Ira Silverman (January 20, 1945 – June 23, 1991) was a prominent Jewish communal leader and predecessor to David Harris as head of the American Jewish Committee. Born in Rockville Centre, Long Island, New York, to parents Irving and Ruth Silverman, he graduated from South Side High School and earned a B.A. cum laude from Harvard College in 1966 and an M.A. from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School in 1968. His career included roles in academia and government relations, such as director of admissions and assistant dean at Princeton (1968–1971) and director of Federal Government Relations for the Association of American Universities (1971–1977). He worked as Washington correspondent for The Jerusalem Post and Yedioth Aharonoth, served as first director of the Institute for Jewish Policy Planning and Research at the Synagogue Council of America (1977), and was national program director at the American Jewish Committee (1977–1981). Silverman later became president of the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College (1981–1986), the first non-rabbi to lead the institution, executive director of the 92nd Street Y (1986–1988), executive vice president of the American Jewish Committee (1988–1990), and director of its Institute on Human Relations until his death. He was a vocal advocate for Jewish civil and religious rights domestically and abroad, emphasizing social justice rooted in Jewish values. Silverman married Jane Aresty, a management consultant; they had three children: son Jacob, and daughters Rachel and Sarah. He resided in Princeton, New Jersey, and had siblings Elizabeth Hart and Hy Silverman (died 1988). He died at age 46 in Roosevelt Hospital, New York City, from complications of a parasitic infection contracted during a 1989 trip to China, including ulcers and internal bleeding (one report cited heart attack), and was buried at New Montefiore Cemetery in West Babylon, New York.