CHANGE-MAKERS
F
ormer Chairman of the $14 billion Aramark Corporation, Joseph Neubauer, has a personal story that is as fascinating as his business achievements. He and his wife, Jeanette, a marketing and communications entrepreneur and executive, are corporate and civic leaders whose name precedes them at universities across the US and Israel. At TAU, the Neubauers established a doctoral fellowship fund for Israel’s Arab minority in STEM and a similar faculty recruitment program.
Mr. Neubauer, you came alone to the United States from Britishcontrolled Palestine. How did this affect your life’s path? My parents sent me to live with my aunt and uncle in the US at the age of 14. I barely spoke a word of English. I came here not only to gain a better education, but also to forge a fresh start for the entire family. My first years were not easy, but I was blessed with a number of teachers who invested in me and enabled me to succeed and ultimately achieve a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University and a full scholarship to the University of Chicago for my MBA. I believe it is my responsibility and privilege to invest in people in the same way.
What lessons from the corporate world do you apply to your philanthropy? In our philanthropy, we are intent on investing in people and ideas that can achieve a transformational impact that lasts, much as we did in the corporate world. There are many things we seek to change: inequities in education, violent crime, food insecurity, opportunities for minorities. Within each of these areas, we ask: where will our investment have the greatest impact? It is when you find those points—and the right leaders—that you can begin to change the system. 14
TAU REVIEW | 2 0 2 1
Jeanette and Joseph Neubauer
“Education Is the Great Equalizer” Change-makers Joseph and Jeanette Neubauer tell TAU Review why they seek to create academic opportunities for Arab students and faculty By Idit Nirel
Why does your support for Arab doctoral students at TAU focus on STEM?
Why did you establish the IsraeliArab Academic Career Pathways Initiative for faculty members?
The genesis of our investment in Arab doctoral students and faculty occurred during a trip to Israel 10 years ago. We were struck by how diverse undergraduate campuses were becoming, and yet students did not see themselves equally represented among the faculty, particularly in STEM—science, technology, engineering and mathematics. In just a single year since we began the fellowship program at Tel Aviv University, we were delighted to see the number of matriculating Arab PhD students in the STEM fields increase by 225%. We are hopeful this kind of momentum can be sustained.
Increasing diversity on academic campuses not only establishes more Arab role models to teach and mentor students who may aspire to high levels in academia and industry, but it also creates more employment opportunities for minorities at the faculty level. Our first Neubauer Lecturer, Dr. Wasim Huleihel, is a talented young scientist. His credentials make him a paradigm of the type of academic leader we want to bring to TAU. The full interview appears on TAU’s website: English.tau.ac.il.
