Michael J. Horvitz

2009 ROBERT P. BERGMAN PRIZE

When attorney and civic leader Michael J. Horvitz says he can’t wait to look through the glass walls into the vastly remodeled Cleveland Museum of Art while driving down East Blvd. at night, he’s speaking as a proud Clevelander.

But he’s also played a significant role in making those sparkling nighttime vistas happen. As President and now Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Cleveland Museum of Art, as well as Chair of the Building Oversight Committee and Co-Chair of the Museum’s Capital Campaign, Horvitz has served as both a participant and leader in almost every phase of the museum’s unprecedented $350 million expansion and renovation, the largest cultural capital project in the history of the state of Ohio.

Discussing how Horvitz has been deeply involved in all of the key decisions made during what he considers one of the most critically important periods in the history of this institution, Timothy Rub, CMA’s director, declares: “Michael’s passion for the museum, his leadership skills, and his ability to persuade others to support this effort generously has been one of the principal reasons for its success.”

A longtime lover of the museum, Horvitz, of counsel at the Jones Day law firm which he joined in 1980, considered it one of Cleveland’s world-class assets. After a quiet lunch with the board president in 1991, however, his relationship with the institution permanently changed when he was appointed to the museum’s board. By 1996, he was named president, and in 2001, he was elected to the newly created position of chairman.

So deep is his commitment to the museum that he and his wife Jane have even hosted a wide range of artists and supporters of the arts in their home, including Jasper Johns, Frank Stella, and museum directors from the French Regional American Museum Exchange.

Supporting Cleveland’s great institutions has long been a passion of Horvitz, who also serves as a trustee and member of the Executive Committee of the Musical Arts Association, which operates The Cleveland Orchestra, and as a trustee of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation and the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland. He is the immediate past chairman of The University of Virginia Law School Foundation, and is a former chairman of the board of Health Hill Hospital for Children, which is now part of the Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital. He is a former trustee of Case Western Reserve University, The Montefiore Home, and Hathaway Brown School.

Trying to explain what influences made him so civic-minded would take years of therapy, Horvitz quips. Essentially, though, it stems from his belief that everyone is obligated to help the people who are less fortunate than they are whenever possible. “I’ve always felt that I should be involved and dedicate some of my time and resources to the nonprofit sector and help the world be a better place,” he says.

Throughout the years, Horvitz, who holds an L.L.M. in Taxation from New York University and a J.D. from the University of Virginia, has received prestigious recognition for his altruistic endeavors, including the Nonprofit Board Executive of the Year Pillar Award (2006), National Philanthropy Day Leadership Award from the Association of Fund Raising Professionals (2002), the Gries Family Award for Community Leadership from the Jewish Community Federation (1999), and the Edward F. Meyers Outstanding Hospital Trustee Award from the Center for Health Affairs (1989).

Being given the Bergman Prize, though, represents a particularly special honor for Horvitz. “I was very close to Bob, who was a great role model and inspiration to me,” he explains. “I know this project at the museum is something he started and was very important to him, so I’m driven to get that done as part of his legacy to Cleveland.”