The businessman and philanthropist, the late Dan David, one of the prominent friends of Tel Aviv University, has passed away.

He founded the award that bears his name for people who have made an extraordinary contribution to human society

Dan David (1929-2011), a member of the Board of Trustees of Tel Aviv University, and one of its greatest friends, passed away last night from a serious illness.

Dan David, a businessman born in Romania, immigrated to Israel in 1961 and with him a dream: to develop innovative technologies in his field of business, industrial photography. In 1965, he received an indefinite loan of $200,000 from his cousin, which allowed him to realize his dream: he developed the automatic photo booth, a development that made him a successful businessman. It was this early experience that led Dan David to establish the "Dan David Award" a decade ago at Tel Aviv University, which honors individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to human society, and helps students and young entrepreneurs become researchers and leaders of the future.

Dan David has given the prize in the total amount of 3 million dollars awarded every year, in the last decade to a variety of prominent personalities including: the conductor Zubin Mehta, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Al Gore, the writer Amos Oz, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma, the writer Margaret Atwood, the film director, the brothers Ethan and Joel Cohen and more.

Dan David supported Tel Aviv University a lot. The beginning of his work for the university began as a friend of Tel Aviv University in Italy. With the help of the donation he raised in the early 90s, the Dan David building for classrooms was built on the university campus. Also, the late David established funds for scholarships for students of the Faculty of Management.

In 1996, the late Dan David received an honorary doctorate from Tel Aviv University, in recognition of his distinguished career embracing international business, his tireless dedication to the development of higher education in the country, and his firm commitment to Israel.

Dan David served as the president of the companies Dedem Automatical SRL and Photo Me International PLC, a company listed on the London Stock Exchange and owns 90% of the entire world market of automatic photo cameras. He was also the controlling owner of the Leader Holdings and Investments Group. The late David was involved in a large number of philanthropic projects, in a huge variety of fields - from archeology to medicine and cinema.

Dan David divided his time between England, Italy, Spain and Israel and left behind a wife, Gabriela Fleishman David, and a son, Ariel David, a young journalist living in Israel.

Prof. Yosef Klefter, president of Tel Aviv University, expressed his sorrow at the passing of Dan David and said that the loss is very heavy. "A man of Eshkolot and a true friend of Tel Aviv University, whose higher education was close to his heart, has passed away," noted Prof. Clifter.