When Chicago's Jewish community gathers on Sept. 14 for the Jewish Federation's Annual Meeting, Andrew S. Hochberg, an ambitious and dedicated leader in the community, will be awarded Federation's highest honor, the Julius Rosenwald Memorial Award.
The award, presented each year at the Federation's Annual Meeting, goes to an individual who has demonstrated a lifetime of outstanding dedication and service to the Federation and the entire Jewish community. It is named for Julius Rosenwald, the iconic Chicago business leader and philanthropist of the early 1900s.
Describing himself as a "lifer" in terms of involvement in the Jewish community, Hochberg most recently served as Board Chair of the Jewish United Fund/Jewish Federation in 2018-2020. He shepherded the community through major events including the shooting at Pittsburgh's Tree of Life Synagogue, changing of leadership at JUF, and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Prior to this, he served as Chair of JUF's Overall Planning and Allocations Committee. In 2008, he was the JUF General Campaign Chair, where he successfully led a record-breaking annual campaign of $83.6 million. Hochberg followed in his parents' footsteps - his father Larry chaired the campaign in 1981, and his mother Barbara
z"l
chaired it in 1990, and later became the first female board chair.
He has served in many other leadership roles at JUF, including being involved in the creation of the Jewish Day School Guaranty Trust Fund. He also served, by presidential appointment, on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council.
Hochberg earned his undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business and his Juris Doctor from Northwestern University. He rose through the ranks to become CEO at Sportmart, a family-owned big-box retail sporting goods chain. Hochberg negotiated Sportmart's merger with Gart Sports in 1998, creating the second largest sporting goods retailer in the United States.
Hochberg then formed commercial real estate investment firm Next Realty, L.L.C. in 1998, which invests in commercial real estate assets, currently holding a portfolio comprised of 37 properties in eight states and the District of Columbia. He is also the co-founder of Hilco Real Estate Services and has served as a director of CASCO (Chicago Association of Shopping Center Owners), Prism Mortgage Company, LR Development, Gart Sports, and Art.com.
He lives in Highland Park, Illinois with his wife, prominent Lake County pediatrician Dr. Laurie Hochberg. They have four children who carry on the family tradition of Jewish leadership.
