Dr. GAVIN and KAREN SETZEN

HENRY (“HANK”) GREENBERG

ELLEN and LARRY KOTLOW

ALBANY–The Sidney Albert Albany Jewish Community Center (AJCC) has announced the selection of its 2025 Pillars of the Community Award recipients. Henry (“Hank”) M. Greenberg, Dr. Larry and Ellen Kotlow, and Dr. Gavin and Karen Setzen were selected as this year’s Pillars honorees by Center leadership and past Pillars recipients. An in-person event at the Albany JCC, 340 Whitehall Rd., where they will be honored is scheduled for Thursday, May 15, at 5:30 p.m. New to the 25th Pillars event, this year, will be the Inaugural Corporate Pillar Award, which will be awarded to the Neil Jane William Estelle Golub Family Foundation Inc. The evening event will feature tasting stations and dessert followed by the program.

Dr. Gavin and Karen Setzen are to be honored for their many professional and community contributions. Natives of Johannesburg, South Africa, the Setzens immigrated to the United States in 1989 and settled in the Albany area in 1992. Since then, they have become engaged in their community while raising their two sons, Lee and Sean.

Karen has been an active leader in the local Jewish community, dedicating her time to fund-raising efforts, committees, often working in leadership roles. She has contributed to organizations such as Temple Israel of Albany, Jewish Family Services of Northeastern N.Y., and the Hebrew Academy of the Capital District (HACD).

Gavin has served on the boards of the Daughters of Sarah Nursing Center, the Jewish Federation of Northeastern New York, and the Israel Bonds Executive Committee. He also served as president of both Daughters of Sarah Nursing Center and Temple Israel and was a long-time volunteer at the annual health fair held at the Center. He earned his medical degree in South Africa and completed his surgical training in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at Albany Medical Center. He is a Diplomate of the American Board of Otolaryngology and a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy. As president and CEO of Albany ENT & Allergy Services, he has helped  provide ENT and allergy care to the region.

Henry (“Hank”) Greenberg is an experienced trial and appellate lawyer and past president of the New York State Bar Association. A former counsel to the New York State attorney general, general counsel to a major New York State agency and federal prosecutor, Greenberg has handled high-profile cases over his three-decade career.

Greenberg has long supported and defended the Jewish community and Israel. He is a past president of Temple Israel in Albany and has held various positions with the Jewish Federation for Northeastern New York including as its spokesperson, a member of the board of directors; chairman of the Israel and world affairs committee; co-chairman of the Brandeis Baruch Society; and a member of the community relations council. On behalf of the Federation, he travelled to war zones in Israel in October 2023 and the Polish-Ukraine border in April 2022. He has spoken at community rallies during times of crisis and travail in Israel.

Ellen and Larry Kotlow, native Albanians, met at the Albany Jewish Community Center’s Day Camp as CITS in the summer of 1963. They began dating in 1964 and spent summers as junior camp counselors at the AJCC from 1964-1969. In June of 1970 they were married, lived in Buffalo for two years followed by two years in Cincinnati. They returned to Albany in 1974.

Ellen Kotlow has been active at the AJCC, teaching Rompers and preschool. She also taught at the HACD (Hebrew Academy of the Capital District) as a substitute teacher. Ellen also taught at the Albany Academies when her children were students at the Girls and Boys Academies. Ellen served on the Board of Directors for the Daughters of Sarah Jewish Foundation from 1996-2004.

Ellen and Barbara Orris compiled and produced the Witness to History Project, a program of interviewing and recording Holocaust survivor stories. She was recognized for her efforts by Holocaust Survivors and Friends in Pursuit of Justice.

Larry Kotlow began his dental practice, specializing in pediatric dentistry in December 1974, where he continues to practice. The 1965 AJCC Applebaum award winner, has served on the board of the AJCC. He is a former vice president for the HACD.

MIRA GINSBURG

Ellen and Larry are members of Congregation Beth Emeth and live in Guilderland.

Susan Shpeen Staff Award

In addition to the Pillars of the Community awardees, the event will also honor two teen award recipients, Ya’ir Sasson who receives the Applebaum Award and Mira Ginsburg, who will be presented with this year’s Bellin Award.

YA’IR SASSON

Chris Cohn will receive the Susan Shpeen Staff Award, named for a late executive director of the AJCC.

According to organizers, selection criteria to become a Pillar of the Community honoree, as well as for the other awards, include acting as moral pillars and dispensers of wisdom and advice (Torah), providing continued service and/or leadership (Avodah), and acting generously in the spirit of Tzedakah (Gmilut Hasidim).

Tickets are $150 +. Information may be obtained by contacting the Centers Director of Development, Joslyn McArdle at [email protected]. Information may also be obtained at www.albanyjcc.org or 518-438-6651.

The Albany Jewish Community Center (AJCC) Capital Region offers programs and services that promote community engagement, wellness, and Jewish culture.