David Polak is an American business executive and philanthropist from Beverly Hills, California. He was the Founder and Chairman of NWQ Investment Management, an investment firm with US$30 billion under management. He is a large donor to the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Israel.
David Polak | |
|---|---|
| Education | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute University of California, Los Angeles |
| Occupation(s) | Business executive, philanthropist |
| Spouse | Janet Polak |
Early life
editDavid Polak graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1] He received a master's degree from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[1][2]
Career
editHe founded NWQ Investment Management, an investment firm based in Century City, Los Angeles, with US$30 billion under management.[3][4] He served as its Chairman.[5] The company is affiliated with Nuveen Investments.[6]
Philanthropy
editHe served as Chair of the Investment Committee of the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) of Los Angeles from 2004 to 2009.[5] Under his tenure, the JCF invested US$12 million with Bernard L. Madoff in 2004, and US$6 million in 2006.[5][4]
With his wife, he has donated to the American Technion Society, which supports the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, for twenty years.[1] The David and Janet Polak Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center at Technion was named after his wife and he after they made a large charitable contribution to the institute.[7] He received an honorary Doctorate from Technion in 2009.[1] He has also donated to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.[8][9]
With his wife, he was the recipient of the Philanthropic Leadership Award from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at their 2014 Board of Governors Gala, which took place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on December 2, 2014.[10]
Personal life
editHe is married to Janet Polak.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Danielle Berrin, David Polak Awarded HonoraryDoctorate by Technion, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, July 2, 2009
- ^ Gayane Keshishyan, Entrepreneurs Share Their Success Archived 2015-02-05 at the Wayback Machine, UCLA Newsroom, May 09, 1997
- ^ a b Top Honors for David Polak, August 2009
- ^ a b Brad A. Greenberg, Jewish Community Foundation Releases Report on Madoff, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, April 9, 2009
- ^ a b c Brad A. Greenberg, Financial tsunami shakes Jewish Community Foundation, The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles, December 24, 2008
- ^ Nuveen Investments: NWQ Investment Management
- ^ David and Janet Polak Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center
- ^ "Weizmann Institute of Science: President's Circle, 2000". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
- ^ "Weizmann Institute of Science: President's Circle, 2002". Archived from the original on 2014-11-29. Retrieved 2014-11-25.
- ^ 2014 Board of Governors Gala