Scott Leemaster Named National President of American Technion Society
Monday, October 15, 2012
By: Jennifer Frey

Detroit area resident Scott Leemaster has been named president of the American Technion Society (ATS), which provides support for the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, one of the world's leading science and technology universities.

Mr. Leemaster, vice president and principal of Warren, Michigan-based Madison Electric Company, became president on October 1, 2012 and will be formally installed on October 30, 2012 at the National ATS Board of Directors meeting in Baltimore.

Scott Leemaster

“I am very proud to be a part of the American Technion Society. It is an incredible honor to be asked to fulfill this role,” he says.

His achievements at Madison Electric, a wholesale distributor of electrical supplies, industrial controls, and automation equipment, have included expanding its product offerings, managing the Madison Electronics division (a manufacturer of custom electronic cable assemblies), and improving inventory efficiency.

Outside the office, Mr. Leemaster lends his time and expertise to the ATS, inspiring others with thoughtful leadership and dedication.  He and his wife Susie are ATS Guardians — an honor reserved for those who support the Technion at the highest level. And the Technion recognized him with an Honorary Fellowship in 2009.

As president, Mr. Leemaster intends to encourage lay leaders on both the local and national level to become more involved with the ATS and cultivation of potential supporters. He has already started to work with staff to revise the lay training and assessment process. He also plans to reach out to non-traditional constituencies.

“Scott is a born leader and a man of integrity.  He brings energy, enthusiasm and vision to the task at hand,” says outgoing ATS President Joel S. Rothman, who will become Chairman of the Board when Mr. Leemaster rises.

“Scott’s commitment to the ATS, to the Technion and to Israel has been unswerving,” says Melvyn H. Bloom, ATS executive vice president. “He is always ready to tackle new projects, and does so with diligence, efficiency and accomplishment. He is well liked by the ATS community, highly regarded and truly inspirational.”

Mr. Leemaster’s introduction to the ATS occurred in the late 1990s, when he attended a meeting at the home of an ATS supporter. The host “talked about his time spent in Israel working with Technion graduates at Israel Aerospace Industries, and about how he had seen first-hand the engineering talent produced by the Technion literally building modern Israel,” he recalls. Mr. Leemaster participated in the ATS 21^st Century Leadership Development program and has held a long list of key positions.

He served as president of the Detroit Chapter from 2004-2006 and again in 2008, and is currently chairman of the local board. Under his stewardship, the chapter made significant progress in fulfilling its commitments to fund several Technion projects including laboratories at the Stephen and Nancy Grand Water Research Institute, and the Max Gill Emergency Fund for Technion Students.

On the national level, he has been an active member of the ATS Board of Directors since 2005, most recently serving as the board secretary and chair of the audit committee.  Mr. Leemaster is also a member of the Technion International Board of Governors and chair of its physical development committee.

He and Susie have been enthusiastic participants in several ATS Missions to the Technion, and chaired the 2011 Mission to Paris and Israel. Their son Jacob, now an engineer in Albuquerque, New Mexico, was a participant in the Technion’s SciTech summer program for high school students. Mr. Leemaster is careful in choosing his philanthropic involvements. “For organizations with an Israel connection, I have never encountered any that surpass the ATS or the Technion in providing leverage to maximize the impact of their supporters,” he says. The Technion exemplifies the importance of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Education, he says. “STEM education, with the additional “E” of Entrepreneurship as practiced by the Technion, is an incredibly powerful engine for producing academic and economic excellence.”

Outside of the Technion, Mr. Leemaster’s main philanthropic involvements are with the Hebrew Free Loan, where he is on the board and executive committee, and the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Detroit, where he has held a number of different positions.

The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology is a major source of the innovation and brainpower that drives the Israeli economy, and a key to Israel’s renown as the world’s “Start-Up Nation.” Its three Nobel Prize winners exemplify academic excellence. Technion people, ideas and inventions make immeasurable contributions to the world including life-saving medicine, sustainable energy, computer science, water conservation and nanotechnology.

 American Technion Society (ATS) donors provide critical support for the Technion – more than $1.7 billion since its inception in 1940. Based in New York City, the ATS and its network of chapters across the U.S. provide funds for scholarships, fellowships, faculty recruitment and chairs, research, buildings, laboratories, classrooms and dormitories, and more.