Bellmore resident honored by Technion

When Bellmore resident Alan Forman, 58, received his honorary degree from the Technion Institute in Haifa, it was in recognition of his work in promoting the school in the local Jewish community.

“My business partner Jonathan Sohn is an alum of Technion. Years ago, I attended a Technion breakfast with students and made it my mission,” Forman said. An engineer by trade, Forman is a founder of Altronix, a Brooklyn-based manufacturer of low-voltage electronic equipment.

Forman’s support of Technion began in 1994 with the Alan & Tatyana Forman Endowed Scholarship Fund. Since then, he has funded numerous projects towards the school’s expansion, including a student dormitory. On the local level, Forman is a former director of the New York Chapter of the American Technion Society, which promotes the century-old engineering school in the local Jewish community.

Forman received his honorary degree alongside Oscar Davis, a Manhattan resident who runs Haywood Industries, a New Jersey-based producer of swimming pool equipment. Going beyond fundraising, Davis founded a fellowship at the school and hired a few Technion graduates for his company. “I am contributing to an institution that I wholly believe in. Its goals and future are so important, and I am proud to be able to help the Technion meet its objectives,” Davis said. Both Forman and Davis sit on the school’s Board of Governors.

Looking at the school’s future, Forman said that nanotechnology is growing at Technion, as well as interdisciplinary sciences. Next year, Technion will celebrate its centennial as one of Zionism’s pioneering achievements.

“We need to retain the brain power,” Forman said. “The gifts from the Jewish community to Technion will benefit Israel and the world.”