David Polak is an American business executive and philanthropist from

Beverly Hills, California Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. B ...

. 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.

Early life

David Polak graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.Danielle Berrin
David Polak Awarded HonoraryDoctorate by Technion
''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', July 2, 2009 He received a master's degree from the

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute () (RPI) is a private research university in Troy, New York, with an additional campus in Hartford, Connecticut. A third campus in Groton, Connecticut closed in 2018. RPI was established in 1824 by Stephen Van ...

and an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).Gayane Keshishyan
Entrepreneurs Share Their Success
, ''UCLA Newsroom'', May 09, 1997

Career

He founded NWQ Investment Management, an investment firm based in Century City, Los Angeles, with US$30 billion under management.Top Honors for David Polak
August 2009Brad A. Greenberg
Jewish Community Foundation Releases Report on Madoff
''The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', April 9, 2009 He served as its Chairman.Brad A. Greenberg
Financial tsunami shakes Jewish Community Foundation
'' The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles'', December 24, 2008 The company is affiliated with

Nuveen Investments Nuveen is an American asset manager and wholly owned subsidiary of financial planning firm TIAA, itself known for its legacy focus on managing money for not-for-profit institutions such as universities and their employees. As a consequence of int ...

Philanthropy

He served as Chair of the Investment Committee of the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) of Los Angeles from 2004 to 2009. Under his tenure, the JCF invested US$12 million with

Bernard L. Madoff Bernard Lawrence Madoff ( ; April 29, 1938April 14, 2021) was an American fraudster and financier who was the admitted mastermind of the largest Ponzi scheme in history, worth about $64.8 billion. He was at one time chairman of the NASDAQ s ...

in 2004, and US$6 million in 2006. 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. 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.David and Janet Polak Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center
/ref> He received an honorary Doctorate from Technion in 2009. He has also donated to the Weizmann Institute of Science in

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...

, Israel. 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 The Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel, commonly known as the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, is a historic luxury hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Located at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, it was completed in 1928. It has ...

on December 2, 2014.2014 Board of Governors Gala
/ref>

Personal life

He is married to Janet Polak.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Polak, David Living people Businesspeople from Beverly Hills, California Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni UCLA Anderson School of Management alumni American chairpersons of corporations Philanthropists from California Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Year of birth missing (living people)