-defunct ''
The New York Sun
''The New York Sun'' is an American Conservatism in the United States, conservative Online newspaper, news website and former newspaper based in Manhattan, Manhattan, New York. From 2009 to 2021, it operated as an (occasional and erratic) onlin ...
'' and ''
The New Republic
''The New Republic'' (often abbreviated as ''TNR'') is an American magazine focused on domestic politics, news, culture, and the arts from a left-wing perspective. It publishes ten print magazines a year and a daily online platform. ''The New Y ...
'', and is a board member at ''
Commentary''. He is also a major supporter of ''
National Affairs
''National Affairs'' is a quarterly magazine in the United States about political affairs that was first published in September 2009. Its founding editor, Yuval Levin, and authors are typically considered to be conservative and right-wing. The ...
'' magazine, edited by
Yuval Levin.
His family foundation supports several educational fellowships for college students and young professionals. In 2010, the foundation launched the Political Studies Program, a full-scholarship summer program for undergraduates in the theory and practice of politics. In 2013, in partnership with the
Institute for the Study of War, Hertog expanded by launching a two-week summer seminar on warfare and military doctrine for advanced undergraduates, the War Studies Program. The Foundation offers other programs and seminars in three main areas: Political Thought and Philosophy; War and Foreign Affairs; and Economics and Domestic Policy.
Hertog often donates to Jewish and Israeli organizations, and is the chairman of the Tikvah Fund.
As part of his work with Tikvah, Hertog helped fund the
Shalem Center in Israel, which has since become the Shalem College. Hertog has also given money to the
Anti-Defamation League,
Taglit-Birthright Israel, and American Friends of Shalva.
Apart from his educational work, Hertog has supported arts and culture in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. He is credited with helping spur modernization at the New York Historical Society, joining the board in 2003. In 2004, Hertog and fellow board members
Lewis E. Lehrman and
Richard Gilder
Richard Gilder Jr. (May 31, 1932 – May 12, 2020), was an American stockbroker and philanthropist. He was a co-founder of the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. He also headed the brokerage firm Gilder, Gagnon, Howe & Co., wh ...
helped fund an
Alexander Hamilton
Alexander Hamilton (January 11, 1755 or 1757July 12, 1804) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the first U.S. secretary of the treasury from 1789 to 1795 dur ...
exhibit at N-YHS.
[ Pogrebin, Robin]
"A Patron’s Passion for History on Display"
''The New York Times''. November 9, 2012; retrieved May 30, 2013. He sponsored the creation of the
Bronx Library Center, which opened in 2006.
In the 1990s, Hertog, along with other investors, launched one of the first privately funded school-voucher programs, funding 1,000 scholarships annually for poor families interested in sending their children to private schools. Over 25,000 applied for the scholarships. He has invested in the Success Charter Network and Families for Excellent Schools in New York, and funded a study on the charter school movement in New York City.
On November 15, 2007, Hertog was awarded a
National Humanities Medal in a White House ceremony with
U.S. President
The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
.
[, November 15, 2007, formerly posted on WhiteHouse.gov, now in the ]Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...
(accessed January 22, 2009). He won the
William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership in 2010.
[Stephens, Bre]
"Excellence in Philanthropy: The Business of Big Ideas"
, philanthropyroundtable.org; accessed November 30, 2016.
See also
*
List of philanthropists
*
List of people from the Bronx
References
External links
The Hertog Foundation
The Tikvah Fund
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hertog, Roger
1941 births
Living people
American Enterprise Institute
American financial businesspeople
American people of German-Jewish descent
American philanthropists
Philanthropists from New York (state)
Businesspeople from New York City
National Humanities Medal recipients
The New Republic people
Businesspeople from the Bronx
Date of birth missing (living people)
21st-century American Jews