About Austin Albanese

Historian · Strategist · Storyteller

I am a historian and writer focused on overlooked stories, especially those rooted in Jewish life, civic memory, and small-town American experience. Much of my work asks what remains after institutions fade: what a synagogue dedication, a burial society ledger, a family photograph, or a local newspaper clipping can still teach us about belonging, generosity, and public life.

I currently serve as Assistant Director of Advancement for Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, where I help translate scientific progress and patient generosity into stories that honor both memory and possibility. My writing has appeared in publications including The Washington Post, The Jerusalem Post, The Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and The Times of Israel, where I maintain an active blog exploring Jewish memory, spiritual inheritances, and values. My work has also been syndicated by MSN, Yahoo, and Advance Local, and covered by public and regional media including WOSU, The Forward, and The Columbus Dispatch.

Across both historical writing and philanthropic work, I am drawn to the human details that endure: why people built institutions, what they hoped would last, and how communities remember one another when formal structures disappear. My essays often connect archival research to contemporary questions of faith, civic identity, and moral responsibility. That work has supported museum exhibits, Holocaust education, interfaith dialogue, and conversations about communal legacy.

My academic path began in small-town Ohio, where the near absence of visible Jewish life sparked a lasting interest in hidden histories and nearly vanished communities. I earned a Master of Public Administration from Cornell University, with a focus on public and nonprofit management. Earlier in my career, I helped secure state grants for safety at religious sites and led work supporting Jewish, LGBTQ+, and interfaith initiatives.

I have now documented stories from more than 30 Jewish communities across the United States, many of them nearly forgotten. I see that work not simply as preservation, but as a form of hospitality: an open tent of memory where others may find themselves reflected.


Degrees & Affiliations



“I believe the stories we preserve shape the moral imagination of tomorrow.”

Thank you for visiting. I hope these stories offer something worth remembering.