The Chernin Award is given to “American Jewish leaders whose lifework best exemplifies the social justice imperatives of Judaism, Jewish history, and the protection of The Bill of Rights, particularly the First Amendment” (JCPA). In previous years, the award has been given to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Senators Ron Wyden, Carl Levin and Frank Lautenberg, as well as Abe Foxman, Rabbi David Saperstein and Professors Alan Dershowitz and Laurence Tribe.

“For over fifty years, David Luchins has been a champion and steadfast defender of Torah-imbued social justice for all peoples, ever since his high school service as the National Conference of Synagogue Youth’s National Social Actions Chair,” said Ethan Felson, JCPA Senior Vice President and Acting CEO.  “Through his work in the JCPA, OU, NCSY and other Jewish and civic organizations, Dr. Luchins is an embodiment to the values of tikkun olam—repairing the world. Anyone who has attended JCPA programs for the past forty years knows of his depth of knowledge and uncanny ability to help shape consensus on the most challenging issues.”

“David Luchins’ prodigious career as a public servant and as a communal leader is a testament to his commitment to the ideals of this award,” added Susan W. Turnbull, JCPA Chair.

Dr. Luchins, who studied under Rabbi Aharon Soloveichik and Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, became involved in social activism at an early age through the National Conference of Synagogue Youth (NCSY), the Orthodox Union's international teen movement. For twenty years, he served as special assistant and senior advisor to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who was first elected to the Senate in 1976 and was re-elected thrice thereafter.

After receiving his Ph.D. from the CUNY Graduate Center, Luchins became chair of the political science department at Touro College in 1978, and served as assistant dean and associate dean for the Women’s Division before receiving the title of founding dean of Lander College for Women in 1991.

Currently, he serves as founding dean and chair of the political science department at LCW, where he has mentored students for over 40 years. Many of his students, some of whom have addressed the JCPA Plenum’s Chairs Dinner over the past decade, have followed in his footsteps of politics and social justice—such as Cindy Darrison, who served as campaign finance director for Senator Moynihan‎ and Governor Spitzer and is now executive director of the Kleinman Family Holocaust Educational Center; and Karen Paikin Barall, who served on Governor Pataki's staff and in the State Department and now is Middle Atlantic Director of OUA (the Advocacy arm of the Orthodox Union).

Outside of LCW, Dr. Luchins serves as National Vice President of the Orthodox Union, a position he has held since 1976. In the past, he’s also served on national commissions of the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Fund for Justice. He and his wife Vivian Osdoby, whom he met while both were teenagers in NCSY, are co-chairs of NCSY’s Ben Zakkai dinner, which raises funds for the prestigious honor society. In the summers, he is a guest instructor at Aish HaTorah in Jerusalem and is a frequent speaker at high schools, college campuses, synagogues, and communal groups throughout North America.

“Dr. Luchins is a professor who teaches by example,” said Dean Marian Stoltz-Loike. “He has had a transformational impact on generations of our students at Lander College for Women, and we wholeheartedly congratulate him on receiving this prestigious, and much deserved, recognition.”