David Polak

David Polak graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.[1] He received a master's degree from the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).[1][2]

He founded NWQ Investment Management, an investment firm based in Century City, Los Angeles, with US$30 billion under management.[3][4] He served as its Chairman.[5] The company is affiliated with Nuveen Investments.[6]

He served as Chair of the Investment Committee of the Jewish Community Foundation (JCF) of Los Angeles from 2004 to 2009.[5] Under his tenure, the JCF invested US$12 million with Bernard L. Madoff in 2004, and US$6 million in 2006.[5][4]

With his wife, he has donated to the American Technion Society, which supports the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, Israel, for twenty years.[1] The David and Janet Polak Cancer and Vascular Biology Research Center at Technion was named after his wife and he after they made a large charitable contribution to the institute.[7] He received an honorary Doctorate from Technion in 2009.[1] He has also donated to the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.[8][9]

With his wife, he was the recipient of the Philanthropic Leadership Award from the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center at their 2014 Board of Governors Gala, which took place at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel on December 2, 2014.[10]

He is married to Janet Polak.[3]