Executive Leadership

Eric Cohen
President & Chief Executive Officer

Eric Cohen has been Tikvah’s chief executive since 2007.  He was the founder and remains editor-at-large of the New Atlantis, and he serves as the publisher of Mosaic. Mr. Cohen has published in numerous academic and popular journals, magazines, and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, Weekly Standard, Commentary, The New Republic, First Things, and numerous others. He is the author of In the Shadow of Progress: Being Human in the Age of Technology (2008) and co-editor of The Future is Now: America Confronts the New Genetics (2002). He was previously managing editor of the Public Interest and served as a senior consultant to the President’s Council on Bioethics. Mr. Cohen currently serves on the board of directors of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, the Witherspoon Institute, and National Affairs and on the Editorial Advisory Board of First Things.

Rabbi Hershel Lutch
Senior Vice President & Chief Financial and Administrative Officer

Rabbi Hershel Lutch is Senior Vice President & the Chief Financial and Administrative Officer of Tikvah. He oversees finance, administration, operations, and business process improvement, and supports strategic planning, development, and program management. Previously, he was Chief Operating Officer of Aish HaTorah, helping grow the organization into a $65 million enterprise reaching more than 700,000 participants annually.

Rabbi Lutch serves on the executive committee of the Rabbinical Council of America and is part of the rabbinic circle of the Coalition for Jewish Values. His writing and commentary appear in Jewish and general publications. He has also served as a guest chaplain in the U.S. House of Representatives, testified before legislative committees, and led congressional missions to Israel. He holds an MBA and MS in Nonprofit Management from the University of Maryland and rabbinic ordination from Rabbis Moshe Lazerus and Zalman Nechemia Goldberg.

Dr. Jonathan Silver
Senior Vice President & Chief Programming Officer

Dr. Jonathan Silver is senior vice president and the chief programming officer of Tikvah, the editor of Mosaic, and the Warren R. Stern Senior Fellow of Jewish Civilization. As the host of the Tikvah Podcast, he has hosted hundreds of writers, rabbis, educators, military officers, artists, and political figures, including members of Israel’s Knesset, the U.S. Senate, and the prime minister of Israel.

Malka Groden
Chief Development Officer

Malka Groden is the chief development officer at Tikvah. Prior to Tikvah she served in senior development roles at the Philanthropy Roundtable and the Manhattan Institute. She earned her BA from Yeshiva University where she studied philosophy and Jewish studies and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Government at Hillsdale College’s Van Andel Graduate School of Government.

Malka has been a passionate advocate for domestic adoption and children in the foster care system. She and her husband are the parents of three children.

Rabbi Mark Gottlieb
Senior Executive Advisor

Rabbi Mark Gottlieb is a senior advisor and the founding dean of the Tikvah Scholars Program. Prior to joining Tikvah, Rabbi Gottlieb served as head of school at Yeshiva University High School for Boys and principal of the Maimonides School in Brookline, MA, and has taught at The Frisch School, Ida Crown Jewish Academy, Hebrew Theological College, Loyola University in Chicago, and the University of Chicago. He received his BA from Yeshiva College, rabbinical ordination from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary, and an MA in Philosophy from the University of Chicago, where his doctoral studies focused on the moral and political thought of Alasdair MacIntyre. Rabbi Gottlieb’s work has been featured twice in the Wall Street Journal and his writing has appeared in First Things, Public Discourse, Tradition, SEVEN: An Anglo-American Literary Review, The University Bookman, the Algemeiner, From Within the Tent: Essays on the Weekly Parsha from Rabbis and Professors of Yeshiva University, and, most recently, Strauss, Spinoza & Sinai: Orthodox Judaism and Modern Questions of Faith. He is a trustee of the Hildebrand Project and Hadar Academy in Austin, TX, and serves on the Editorial Committee of Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought. Since 2025, he has served as Head of School at the Dr. Miriam & Sheldon G. Adelson School in Las Vegas, NV. He now divides his time between Las Vegas and Teaneck, NJ.

Michael Appel
Vice President of Student Programs

Michael Appel brings over 30 years of strategic leadership and organizational building experience to his role as Vice President of Student Programs at Tikvah. A proven entrepreneur, Michael founded and scaled an enterprise software company from concept through a successful exit. Throughout his career, he has demonstrated expertise in cross-functional team leadership, stakeholder cultivation, and bridging US and Israeli businesses. Michael holds an MBA from The Wharton School and a BA in Computer Science from Yeshiva University, where he is currently pursuing an MA in Jewish Studies. He teaches adult education classes, combining his professional expertise in organizational development with his deep commitment to Jewish thought and education.