I Business & Professional
PROFILE I ON THE COVER
Seat Of History from page A25
"We at Levy have a passion for conserv-
ing the earth's natural resources; we're
determined to help preserve the world:'
states Weiner. "And that requires a lot of
responsibility and accountability"
But Weiner also has a passion for the
Jewish community. He's on the National
Council of the American Israel Public
Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and is co-
chairman of the Jewish Federation of
Metropolitan Detroit's Government
Relations Oversight Committee, which
was instrumental in getting the Jewish
community included in the state's mul-
ticultural budget line. He served in the
United Jewish Appeal's Young Leadership
Cabinet, is a member of Temple Beth El in
Bloomfield Township and has participated
in other Jewish community activities.
Weiner also is on the board of the Royal
Oak-based Beaumont Hospital Foundation
and is a executive committee member
of the Junior Achievement of Southeast
Michigan, where he spearheaded con-
struction of the $2 million Rock Financial
JA Financial Park in downtown Detroit.
He served as a loaned executive to the
United Way and as a trustee of the Parade
Committee, where he finds time to portray
a clown in Detroit's Thanksgiving Day
parade. He holds leadership positions in
several professional organizations related
to his business.
Weiner and his wife even have "adopted"
a school — the Bennett Elementary School
in Detroit, providing financial assistance
and spending at least a day a week there
teaching the Junior Achievement business
principles to students.
Overcoming The Past
Most amazingly of all is his new lead-
ership position at the Henry Ford in
Dearborn, which is mainly Greenfield
Village and Henry Ford Museum, founded
in 1929 by the elder Henry Ford, and now
one of America's premier history destina-
tions. Weiner recently was named chair-
man of the Henry Ford, succeeding Bill
Ford Jr., the great-grandson of Henry Ford,
and becoming the first non-Ford family
member — and the first Jewish person
— to chair the Henry Ford.
The irony of Weiner's accomplishment,
of course, is that a Jew now heads the pre-
cious property of the elder Henry Ford,
who was one of America's greatest busi-
ness entrepreneurs and innovators —
and also one of its most notorious anti-
Semites. Ford developed a hatred for Jews
as a youngster after reading Shakespeare's
The Merchant of Venice and taking a dis-
like to the Jewish Shylock character. That
hatred spread in many forms throughout
the rest of his life, but became a non-fac-
tor in the Ford family and at Ford Motor
A26
July 16 2009
The Henry Ford chairman Evan Weiner poses with a Ford Motor Co. Model T.
"The Henry Ford complex today has nothing to do with the past personal
life of Henry Ford. All of that is in the past and has no connection with the
great historic sections, technology and innovations of Greenfield Village.
They serve as a great inspiration to visitors and are very important to the
— Evan Weiner
community."
Company with his death in 1947.
Over the past 10 years alone, the Ford
Motor Company Fund has given more than
$6 million to the Detroit Jewish commu-
nity for various organizations and projects
in Oakland, Washtenaw and Wayne coun-
ties. Henry Ford's grandson Henry Ford
II became friends with Franklin philan-
thropist and Jewish Detroit patriarch Max
Fisher, visited Israel with him and made
large contributions to Jewish charities.
"The Henry Ford complex today has
nothing to do with the past personal life
of Henry Ford:' says Weiner, who exudes
the same passion for the Henry Ford as he
does for his many other outside interests.
"All of that is in the past and has no con-
nection with the great historic sections,
technology and innovations of Greenfield
Village.
"I have a strong passion for the village
and the museum because they're full of
history and just beaming with innovation
and creativity. They serve as a great inspi-
ration to visitors and are very important
to the community. And Jewish scientists
and scholars are depicted in some of the
village exhibits about inventions, informa-
tion technology, the civil rights movement
and many other parts of American history
and culture."
In the village are the chair in which
Abraham Lincoln was shot; the labora-
tory of inventor Thomas Edison, who was
Henry Ford's mentor and good friend; the
bicycle shop of airplane inventors Orville
and Wilbur Wright; the bus in which
civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks refused to
give up her seat; the limousine in which
President John F. Kennedy was assassi-
nated; and other historical things.
With 600 employees, the Henry Ford
also houses the Benson Ford Research
Center and the largest IMAX theater in
Michigan. It is the starting point of the
Ford Rouge Factory tour. Attendance at the
complex topped 1.5 million last year.
Fortuitous Tie
Weiner became immersed in the Henry
Ford through another twist of irony. "In
the 2002-2003 period, it was determined
that the Greenfield Village infrastructure
was literally starting to fall apart," Weiner
explained. "The museum wasn't doing too
well either; it was just okay. We at the Levy
Co. and other interested firms donated our
resources and equipment to help fix up
those places. As a result, I became friendly
with officials of the Henry Ford and the
Ford family. I joined the board of trustees
in 2005 and became chairman in March.
The Henry Ford is now one of the center-
pieces of my outside activities."
Other members of the Jewish communi-
ty on the board are treasurer Ralph Gerson