Cheryl L. Adelstein has been appointed director of community relations and local government affairs, announced Pamela S. Lokken, vice chancellor for government and community relations.
Adelstein takes over for Leah Merrifield, who in June was appointed special assistant to the chancellor for diversity initiatives and has served in both capacities since.
“Cheryl is the right person at the right time to become the University’s new director of community relations and local government affairs,” Lokken said. “She will build on the great work done by Leah Merrifield and take our community relations program to another level of excellence.”
A St. Louis native, Adelstein has 17 years of experience in government and not-for-profit management. Most recently, she served as executive director of the Central Reform Congregation, one of the fastest-growing Jewish congregations in the country, in the Central West End.
Her background includes stints as the village administrator for Swansea, Ill., where she managed administration and citizen relations of the rapidly growing southwestern Illinois community; and as the director of government services with RJK Inc., where she ensured compliance with federal and state regulations in the expenditure of $30 million in grants to purchase 700 flood-damaged properties and relocate 200 families in one year.
She has also been the manager of local government services for the East-West Gateway Council of Governments and was assistant to the city administrator in St. Charles, Mo.
“I consider myself to be a generalist with a strong understanding of local government and how it functions,” Adelstein said. “I enjoy working in collaboration with citizens, volunteers and community groups to accomplish goals.”
“Working for Washington University was attractive to me because the University has a major impact on the quality of life in the St. Louis region. This position enables me to use my background in local governments and community outreach to further the mission of the University.”
Adelstein earned a bachelor of arts in international studies, magna cum laude, from American University in 1985, and a master of government administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s Fels Institute of Government in 1987.
She and her husband, Daniel Davison, live with their daughters Hannah, 10, and Mara, 7, in the Benton Park neighborhood of South St. Louis.