WEST ORANGE, NJ — Robert Ivker, a cancer specialist and past governor’s appointee to the New Jersey State Commission on Cancer Research, has announced his candidacy for the West Orange Board of Education. His son is a student in the West Orange school system.
Ivker has served as chairperson of the Department of Radiation Oncology at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center, where his responsibilities included treating all of the children with cancer who were patients at the Children’s Hospital of New Jersey. He has also served as president of the Oncology Societies of New Jersey and of Essex County.
Ivker has received multiple awards and recognition for his outreach to the community on issues such as cancer screening and improving access to state-of-the-art cancer treatments for underserved communities.
In honor of the birth of their first child, Ivker and his wife established a fund at the Jewish Community House of Bensonhurst to help Holocaust survivors who are living in poverty in Brooklyn. That charity is still going strong.
“We came to West Orange because of the schools and the warmth of the community,” Ivker said in a press release. “My goals are to offer whatever skills I have to make sure that every child has their best chance at success and a happy life, regardless of the school they attend.”
If elected, Robert said he plans to visit every school on a regular basis and to meet with as many parents as possible.
“I want to be their voice on the board,” he said.
The election for West Orange school board will take place Tuesday, Nov. 8.