Difference between revisions of "Robert Shillman"
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He also funds several leading groups in the [[counterjihad movement]], including the [[[[David Horowitz Freedom Center]], on whose board he sits. | He also funds several leading groups in the [[counterjihad movement]], including the [[[[David Horowitz Freedom Center]], on whose board he sits. | ||
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| − | + | * Founder, chairman and chief culture officer of the [[Cognex Corporation]] (market value of $4 billion) <ref name= shillman> Tim McLaughlin and Mark Hosenball, [http://forward.com/news/307903/the-tech-mogul-who-funds-pamela-gellers-anti-islam-push/ Meet Robert Shillman, the Tech Mogul Who Funds Pamela Geller's Anti-Islam Push], ''Forward'', May 9, 2015. Accessed 12 October 2016. </ref> which describes itself as: | |
| − | * | ||
:'the world’s leading provider of vision systems, vision software, vision sensors and surface inspection systems used in manufacturing automation. Cognex is also a leader in industrial ID readers.' <ref name ="Cognex">Cognex Website [http://www.cognex.com/corporate-overview.aspx Cognex Corporate Overview]. Accessed 17 February 2015.</ref> | :'the world’s leading provider of vision systems, vision software, vision sensors and surface inspection systems used in manufacturing automation. Cognex is also a leader in industrial ID readers.' <ref name ="Cognex">Cognex Website [http://www.cognex.com/corporate-overview.aspx Cognex Corporate Overview]. Accessed 17 February 2015.</ref> | ||
| − | * | + | * Trustee of Northeastern University (to which he gave $3 million for the construction of a building named after him) <ref name ="Northeastern University">Northeastern University Website [http://www.northeastern.edu/neuhome/about/trustees.html#Board of Trustees Northeastern Board of Trustees]. Accessed 17 February 2015.</ref> |
*Previously served on the board of the [[Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston]]. <ref> Macarena Munoz, '[http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass-high-tech/2006/12/cognex-ceo-leads-community-giving-by-example.html Cognex CEO leads community giving by example]', ''Boston Business Journal'',1 December 2006, accessed 4 February 2015</ref> | *Previously served on the board of the [[Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston]]. <ref> Macarena Munoz, '[http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/blog/mass-high-tech/2006/12/cognex-ceo-leads-community-giving-by-example.html Cognex CEO leads community giving by example]', ''Boston Business Journal'',1 December 2006, accessed 4 February 2015</ref> | ||
*Shillman's wikipedia page reports that he serves on the board of the [[Jewish Foundation for the Righteous]]. However he is not currently listed on the JFR website as a serving board member. <ref name ="Jewish Foundation for the Righteous">Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Website [https://jfr.org/about/#staff Our Staff]. Accessed 17 February 2015.</ref> | *Shillman's wikipedia page reports that he serves on the board of the [[Jewish Foundation for the Righteous]]. However he is not currently listed on the JFR website as a serving board member. <ref name ="Jewish Foundation for the Righteous">Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Website [https://jfr.org/about/#staff Our Staff]. Accessed 17 February 2015.</ref> | ||
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| − | + | ===Israel=== | |
| − | + | Shilman was amongst 50 American Jewish leaders invited to join then President [[George W. Bush]]'s special delegation to Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations in May 2008. <ref> Eli Lake, '[http://www.nysun.com/foreign/bush-visit-may-boost-olmert/76303/ Bush Visit May Boost Olmert]', ''New York Sun'',13 May 2008, accessed 4 February 2015</ref> | |
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| + | He has endowed a professorship named the Robert J. Shillman Career Advancement Chair at [[Technion – Israel Institute of Technology]].<ref name ="Technion">Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute [http://rbni.technion.ac.il/?route=index.html&cmd=faculty.36&area=4&page=3&act=read&id=192 Faculty]. Accessed 17 February 2015.</ref> | ||
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| + | ===Foundation for Defense of Democracies=== | ||
| + | In 2010 Shilman was listed as a member of the Host Committee for the 2010 [[Foundation for Defense of Democracies]] Washington Forum. That year's forum was titled 'Countering the Iranian Threat'. | ||
