Robert Shillman
Robert J. Shillman (born April 6, 1946) is founder and a current trustee of the Shillman Foundation.
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
Positions
Shilman is:
- 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]
- board member of the David Horowitz Freedom Center. [6]
- Shillman has endowed a professorship named the Robert J. Shillman Career Advancement Chair at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology.[7]
- In 2010 he was listed as a member of the Host Committee for the 2010 Foundation for Defense of Democracies Washington Forum:
- FDD's annual Washington Forum brings together diplomats, intelligence and military experts, policymakers, media and stakeholders for expert panels, debates, and discussions. That year's forum was titled 'Countering the Iranian Threat'.[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]
Shilman was amongst fifty American Jewish leaders invited to join then President George W. Bush's special delegation to Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations in May 2008. [11]
Funding
Shillman has funded four fellowships for journalists who have have worked on FrontPage, which is the David Horowitz Freedom Center’s 'online journal for news and political commentary'. He has refused to comment on whether helped pay for the Texas prophet Mohammed cartoon contest in Texas in 2015.
Shillman is an emeritus trustee at the Northeastern University in Boston and has given it substantial amounts of money, including USD $3 million for a classroom building that was then named after him.
He has in the past withdrawn support from organisations whose behavior 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 is a board member of the anti-Muslim think tank the David Horowitz Freedom Center. [6] On the website of FrontPage Magazine (a publication of the David Horowitz Freedom Center) Shillman is thanked for 'underwriting' the work of a number of '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 Reuters interview, Shilman declared himself a big supporter of the Prophet Mohammad cartoon contest in Texas that was attacked by two gunmen in May 2015. 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]
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.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 David Horowitz Freedom Center Website About David Horowitz Freedom Center. Accessed 17 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.
- ↑ Eli Lake, 'Bush Visit May Boost Olmert', New York Sun,13 May 2008, accessed 4 February 2015
- ↑ FrontPage Magazine Website About David Horowitz Freedom Center. Accessed 17 February 2015.
