Billionaire businessman and philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzman recently donated $188 million to the University of Oxford for the study of the ethical ramifications of artificial intelligence — among other things. The donation will fund the Stephen A. Schwarzman Centre for the Humanities, which will include a new Institute for Ethics in AI. Last year, he…
Bella Abzug (July 24, 1920 — March 31, 1998) was a powerful force in the Women’s Movement of the 1970s. She was a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for one term (election slogan: “This woman’s place is in the house — the House of Representatives”). Her many other accomplishments included helping to found…
If you think Orthodox Jewish men and women have extremely limited career options, think again. In one episode of the video series “Jew in the City,” Orthodox Jews speak about their non-stereotypical vocations. They include a Billboard Top 10 recording artist (Alex Clare, pictured above), a clerk for a U.S. Supreme Court justice, a professional…
Bat-El Papura (her first name means “Daughter of G-d” in Hebrew) is a 48-inch tall “little person” who was born in Romania and has spent most of her life in Israel. During her 30 or so years on Earth, she has encountered and overcome a great many obstacles. Her longtime dream was to become an…
Robert “Bob” Iger, 68, has been the Chairman and CEO of the Walt Disney Company since 2005 (succeeding Michael Eisner, who is also Jewish). During Iger’s tenure, the company’s market value reportedly has shot up to $163 billion from $48.4 billion. Prior to his current positions at Disney, he was President and COO of the…
In 1981, Susan Schwartz co-founded Equest, a nonprofit organization whose mission is “to enhance the quality of life for children and adults with diverse needs, by partnering with horses to bring hope and healing through equine-assisted activities and therapies.” Today, Equest helps more than 2,000 clients every year. Quote: “We’ve had people come through…
Singer-songwriter and actor Adam Levine (Jewish father, non-Jewish mother; considers himself to be Jewish) is the frontman of the pop rock group Maroon 5. Until recently, the 40-year-old Levine was a long-time judge on the singing competition The Voice; he quit the show after appearing on it for 16 seasons. In 2013, Levine was named…
Volodymyr Zelensky, a 41-year-old Ukrainian comedian and comedic actor who played the country’s…
Although Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg receives an enormous amount of adulation and media…
Dr. Randy Shekman is a 70-year-old cell biologist who received a Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2013. Schekman won the prestigious award jointly with researchers James Rothman (also a Jew) and Thomas C. Südhof for their “discoveries of machinery regulating vesicle traffic, a major transport system in our cells.” Shekman was elected to…
WOW! FACTS
Inventor of the mobile phone, “Father of the Internet,” inventor of the video game cosole, inventor fo the laser, inventor of the gramophone, creator of the Barbie Doll, creator of the cruise ship, “Father of Immunology,” inventor fo the modern condom (!), a prime minister of the U.K., a three-time prime minister of France, a president of Switzerland and the primary financier of the American Revolution?
We knew you could guess… all of them are (or were) Jews!
To learn about these and many more AmazingJews, watch a compilation put together by JewOfTheWeek.net in 2015 and posted on YouTube. >>
Nobel Prizes
Although Jews are less than two-tenths of one percent of the world’s population, more than 20% of Nobel Prize winners have been Jewish. Source: Google
Polio Vaccine
Millions and millions of people worldwide have been spared the ravages of poliomyelitis — including paralysis and even death — thanks to research conducted by Jewish scientist Dr. Jonas Salk and his team. The Salk vaccine entered widespread use in the U.S. in 1955. Source: Wikipedia
Miss Liberty
The words “…give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses…” on the Statue of Liberty were written by Emma Lazarus, a Jew. Source: BuzzFeed
Blue Jeans
Levi Strauss, an immigrant from Germany, invented his blue jeans in 1873. Source: BuzzFeed
Start-Up Nation
Israel has the third highest rate of entrepreneurship in the world. It has the highest rate of entrepreneurship among women and people over 55 in the world. Source: BuzzFeed