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| + | :FDD's annual Washington Forum brings together diplomats, intelligence and military experts, policymakers, media and stakeholders for expert panels, debates, and discussions. <ref name ="FDD 2010 Forum">FDD Website [http://www.fddwashingtonforum.org/wf_2010.php Washington Forum 2010: Countering the Iranian Threat]. Accessed 4 March 2015.</ref> | ||
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Other figures on the committee, who like Shillman, have been closely involved with the [[FIDF]] include [[Bernard Marcus]] (the chair of the committee) and [[Larry J. Hochberg]]. <ref name ="FDD 2010 Forum">FDD Website [http://www.fddwashingtonforum.org/wf_2010.php Washington Forum 2010: Countering the Iranian Threat]. Accessed 4 March 2015.</ref> | Other figures on the committee, who like Shillman, have been closely involved with the [[FIDF]] include [[Bernard Marcus]] (the chair of the committee) and [[Larry J. Hochberg]]. <ref name ="FDD 2010 Forum">FDD Website [http://www.fddwashingtonforum.org/wf_2010.php Washington Forum 2010: Countering the Iranian Threat]. Accessed 4 March 2015.</ref> | ||
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| − | + | Shillman was again a member of the [[Host Committee]] in 2011 and 2012.<ref name ="FDD 2011 Forum">FDD Website [http://www.fddwashingtonforum.org/wf_2011.php Washington Forum 2011]. Accessed 4 March 2015.</ref> <ref name ="FDD 2012 Forum">FDD Website [http://www.fddwashingtonforum.org/wf_2012.php Washington Forum 2012]. Accessed 4 March 2015.</ref> | |
==Funding== | ==Funding== | ||
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Shillman refused to comment on whether he had helped pay for the event, which was jointly organized by the Horowitz Center’s Jihad website and Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative. <ref name= shillman/> | Shillman refused to comment on whether he had helped pay for the event, which was jointly organized by the Horowitz Center’s Jihad website and Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative. <ref name= shillman/> | ||
| + | ==Affiliations=== | ||
| + | * [[David Horowitz Freedom Center]] board member <ref name ="David Horowitz Freedom Center">David Horowitz Freedom Center Website [http://www.horowitzfreedomcenter.org/about/ About David Horowitz Freedom Center]. Accessed 17 February 2015.</ref> | ||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
Revision as of 08:02, 15 March 2017
Robert J. Shillman (born April 6, 1946) is a US-based tech mogul who is the founder and a trustee of the Shillman Foundation. His company Cognex has a market value of over USD$4billion.
Contents
Philanthropy
Through his foundation Shillman is a major donor to various conservative and pro-Israel causes, most notably the Zionist Organization of America and the Friends of the Israel Defense Forces, the US body that sends funds to the Israeli Association for the Wellbeing of Israel's Soldiers.
He also funds several leading groups in the counterjihad movement, including the [[David Horowitz Freedom Center, on whose board he sits.
Activities
- Founder, chairman and chief culture officer of the Cognex Corporation (market value of $4 billion) [1] which describes itself as:
- 'the world’s leading provider of vision systems, vision software, vision sensors and surface inspection systems used in manufacturing automation. Cognex is also a leader in industrial ID readers.' [2]
- Trustee of Northeastern University (to which he gave $3 million for the construction of a building named after him) [3]
- Previously served on the board of the Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston. [4]
- Shillman's wikipedia page reports that he serves on the board of the Jewish Foundation for the Righteous. However he is not currently listed on the JFR website as a serving board member. [5]
Israel
Shilman was amongst 50 American Jewish leaders invited to join then President George W. Bush's special delegation to Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations in May 2008. [6]
He has endowed a professorship named the Robert J. Shillman Career Advancement Chair at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.[7]
Foundation for Defense of Democracies
In 2010 Shilman was listed as a member of the Host Committee for the 2010 Foundation for Defense of Democracies Washington Forum. That year's forum was titled 'Countering the Iranian Threat'.
