Alexander Goldberg

Alexander Goldberg
Jewish Chaplain of the University of Surrey
Organisation	University of Surrey
Personal details
Born	1974 (age 49–50) Guildford, England
Denomination	Modern Orthodox Judaism

Alexander Goldberg, who was born in Guildford in 1974, is the Jewish Chaplain to the University of Surrey, barrister and human rights activist.

Biography

Goldberg has spoken at the United Nations on religious and racial discrimination, as well as calling for the UN to take action on the situation in the Darfur region of Sudan.

Goldberg was appointed Chief Executive of the London Jewish Forum in July 2008, having been the Community Issues Director at the Board of Deputies of British Jews. In June 2007, Goldberg was involved in trying to find a solution to a crisis in the orthodox Jewish community over marriage visas. The Home Office proposed to introduce measures that would raise the age limit for international marriage visas from 18 to 21, which would impact on the strictly orthodox community. He was part of a delegation that met with the immigration minister in March 2008 to express their concerns over the proposal.

Goldberg has raised several million pounds for good causes and has been part of a team seeking to build a £5million multifaith centre at the University of Surrey. The building is envisaged to be the first building in Britain to have a synagogue, mosque and chapel built separately under one roof and is designed to have facilities for six major faiths. The centre obtained planning permission in November 2007 and is seeking funding for its construction. The team presented their work to the queen in November 2011 where she claimed that the University ‘is leading the way’.

Goldberg is chair of the Faiths Forum for London and was part of the team that organised the Mayor of London's Faith Conference in 2011. At the Board of Deputies he spoke out against a proposed Bill that would have seen the state imposition of mandatory quotas on voluntary aided faith schools and in support of the interfaith coalition opposing it.

Goldberg was appointed Jewish Chaplain to the London 2012 Olympics, He chairs the Football Association's Faith in Football group and attended an anti-discrimination in football summit hosted by the prime minister at Downing Street in February 2012. He has served on two Department for Education Ministerial Steering Committees

Goldberg contributes to the Guardian newspaper. He is a panelist on BBC One's The Big Questions. He co-hosts the Sunday Morning Breakfast Show on BBC Surrey and BBC Sussex.

His family comes from Ireland and he has written and spoken on his Irish Jewish identity.,

External links

• Alex Goldberg's website