1990 Penn graduate David Magerman announced he will be redirecting millions of dollars in donations from Penn to Israeli universities.
Credit: Sanjana Juvvadi1990 College and Engineering graduate David Magerman announced that he will be redirecting millions in donations to Israeli universities.
Magerman announced in September that he will be redirecting his donations to five universities in Israel, starting with a 1 million dollar five-year investment in Tel Aviv University. The announcement follows Magerman's withdrawal of funds and support from Penn last fall as a result of the University’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and the Palestine Writes Literature Festival on campus.
Magerman is a co-founder and managing partner at Differential Ventures. His largest donation to Penn was a $5 million gift in 2012.
Magerman did not respond to The Daily Pennsylvanian's request for comment. A request for comment was left with a University spokesperson.
He wrote in a press release that the funding will support a program for non-Hebrew speaking students to learn academic Hebrew and "integrate into STEM degree programs."
“I am pleased to be partnering with Tel Aviv University and to be able to provide more choices for students to study in Israel," Magerman wrote. "I hope that by redirecting my gift to Israeli institutions and education I will be a catalyst for others to do the same,” he continued.
Magerman said in the press release that the TAU investment is through his Tzemach David Foundation, which aims to "create meaningful change through Zionism, leadership, and innovation."
TAU representative Maureen Meyer Adiri wrote in the press release that the university is “incredibly grateful for the partnership” and that Magerman’s donation “will enable non-Hebrew speaking students to graduate with a degree from Tel Aviv University — one of Israel’s leading universities.”
In an October 2023 letter addressed to former Penn President Liz Magill and former Penn Board of Trustees Chair Scott Bok, Magerman wrote “I am deeply ashamed of my association with the University of Pennsylvania. I refuse to donate another dollar to Penn. There is no action anyone at Penn can take to change that.”
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