12 July 18 • 2019
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JACKIE HEADAPOHL ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Ties that Bind

Jewish Detroiters share a special relationship with the Technion.
A

s one pillar of the Detroit Jewish 
community leaves his post 
as chairman of the Board of 
Governors (BOG) at Technion–Israel 
Institute of Technology, another will 
take his place. 
Larry Jackier completed his 12th 
and final year as chairman of the BOG, 
and Scott Leemaster has stepped into 
the position. Both men were honored 
for their commitment to Israel and the 
university last month at a ceremony in 
Haifa. 
Jackier of West Bloomfield, an attor-
ney with the Law Offices of Jackier 
Gould, belongs to three synagogues: 
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, Temple 
Israel and The Shul. He is the trustee of 
various charitable foundations and has 
been a leader in the Jewish community, 
both locally and nationally, for more 
than 40 years. His ties to the Technion 
run especially deep. 
Jackier’
s late parents, Edythe and 
Joe, were active supporters. Joe Jackier 
was also on the Technion Board of 
Governors when he returned from a trip 
to Israel in 1987. Tragically, he died a 
week later and Larry stepped up to fin-
ish the projects his father had started. “I 
became interested in what the Technion 
was doing,
” he said. That was the start.
Jackier has been on the BOG for 24 
years and is a past national president 
of the American Technion Society 
(ATS). He co-created the 21st Century 
Leadership Development Program and 
helped organize a Solidarity Delegation 
to Israel during Operation Protective 
Edge in 2014. 
As Technion Guardians — an honor 
reserved for those who support the 
university at the highest level — Jackier 
and his wife, Eleanor, have advanced 
research across numerous fields. Jackier 
has been recognized with a Technion 
honorary fellowship and honorary doc-
torate as well as the Technion Medal 
and the Einstein Award — the highest 
honors of the Technion and the ATS, 
respectively. The Jackiers were presented 
with the key to the Technion to cement 
the deep connection between their fam-
ily and the university. That family legacy 
is likely to continue, said Jackier, who 
will remain on the Technion’
s BOG. 
He and Eleanor together have seven 

children, 21 grandchildren and one 
great-grandchild. Twelve members of 
his family were able to make it to the 
event in Haifa. “
As a result,
” he said, 
“they are now interested in getting 
involved with the Technion as well.
” 
Jackier’
s grandson Jonah Folbe of New 
York has already been in touch with the 
Technion to see what he can do, and his 
stepson Adam Folbe, a physician from 
Michigan, was also impressed and eager 
to get involved.
“My son Seth, who lives in Glencoe, 
Ill., is already involved in leadership 
development at the Chicago chapter of 
the American Technion Society, so that 
makes four generations of Jackiers,
” he 
said proudly. 

A NEW CHAIRMAN
Incoming chairman Scott Leemaster of 
Franklin, vice president and principal 
of Madison Electric Company, has been 
involved with Hebrew Free Loan and 
the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan 
Detroit in addition to his work with the 
Technion. He and his wife, Susie, are 
members of Temple Israel.
After training in the ATS 21st 
Century Leadership Program, 
Leemaster served twice as president 
of the Detroit ATS Chapter. Stepping 
up in 2012 to become ATS national 
president, he presided over the launch 
of the organization’
s half-billion-dollar 
fundraising campaign “Innovation for a 
Better World.
”

As Technion Guardians, he and Susie 
have supported many projects and 
ATS Missions. He also chaired a trip to 
Israel and Paris and joined Jackier as 
co-leader of the Solidarity Delegation. In 
2009, he received a Technion Honorary 
Fellowship. 
Leemaster said he’
s lucky to have “fol-
lowed in Larry’
s footsteps” at the ATS 
when he had been looking to become 
involved with something that had a 
direct Israel connection. 
“The Technion has had tremen-
dous impact on the country since it 
was established, from the early days 
of expertise in civil engineering and 
agriculture to today where it is on the 
advanced frontiers of science. The 
Technion has elevated the economy and 
security of Israel,
” he said.
Leemaster said his work with the 
Technion has always been motivated 
by the Jewish value of tikkun olam — 
repairing the world. “The Technion is an 
extraordinarily effective tool for repair-
ing the world by innovating and sharing 
solutions in science and technology. It is 
without question the engine behind 
Israel’
s startup nation phenomenon 
and is making the entire world a better 
place.
”

PROUD DETROITERS
“More than anything, I’
m proud of my 
own Jewish community for producing 
back-to-back chairmanships,
” Jackier 
said. “It’
s truly amazing.
”

Started in 1940, the Detroit ATS 
Chapter is one of the oldest in the U.S. 
Its donors have built many key projects 
on campus and their Technion connec-
tions often pass through the generations.
“The Detroit Jewish community has 
more people involved in national and 
international Jewish organizations than 
any other Jewish community in the 
U.S.,
” Jackier said. “We have a history 
of producing tremendous leadership in 
the American and international Jewish 
communities — out of all proportion to 
the size of our community. This is just a 
current example.
”
When asked why he thinks Detroit 
enjoys such a proud tradition, Jackier 
said, “I think it’
s because we’
re a very 
closeknit community with a lot of inter-
relationships that go way, way back. So 
many of our peers who grew up with us 
are still here and involved in Jewish life.
” 
(To read more about Detroit’
s long history 
with the Technion, see “Looking Back” on 
page 42.)
As Leemaster takes over the reins as 
chairman, he said, “I plan to stay the 
course, maintaining the high standards 
and values the Technion exemplifies. I 
want to help the new president in any 
way I can.
” 
Prof. Uri Sivan will become next pres-
ident of the Technion in September. 
“I stand on the shoul-
ders of giants and I 
hope to see far, high and 
deep,
” Sivan said at the 
ceremony. “Technion 
will continue to serve as 
a beacon of pluralism, 
equality, freedom of 
speech, integrity, ethics, 
social justice, environ-
mental consciousness and inclusion in 
the global community based on these 
values.
”
Jackier said he plans to remain active 
in the background and has already 
offered his help to Sivan and Leemaster 
should they need it. 
“I’
ve gotten way more out of my 
time with Technion than I ever put in,
” 
Jackier said. “It’
s been a privlege to have 
served as chairman of the BOG, but my 
biggest pride is in our Detroit Jewish 
community and its legacy of service.
” ■

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Scott Leemaster and Larry Jackier

CREDIT: COURTESY OF THE TECHNION

Uri Sivan

Incoming president

continued on page 14

