Michael (Glickman) and I grew up together and attended Herricks public schools. We met in middle school, became friends in high school, lost touch in college, and reconnected when I was a senior at Columbia and he had just graduated from LIU. While spending a semester in Europe, Michael set out to finish college in three years, which he did. He then went to work for his alma mater, at the suggestion of the president of the university. While there, he took classes at night and completed his first master’s degree a year later. He was passionate then, as he is now, about being able to contribute his talents to improve some aspect of society.
In 2001, I was early in my career as an investment banker and Michael was preparing for what he thought would be a career in law, then came Sept. 11th. On that day, we stepped out of the subway together, just as we had many times before. I went to my office on Wall Street and Michael went to his office on Rector Street. Moments later, from different places in Lower Manhattan, we witnessed the world change.
As my office evacuated, Michael ended up in Battery Park. Separated and unable to connect with one another, Michael made his way to Wall Street in an attempt to find me. Days later my office relocated uptown, while Michael’s simply shut down. By the time he returned to work in December, he was clear that he needed a different path. He moved away from the idea of law school and entered the nonprofit world, again committed to making some aspect of society better.
By early 2002, Michael arrived at the Center for History determined to understand a world he knew little about. Three years later, at the age of 27, the chairman of that organization placed Michael in the top leadership position. He was tasked with leading one of the most important research institutions in the world. During those years, Michael became a student once again. By day, he set out to learn the history of the Jewish people. On the weekends and at night, he became a student of management practice and finance through a master’s program at Columbia University.
Though Michael is quite vocal when speaking about how to improve aspects of the community, he is incredibly humble when discussing his professional accomplishments, and there are many. He returned to his alma mater as an advisor to the president, and before he turned 40, he was appointed president and CEO of the third largest Holocaust museum in the world. He has navigated a career of high expectations, raised hundreds of millions of dollars to support those causes, and delivered beautifully.
I have stood in awe as he interacted with heads of state, politicians at every level, titans of industry and the public at large. He has worked to support Holocaust survivors, create opportunities for young scholars and graduate students, and fiercely protected and supported hundreds of employees (many of whom still call upon him for guidance and advice).
Michael and I married in 2004, moved to Great Neck in 2005, and welcomed our twins in 2006. The end of my pregnancy was unexpectedly difficult and my delivery was challenging in ways few could ever understand. Our babies arrived in December and the complications I suffered forced me to spend nearly a month in and out of the hospital following their delivery. Michael brought our twins home (without their mother), traveled back and forth to the city each and every day to see me, and learned to ask others for help, while also navigating the anxiety that every new parent faces in the best of situations.
Throughout this ordeal, he stayed focused on our children’s well-being and attentive to my care. It was an emotional rollercoaster that Michael and I could never have imagined. When our third child arrived in 2010, Michael was just as attentive and continues to be a very active father. I share this to provide a window into the man I married. He is laser-focused, smart, thoughtful, curious, compassionate, and patently hardworking. He is loyal to a T, and as the readers of this publication know, he is opinionated. He is also not without flaws, that I assure you. However, he is clear-eyed about his imperfections and he always strives to do better.
I hope you will vote for Michael on May 11 for the Great Neck Board of Education. As you consider his candidacy, I want you to know this: Michael cares deeply about this community and its ability to deliver the best education possible to our children, now and in the future. It is for that reason only that he is running for a seat on the school board.
Sumi Gupta Glickman
Great Neck
