Doron Weber (born 1955) is an American author best known for his memoir, ''Immortal Bird: A Family Memoir'', and a foundation executive. Born on a

kibbutz A kibbutz ( he, קִבּוּץ / , lit. "gathering, clustering"; plural: kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1909, was Degania. Today, farming h ...

in Israel in 1955, he attended Forest Hills High School in Forest Hills, New York where he was elected senior class president. Weber is a graduate of

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

(B.A., 1977) and studied at the Sorbonne and

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(M.A., 1981), where he was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

. He has held positions at the Readers Catalog,

Society for the Right to Die The Euthanasia Society of America was founded in 1938 to promote euthanasia. It was co-founded by Charles Francis Potter and Ann Mitchell. Alice Naumberg (mother of Ruth P. Smith) also helped to found the group. The group initially supported bo ...

, The Rockefeller University, and the

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is an American philanthropic nonprofit organization. It was established in 1934 by Alfred P. Sloan Jr., then-president and chief executive officer of General Motors. The Sloan Foundation makes grants to support or ...

, where he has created seminal programs in science and the arts.

''Immortal Bird''

Weber's memoir, ''Immortal Bird'', the portrait of a teenager's short, vibrant life and the relationship between father and son, documents the family's navigation of the complex medical journey of Doron and Shealagh Weber's first child, Damon, who was born in 1988 with a congenital heart defect. The defect, a single ventricle, was successfully repaired, allowing him to lead a remarkably full life until he developed new complications as a teen. When he was 16, Damon received a successful heart transplant but then died of a post-transplant infection that was misdiagnosed as organ rejection and left untreated. The family brought suit in 2006 against

New York-Presbyterian Hospital The NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital is a nonprofit academic medical center in New York City affiliated with two Ivy League medical schools, Cornell University and Columbia University. The hospital comprises seven distinct campuses located in the New Y ...

Columbia University Medical Center NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center (NYP/CUIMC), also known as the Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), is an academic medical center and the largest campus of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. It includes C ...

where their son was a patient but, as of 2013, the suit remains unresolved. In addition to being named by

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

as one of “50 Notable Works of Non-Fiction” for 2012, ''Immortal Bird'' was listed as Amazon's Best Book of the Month, in February 2012 Indie NEXT List, and was one of nine official selections of the 2013 Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle, the oldest book club in America. The paperback was published in February, 2013.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Work

Since 1995, Weber has worked as a program director at the

, a nonprofit philanthropic organization that supports research and education in science, technology, and economic performance. As Vice President, Programs, Weber runs the Public Understanding of Science and Technology Program where he pioneered the synergistic use of media and the arts to translate science for the public. He has launched national programs in theater, film and television that commission, develop, produce, and distribute new work bridging the two cultures of science and the humanities. Grantees include

Manhattan Theatre Club Manhattan Theatre Club (MTC) is a theatre company located in New York City, affiliated with the League of Resident Theatres. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, Manhattan Theatre Club has gr ...

Sundance Film Institute A Sun Dance is a Native American ceremony. Sun dance or Sundance may also refer to: Places ;Canada *Sundance, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * Sundance, Manitoba, a ghost town ;United States * Sundance, New Mexico, a census-designated pla ...

National Geographic Television National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General En ...

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...

, BAM, and World Science Festival. Weber also directs the Foundation's efforts to promote Universal Access to Knowledge by using emerging developments in digital information technology to make the benefits of human knowledge and human culture accessible to people everywhere. Grantees include

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Wikimedia Foundation The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., or Wikimedia for short and abbreviated as WMF, is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. Best kno ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

and Digital Public Library of America. In 2012, Weber made a grant for a pilot meeting on rice science at the

Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy The Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy (LKY School) is an autonomous postgraduate school of the National University of Singapore (NUS), named after the late former Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. History The Lee Kuan Yew School of ...

that brought together scientists from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, and China.

Awards

On behalf of the Foundation, he accepted the PBS Leadership Award for over a decade of support; the Nielsen Impact Award for Film from the Hollywood Reporter (2009); the Council of Foundation citation for “the visionary funding decisions of foundations in using media for their program goals” for a new web series, ''The Secret Life of Scientists'' (2010); and the Gold Communicator Award for a documentary about the Foundation's history, “Sloan at 75” (2011). His work at Sloan has been profiled in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Fortune, Filmmaker Magazine, and The American Way. Weber also won the

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

's Literarian Award for Outstanding Service in 2018.

Other civic work

Weber serves as President of

The Writers' Room ''The Writers' Room'' is an American television talk show hosted by screenwriter and actor Jim Rash. Each episode features a behind-the-scenes look at the writing staff of popular television series. The series premiered on July 29, 2013. Prem ...

Board of Trustees, Vice Chair of the Digital Public Library of America Steering Committee, Advisory Board Member of the Science and Entertainment Exchange, and Board Visitor of the

. From 1995 to 2005, he served as secretary of the New York State Committee for the Rhodes Scholarships. He also is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, mi ...

and the Century Club.

Publications

* ''Immortal Bird'' * ''Final Passages'' (with Judith C. Ahronheim) * ''The Complete Guide to Living Wills'' (with Evan R. Collins, Jr.) * ''Safe Blood'' (with Joseph Feldschuh) * * “Boomers Rewrite Candidate Profiles,” LA Times, 1996 * “A Way Around Kevorkian,” USA Today, 1994 * “The Best and the Guiltiest,” The New York Times, 1993 * “BYOB,” Baltimore Sun, 1990

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Doron Alfred P. Sloan Foundation people 1955 births Living people American male writers Israeli emigrants to the United States American Rhodes Scholars