Ira M. Schwartz has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia since July 1, 2006. Prior to that he served as Provost of Temple University, where he was also a Professor of Social Work.

As the chief academic officer of Temple University, Ira Schwartz was responsible for all of the University's academic and research programs that included overseeing all of Temple University's 17 schools and colleges, satellite campuses and programs in Center City Philadelphia, Harrisburg Pennsylvania, Rome, Tokyo, Paris, Beijing, Seoul and Tel Aviv, and the university's library system. Prior to becoming Temple University's Provost,

Mr. Schwartz was the Dean of the School of Social Work at the University of Pennsylvania.  He has also held academic appointments at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

Ira Schwartz is nationally and internationally recognized for his work in youth policy, juvenile justice, child welfare and children's mental health and has authored and co-authored six books and numerous articles, book chapters and other publications on juvenile justice, child welfare and children’s mental health.

Mr. Schwartz serves on the boards of many local, national and international academic, public interest and social welfare organizations. He is a member of the Board of Governors of Haifa University in Haifa, Israel and is Chairman of the Board's Academic Affairs Committee. He is also the Chairman of the Board of the American Youth Work Center in Washington, DC and is a member of the Public Policy committee of the American Society of Criminology.

Ira Schwartz has directed juvenile and criminal justice organizations in Illinois and in Washington State. He also served as the Administrator of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the U.S. Department of Justice in the Carter Administration. 

He was elected Associate Member of the Board on October 2012.