New York (CNN) -- Jon Stewart, host of "The Daily Show," was appointed to the board of directors of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum's board of directors.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the chairman of the board, introduced Stewart to the board during its quarterly meeting this week, according to a news release from the memorial and museum.

Memorial President Joe Daniels explained why Stewart was an obvious choice. "Jon Stewart is an incredibly important figure in today's news media, but he's also a New Yorker who felt -- as we all did -- the world changed in a matter of minutes on September 11.

"Since then, he has taken a definitive stance on so many issues that relate directly to our organization's mission of commemoration and education."

Stewart garnered national attention after dedicating an entire broadcast of "The Daily Show" on Comedy Central to pushing for federal money to be used for health care of first responders at ground zero. President Obama signed the 9/11 health bill into law earlier this month.

"Jon loves New York as much as I do," Bloomberg said in news release. "He understands how important the memorial and museum are, both to the city and the whole country."

"I'm very humbled," Stewart told the New York Times.

"Luckily for me, it appears as if they've done 95 percent of the hard labor on this. So I'm hoping to help in any way I can offer." And he added, the Times said,, "I'm like their intern at this point."

Victims' family members, 9/11 survivors, business pioneers and leading philanthropists are also members of the now 48-member board. Other members who have careers in the entertainment industry include Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal.

The memorial and museum will be located on eight of the 16 acres of the former World Trade Center site in lower Manhattan. The memorial is scheduled to open to the public on September 12 of this year and the museum on September 11, 2012.