Philanthropic Pillar

EDUCATIONAL IMPRINT

Then-Federation President Penny Blumenstein, William Davidson, Doreen and David Hermelin with Federation CEO Robert Aronson at the announcement of the Hermelin-
Davidson Center for Congregational Excellence in March 2000.

A Passion For Education

Bill Davidson's legacy of innovation in Jewish, scientific and business studies.

Shelli Liebman Dorfman
Senior Writer

T

hey never met. But Jeremy
Baruch understands how the
generosity of William Davidson
significantly affected his education and
career paths.
As a 2006 Davidson Scholar — a com-
ponent of the Wexner Graduate Fellowship
Program — Baruch, of West Bloomfield,
received the honor given to individuals
pursuing career areas of Jewish education
and Jewish communal leadership.
Davidson's involvement in various levels
of education shaped students locally and
internationally, including those attend-
ing the William Davidson Institute at the
Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the
University of Michigan, Hillel Day School of
Metropolitan Detroit in Farmington Hills,
Jewish Theological Seminary of America
(JTS) in New York and the Schechter
Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem.
It influenced educators training
through the Hermelin-Davidson Center
for Congregational Excellence, a part of
the Bloomfield Township-based Jewish
Federation of Metropolitan Detroit's

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March 19 2009

Alliance for Jewish Education (AJE).
And in Israel, students continue to
be impacted at the Davidson Institute
of Science Education at the Weizmann
Institute of Science in Rehovot and the
William Davidson Faculty of Industrial
Engineering and Management at the
Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in
Haifa.
Davidson's passion for education was
also the impetus for the Davidson Scholar
program, formed in 2005 with a philan-
thropic partnership between Leslie and
Abigail Wexner of Columbus, Ohio, and
Davidson and his wife, Karen, through the
financial support of Davidson's Guardian
Industries in Auburn Hills.
"I am incredibly grateful to Bill
Davidson for the opportunity to be a
Davidson Scholar," said 23-year-old
Baruch.
In addition to funding the cost of sev-
eral annual Wexner conferences, the award
provides a stipend covering his living
expenses for three years. "This fellowship
is enabling me to prepare myself to better
serve the Jewish community and be part
of a pluralistic community of individuals
seeking to do the same," Baruch said.

He is now studying at New York's
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School
as well as pursuing a doctoral degree
in education and Jewish studies at New
York University. Baruch also teaches
at the Rebecca and Israel Ivry Prozdor
High School, which meets at the William
Davidson Graduate School of Jewish
Education at JTS. There, he said, "I have
seen the vast impact that his contributions
have had on hundreds of students."
At the University of Michigan,
Davidson's alma mater, he founded the
William Davidson Institute (WDI) at the
Stephen M. Ross School of Business in
1992. A nonprofit, independent, research
and educational institute, WDI programs
include the training of business leaders,
entrepreneurs and government officials.
In a statement following Davidson's
death, WDI executive director Robert
Kennedy called him a "business vision-
ary, a great philanthropist and a dedicated
family man" who leaves behind a "huge
legacy"
U-M President Mary Sue Coleman said
Davidson's impact on the school will "last
for generations." Ross School Dean Robert
J. Dolan, who serves as president of WDI,

said Davidson had a bold vision in estab-
lishing the Institute, made possible by
Davidson's "most generous financial sup-
port and, more importantly, by his great
guidance and leadership:'

Promoting Science
Beyond Jewish education was Davidson's
involvement with science studies.
In Israel, the Davidson Institute, in col-
laboration with the Department of Science
Teaching at the Weizmann Institute of
Science in Rehovot, offers an international
program for professional development
of secondary-school science teachers
directed at developing a core of teaching
leadership related to science education
worldwide.
The Davidson Institute was founded
in 2001 with a $20 million endowment
gift from Davidson's Guardian Industries.
Its primary goal is to develop science,
technology and mathematics education
in Israel. The only institute of its kind —
geared toward science education — the
Davidson Institute is a model throughout
the world.
This past June, the William Davidson

Education on page A30