Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS has lost one of its foremost trailblazers. Paul Libin, our beloved president for more than 24 years until his retirement in 2018, passed away on June 28, 2025. He was 94.

“Without Paul’s extraordinary support, unique professional insight, sincere – often blunt – counsel and genuine friendship, Broadway Cares as you know it now would not exist,” Executive Director Danny Whitman said. “The lives of millions in communities across the country, including Paul’s beloved Broadway theater community, have been lifted up and their well-being assured because when we asked for his help, Paul enthusiastically said, ‘Yes.’”

Libin retired from Broadway Cares’ Board of Trustees in February 2018. The board asked Libin to become the organization’s first president emeritus; he agreed.

Upon his retirement, Libin said: “When I came on board with Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the toll of this horrific disease was visibly present and taking a terrible human toll every day in our community. We couldn’t not do something. And while there’s been great advancement in treatment since, the need for help is as strong today as it was then. In response, Broadway Cares’ mission has expanded and embraced all members of our theatrical family and people in crisis and need across the country. To witness that growth and be involved with this organization for 24 years has been one of the greatest privileges and honors of my career.”

“Paul was there with us from the very beginning,” recently retired Broadway Cares Executive Director Tom Viola said. “He offered his wisdom, his heart and his unshakable belief in the lifesaving importance of our work. He wasn’t just a leader I admired; he was a friend I trusted, leaned on and learned from. His strength, generosity of spirit and deep decency made an indelible mark on me and everyone at Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. What this organization has become, what it represents and the people it helps would not have been possible without Paul. I will forever be grateful for his guidance, his grace and his friendship.”

The Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Board of Trustees honored Libin with a special grant to the Entertainment Community Fund to create the Paul Libin Center. The center is the New York City home for Looking Ahead, a program that helps professional young performers and their families who surround them feel supported, build community and make a healthy, successful transition to adulthood.

Libin retired after a 61-year career in theatre. He worked in nearly every capacity from actor and stage manager to lighting designer and technical director before making his mark as a company manager, general manager, managing director and producer. He produced his first play in New York in 1958 and has since had a hand in more than 250 productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway and on tour. He was the producing director of Circle in the Square Theatre for 30 years and, from 1990 until his retirement, was executive vice president of Jujamcyn Theaters. Libin, who also served as chairman of the board of The Broadway League, is the recipient of 10 Tony Awards, including a Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre.

We will miss him dearly.

Photo by Benjamin Norman for The New York Times