President of the National Baseball Hall of Fame
Jeff Idelson became the sixth President of the Hall of Fame in 2008. (Milo Stewart Jr.)
Idelson joined the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on Sept. 26, 1994, as director of public relations and promotions. In June 1999, he was named vice president of communications and education, overseeing the Hall of Fame elections and awards, internal and external communications, community relations, media relations, publications, public programs, promotions, advertising, artifact acquisition, visitor services, photography and the Museum's Web site. He also oversaw the museum's college internship program and education department, including on-site programs and point-to-point video conferences taught by area educators.
In addition to his work at the Hall of Fame, Idelson serves as a trustee on the Board of Directors of the Otsego County (N.Y.) Tourism Advisory Board and the Harlem (N.Y.) branch of Reviving Baseball in the Inner City (RBI), and also lends his public relations expertise to several community endeavors, including the Otsego County chapter of the international program Girls On The Run.
Before joining the Baseball Hall of Fame, Idelson was assistant vice president and senior press officer for World Cup USA 1994, the organizing committee charged with staging the 1994 soccer World Cup in the United States. He served as director of media relations and publicity for the New York Yankees from 1989-1993, after being hired as the club's assistant director of media relations. With the Yankees, Idelson traveled on every road trip, overseeing all aspects of media relations. He interfaced among the players, front office and ownership with the media, acting as team spokesman.
A West Newton, Mass., native and a 1986 graduate of Connecticut College in New London, Conn., (Bachelor of Arts in International Economics), Idelson began his professional career as an intern in the public relations department of the Boston Red Sox in 1986, continuing work in the team's public relations department in 1987-88. He also produced home games for the Red Sox Radio Network (110 stations) in 1987 and 1988, serving as the flagship station's liaison to the Red Sox's primary charity, the Jimmy Fund.
He and his wife, Erika, live in Cooperstown with their two children, Aaron, 12, and Nicole, 8.
