New York-Based American Technion Society Exceeds Fundraising Goals
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
By: Kevin Hattori

Following completion of its historic $1 billion campaign in 2009, the American Technion Society (ATS) is continuing its pace-setting fundraising record.

From January 1, 2010 through December 31, 2011, the ATS raised nearly $158 million, which is more than 100 percent of the organization's goal for that time period. The ATS New York Metropolitan Region raised the lion's share -- $40.8 million of the total.

The ATS New York Metropolitan Region continues to provide key support for breakthrough science at the Technion. The Henry and Marilyn Taub and Family Science and Technology Center, established by the late Henry Taub and his wife Marilyn of New Jersey, houses the largest computer science department in the Western world.

“Despite a challenging environment for fundraising and despite an unprecedented downward trend in the philanthropy in recent years, we have persisted and exceeded our objectives,” said ATS President Joel S. Rothman.

These are more than just impressive numbers, added Mr. Rothman. ATS support continues to be central to the achievements of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, illustrated most recently by the support provided to Professor Dan Shechtman, the sole winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry.

The strength of the ATS was cited in a recent press release issued by New York City Mayor Bloomberg’s office after a Technion-Cornell team was selected as the winner of the year-long competition to create a NYC Tech Campus: “…the Technion has an established presence in New York City with the American Technion Society, which maintains a national network of thousands of alumni and supporters and has raised more than $1.65 billion since its founding in 1940, the majority raised in the past decade.”

The New York Metropolitan Region continues to provide key support for breakthrough science. The $80-million Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute, established by the New-Jersey-based Russell Berrie Foundation, is one of the largest academic programs in Israel’s history. The Henry and Marilyn Taub and Family Science and Technology Center, established by Henry and Marilyn Taub of New Jersey, houses the largest computer science department in the Western world, while the $34-million Taub Leaders in Science faculty recruitment program attracts the world’s leading scientists to the Technion.

“Israel’s economic progress and security are to a large degree dependent on the excellence of Technion research and education, which are in turn dependent on the growing support of the American Technion Society,” said Melvyn H. Bloom, ATS executive vice president. 

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is consistently ranked among the world's leading science and technology universities.  Home to three of Israel’s five winners of the Nobel Prize in science, the Technion commands a worldwide reputation for its pioneering work in computer science, nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy, water-resource management, medicine, drug development, and aerospace.  Headquartered in New York City, the American Technion Society (ATS) promotes scientific and technological research and education at the Technion.