A Philanthropic Pillar
LIFE & TIMES
Down-To-Earth from page A16
Bill and Karen Davidson with three pro sports championship
trophies in 2004
The Guardians
In 1976, Bill Davidson and Shaarey
Zedek Rabbi Groner organized
and successfully solicited 24
benefactors to pay the balance of
the mortgage on the Southfield
synagogue. Fellow congregant
and mortgage-retirement patron
Walter L. Field dubbed the group
the Shaarey Zedek Shomrim
(Guardians). Like his grandfather
Joseph Wetsman, who served from
1920 to 1922, Davidson served as
president of Shaarey Zedek. He
served for two terms, 1977-79.
During Davidson's first term,
63 Shaarey Zedek members were
organized as the Chaverim to
pay off the synagogue's short-
term bank debt and to estab-
lish an endowment fund. Under
Davidson's leadership, the project
was successfully completed. In
1981, Davidson served as the first
chairman of the newly established
Endowment Board.
- Biographer Phillip Applebaum,
Oak Park
A18
March 19 2009
construction of a 14-story inpatient tower
at Hadassah Hospital in the Ein Kerem
area of Jerusalem. It's named the Sarah
Wetsman Davidson Tower in honor of his
mother, who was a founding member of
the Detroit chapter of Hadassah.
In 1994, he gave $15 million to the Jewish
Theological Seminary in New York to create
the William Davidson Graduate School of
Jewish Education. It was the largest dona-
tion ever made to a single institution of
Jewish education in the country. He firmly
believed in bolstering Judaism in America
through education. Locally, the Hermelin-
Davidson Center for Congregational
Excellence, administered through
Federation's Alliance for Jewish Education,
is another testament to that belief.
Other Jewish charities benefiting from
his generosity include Congregation
Shaarey Zedek of Oakland County, the
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit,
the Columbus-based Wexner Foundation,
the Jewish Historical Society of Michigan,
the Weizmann Institute of Science in
Rehovot, Israel, and, in Jerusalem, the
Jerusalem Archaeological Park and
Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies.
The Davidsons gave generously to the
Israel Antiquities Authority, directing
their funds to archaeological work being
done in and around Jerusalem's Old City.
Bill Davidson, David Hermelin and Robert Sosnick
at the Palace of Auburn Hills
In fact, the excavations along the south-
ern wall of the Temple Mount are called
"the Davidson excavations:" At Guardian
headquarters in Auburn Hills, a display
of ancient glass is on loan from the Israel
Antiquities Authority.
"He was amazing:' said Judy Cantor
of Bloomfield Hills, past president of the
Jewish Historical Society of Michigan.
"Several years ago, I asked him for what I
thought would be a small donation to help
launch our annual publication. Instead,
he gave us $100,000 to set up an endow-
ment to keep it going, asking only that we
dedicate the book to the memory of his
parents and grandparents. He said he did
this because he recognized the importance
of Jewish history"
In 1992, Guardian made a $30 million
commitment over 20 years to establish
the William Davidson Institute at the
University of Michigan's business school.
In 2003, he paid the balance, but continued
donating millions, according to Robert
Kennedy, the institute's executive director.
"Bill Davidson was a business visionary,
a great philanthropist and a dedicated fam-
ily man:' Kennedy said. "He was incred-
ibly generous to U-M, and one of the nice
things was that it was never about him. Bill
always encouraged us to aim high and to
accomplish great things. The thing he said
most often was, `How can I help?'"
U-M President Mary Sue Coleman added,
"Bill Davidson's impact on U-M will last for
generations. We will honor his legacy as a
dedicated and successful alumnus."
Davidson also made donations to the
Detroit-based Karmanos Cancer Institute,
Children's Research Center of Michigan,
Detroit Symphony Orchestra and Detroit
Parks and Recreation Department.
The Davidsons have also sponsored the
upcoming exhibit at the Detroit Institute
of Arts, "Of Life and Loss: The Polish
Photographs of Roman Vishniac and
Jeffrey Gusky:' featuring photographs of
Poland's Jewish communities taken in the
1930s and 1990s; its runs April 19-July 12.
It was difficult to determine the full
extent of his contributions because he
kept many of them private.
"Bill Davidson truly made the world a
better place said Jonathan Aaron, "and he
asked absolutely nothing in return."
Rabbi Joseph H. Krakoff of
Congregation Shaarey in Southfield, who
delivered the main eulogy at the funeral
Tuesday at the synagogue, said, "Bill
Davidson was not only a man of amaz-
ing generosity, but he had tremendous
humility and kindness; and he was one of
the most down-to-earth persons I've ever
met." __