Mrs. Vera Schwartz

United States

In recognition of her outstanding contributions to academia and medical care, for the benefit of science and the health of countless individuals; of her generous support for research across multiple areas at the Weizmann Institute of Science and as an esteemed member of its International Board; and of her deep devotion to the State of Israel and the Jewish people.

Mrs. Vera Schwartz has undertaken a magnanimous commitment for the benefit of Israeli science, forming a close association with the Weizmann Institute and many of its researchers, alongside her husband and PhD honoris causa recipient, Dr. John L. Schwartz.

She worked in the acquisition and administration of medical research grants at UCLA for 23 years, and for the next 20 years, served as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Veteran Affairs’ (VA) Health Services Research Center in Los Angeles. At the VA – the largest integrated health care system in the U.S., providing healthcare for veterans – she oversaw a staff of 200 professionals. Under her leadership, the organization conducted a comprehensive study of female veterans’ health needs, which led to the establishment of hundreds of specialized VA health clinics for women across the country.

Mrs. Schwartz has a personal passion and keen interest in scientific research and is a devoted supporter of the Weizmann Institute and its American Committee. She has worked to promote the Weizmann Institute among her many friends and associates in the U.S. In 2017, she and her husband established the Vera and John Schwartz Family Center for Metabolic Biology, which strives to advance diagnosis, therapy, and new strategies for disease prevention by providing Weizmann Institute scientists with the tools needed to explore the biochemical building blocks of metabolism.

The couple also founded the Vera and John Schwartz Professorial Chair in Neurobiology, whose incumbent is Weizmann Institute President Prof. Alon Chen, and the Vera Rosenberg Schwartz Research Fellow Chair, whose incumbent is Dr. Hagit Shapiro, a Staff Scientist in Prof. Eran Elinav’s lab in the Department of Immunology. Other Weizmann endeavors she and her husband have supported include the Frontiers of the Universe flagship project, the Coronavirus Response Fund, gallium arsenide research at the Braun Center for Submicron Research, the ACWIS 70th Anniversary Lab headed by Dr. Noam Stern- Ginossar in the Department of Molecular Genetics, and the Davidson Institute of Science Education.

Mrs. Vera Schwartz is a member of the Institute’s International Board. She and her husband were inducted into the President’s Circle, an elite honor bestowed upon the Weizmann Institute’s most generous and visionary donors, in 2007.