A Philanthropic Pillar
EDITOR'S TRIBUTE
Bill Davidson was a
visionary on the world
stage, but treasured
his Detroit roots.
The Amazing Mr. D!
Build on the majesty of his fulfilling life.
W
illiam "Bill" Davidson, long
part of Detroit Jewry's bed-
rock, was a Zionist and a Jew
with few equals. He loved Israel and was
proud to be Jewish.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said
precisely that in remarks to his cabinet
Sunday about the glass-manufacturing wiz-
ard, sports and entertainment trailblazer
and philanthropic superstar.
I couldn't agree more.
Davidson was one of the world's richest
men. Forbes magazine's 2009 list of billion-
aires listed him as No. 318 with a net worth
of $2.1 billion. But he lived with humility,
compassion and unpretentiousness. The
respect he generated continues to echo
in the Judean hills of the ancestral Jewish
homeland.
Davidson, 86, died Friday in his
Bloomfield Hills home. He went to work at
his beloved Guardian Industries Corp. in
Auburn Hills almost until the end.
His quiet demeanor belied his fierce
commitment to philanthropy.
A former president of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek of Oakland County and the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
Al2
March 19 2009
Davidson especially embraced Israel and
the Jewish people.
In 2007, Davidson and his wife, Karen,
on behalf of Guardian Industries, donated
$75 million toward construction of a 14-
story, inpatient tower at the Hadassah
Medical Center in Ein Kerem in memory
of his mother, Sarah Wetsman Davidson, a
founder of Hadassah's Greater Detroit chap-
ter. Davidson gave the money to the State of
Israel to assure the tower would be built —
not delayed by economic swings. The Sarah
Wetsman Davidson Tower will be dedicated
in 2012. It will be the newest building of the
Hadassah Medical Organization, a tertiary
care and research hospital.
Davidson donated tens of millions of
dollars over the years to projects across
the Jewish state. Take, for example, the
Jerusalem Archaeological Park-Davidson
Center at the historic Temple Mount excava-
tion site. The center uses high-tech virtual
reconstruction to let visitors experience
Jerusalem's avenue of commerce, Herodian
Street, at the time of King Herod, before
the Roman Legion destroyed the Second
Temple in 70 C.E.
Olmert told his cabinet he had spoken to
the Davidson family on Saturday.
What they told the prime minis-
ter about Bill Davidson reveals a
lot about the measure of the man:
"They told me that, moments
before his death, he told them:
`Everything we have is dedicated
to the State of Israel. Israel is
the home, the future; this is the
opportunity and hope of all the
Jewish people.'"
How motivating is that from a
man literally on his deathbed!
Range Of Giving
Davidson's kindness was legion — fueled,
he said, by his maternal grandparents. His
gifts — alone or in partnership with his
wife and children or other major givers
— topped $200 million.
In the Jewish world, Jerusalem's
Davidson Center is just one example.
Besides Federation and Shaarey Zedek,
other beneficiaries partially include the
Jewish Theological Seminary-William
Davidson Graduate School of Jewish
Education in New York City ($15 mil-
lion seed funding), the Wexner Graduate
Fellowship Davidson
Scholar Program, the
Jewish Historical Society
of Michigan, the Davidson
Institute of Science Education
at the Weizmann Institute
of Science in Rehovot ($20
million seed funding), the
Schechter Institute for Jewish
Studies in Jerusalem and
the Technion-Israel Institute
of Technology/Faculty of
Industrial Engineering and
Management in Haifa.
In the 1990s, Davidson, fellow Detroiter
David Hermelin and Israel's Odeh
Tyrah brought jobs to Michigan Jewry's
Partnership 2000 region in Israel's Central
Galilee through their Phoenicia glass
manufacturing plant in Zippori. In 1986,
Hillel Day School of Metropolitan Detroit
dedicated the Davidson classroom wing.
Davidson teamed with the Hermelins
to create Federation's Hermelin-Davidson
Center for Congregational Excellence
because he knew most of our kids didn't
attend Jewish day schools. He knew
our synagogues needed better teaching