- FDD's annual Washington Forum brings together diplomats, intelligence and military experts, policymakers, media and stakeholders for expert panels, debates, and discussions. [8]
Other figures on the committee, who like Shillman, have been closely involved with the FIDF include Bernard Marcus (the chair of the committee) and Larry J. Hochberg. [8]
Shillman was again a member of the Host Committee in 2011 and 2012.[9] [10]
Funding
Shillman has funded four fellowships for journalists who worked on FrontPage, the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s 'online journal for news and political commentary'.
Shillman is an emeritus trustee at the Northeastern University in Boston and has given it substantial sums, including USD$3 million for a classroom building that was then named after him.
He has in the past withdrawn support from organisations whose behaviour he disagrees with. In 2002, he pulled funding from WBUR, a National Public Radio station in Boston, for what he perceived as anti-Israel sentiment. [1]
Board member of David Horowitz Freedom Center
Shilman sits on the board of the anti-Muslim think tank the David Horowitz Freedom Center. [11] On the website of FrontPage Magazine (a DHFC publication) Shillman is thanked for 'underwriting' the work of arious 'Shillman Fellows in Journalism':
- 'FrontPage Magazine, the Center’s online journal of news and political commentary has 1.5 million visitors and over 870,000 unique visitors a month (65 million hits) and is linked to over 2000 other websites. The magazine’s coverage of and commentary about events has been greatly augmented over the last two years by the presence of four Shillman Fellows in Journalism underwritten by board member Dr Robert Shillman. FrontPage has recently added a blog called “The Point,” run by Shillman Fellow Daniel Greenfield, which has tripled web traffic.' [12]
Views
On Islam
In a 2015 Reuters interview, Shilman declared himself a big supporter of the Prophet Mohammad cartoon contest in Texas that was attacked by two gunmen. Although he does not claim to be anti-Muslim, he said the shooting 'was a terrorist attack on the American way of life'.
America’s free speech, he said, is under threat. He added that such attacks are making people fearful and prone to self-censorship.[1]
Shillman refused to comment on whether he had helped pay for the event, which was jointly organized by the Horowitz Center’s Jihad website and Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative. [1]
Affiliations=
- David Horowitz Freedom Center board member [11]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Tim McLaughlin and Mark Hosenball, Meet Robert Shillman, the Tech Mogul Who Funds Pamela Geller's Anti-Islam Push, Forward, May 9, 2015. Accessed 12 October 2016.
- ↑ Cognex Website Cognex Corporate Overview. Accessed 17 February 2015.
- ↑ Northeastern University Website of Trustees Northeastern Board of Trustees. Accessed 17 February 2015.
- ↑ Macarena Munoz, 'Cognex CEO leads community giving by example', Boston Business Journal,1 December 2006, accessed 4 February 2015
- ↑ Jewish Foundation for the Righteous Website Our Staff. Accessed 17 February 2015.
- ↑ Eli Lake, 'Bush Visit May Boost Olmert', New York Sun,13 May 2008, accessed 4 February 2015
- ↑ Russell Berrie Nanotechnology Institute Faculty. Accessed 17 February 2015.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 FDD Website Washington Forum 2010: Countering the Iranian Threat. Accessed 4 March 2015.
- ↑ FDD Website Washington Forum 2011. Accessed 4 March 2015.
- ↑ FDD Website Washington Forum 2012. Accessed 4 March 2015.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 David Horowitz Freedom Center Website About David Horowitz Freedom Center. Accessed 17 February 2015.
- ↑ FrontPage Magazine Website About David Horowitz Freedom Center. Accessed 17 February 2015.
