Solarz, Stephen J. (Stephen Joshua), 1940-2010

Stephen Joshua Solarz (September 12, 1940 – November 29, 2010) was an American academic and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the U.S. Representative from New York's 13th congressional district from 1975 to 1993.

Born in Manhattan, he attended public schools in New York City before earning a B.A. degree from Brandeis University and an M.A. from Columbia University. Solarz taught political science at Brooklyn College during the 1967–1968 academic year. In 1966, Solarz was the campaign manager for an anti-war campaign, for a U.S. House seat. He used that experience to make a successful run for the State Assembly two years later. He was a member of the New York State Assembly from 1969 to 1974, sitting in the 178th, 179th and 180th New York State Legislatures. In 1973, he challenged Sebastian Leone for Brooklyn borough president, losing both the Democratic primary and the general election as the candidate for the Liberal Party of New York.

In September 1974, Solarz defeated incumbent Democrat Bertram L. Podell in the Democratic primary for the New York 13th District. At the time, Podell was under federal indictment; he was later convicted. In November 1974, Solarz was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, to the 94th Congress, beginning January 3, 1975. He was re-elected eight more times, serving until January 3, 1993. In the 1980s, he chaired the Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, an area of growing interest to the American people in that decade. Solarz had strong ties to India and was held in high esteem by Indian leaders across the political spectrum. His motivations were partly driven by the presence of prosperous Indian Americans in his district. He visited India dozens of times, during and after his term in Congress, and once received a standing ovation on the floor of the Indian Parliament. Following the 1990 Census, his district was divided; rather than challenging Democratic incumbent Ted Weiss or Republican incumbent S. William Green, he sought election to the open seat in the heavily Hispanic 12th Congressional District, coming second behind Nydia Velázquez.

In 1993, Solarz was appointed as chairman of the U.S. government-funded Central Asian-American Enterprise Fund by President Bill Clinton to bring private sector development to central Asia. He remained in this role until 1998. From 1994 until his death, Solarz remained active with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He was also a member of the Intellibridge Expert Network and of the executive committee of the International Crisis Group. Along with Zbigniew Brzezinski, Solarz served as co-chairman of the American Committee for Peace in the Caucasus. Solarz served on the Board of Directors of the National Endowment for Democracy from 1992 to 2001. He was also a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Hollings Center for International Dialogue, helping to establish the organization's presence in Turkey, and served until his death in Washington, D.C.