1951 until 1960

A gift of British philanthropist Sir Isaac Wolfson, today it houses the Electron Microscopy Unit, the Irving and Cherna Moskowitz Center for Nano and Bio-Nano Imaging, and part of the Department of Molecular Cell Biology.

This building, too, was designed by architect Arie Elhanani, and is a classical example of minimalist office buildings in the international style of the late 1940s, which was so prevalent in the early years of the State of Israel. Sir Isaac Wolfson (1897-1991) was the Chairman of Great Universal Stores, which he joined as a merchandising controller in 1932, becoming a managing director in the same year. The company became one of Britain’s leading retailers, and Wolfson served as its Chairman from 1946 until 1986, and from then until his death as vice-chairman with his son Leonard. He received a baronetcy in the Queen's 1962 New Year's Honors list, becoming Sir Isaac Wolfson of St. Marylebone.

With his wife, Edith, and son, Leonard, he founded the Wolfson Foundation and the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust, which have provided generous support for major projects in health and education in both the UK and Israel; among them: Wolfson College, Oxford; and Wolfson College, Cambridge; Wolfson Hospital, Holon; the Hechal Shlomo, seat of the Israeli Rabbinate and Jerusalem’s Great Synagogue; and many professorships and other forms of support at Israeli and UK universities and medical establishments. Sir Isaac died in his home on the Weizmann Institute campus, Wolfson House, in 1991, at age 93.

His son, Leonard Gordon Wolfson (1927-2010), was knighted in 1977, and made a life peer, as Baron Wolfson of Marylebone in the City of Westminster, in 1985. For over two decades, he served as chairman of Great Universal Stores, and acted as chairman of the Wolfson Foundation and the Wolfson Family Charitable Trust until his death.

The Wolfson Family Charitable Trust, which administers most of the family’s philanthropic activities in Israel, generously supports the Weizmann Institute (and other Israeli institutions of higher learning) with a number of simultaneous major grants in areas of fundamental, cutting-edge research, most often in areas where it is extremely difficult to obtain philanthropic support. Usually, the grants are for the purchase of expensive major equipment items, which, in turn, are rarely funded by science granting agencies. Thus, the Wolfson family’s support fills a critical gap in funding science in Israel.

Both Sir Isaac Wolfson and his son, Lord Leonard Wolfson, served on the Weizmann Institute’s Board (since 1950, and 1957, respectively), and were awarded the Institute’s honorary degrees (1959, and 1988, respectively).

A central campus restaurant, this is a gift of Institute friends in Argentina, who named it for the 19th century general Jose de San Martin, who led the struggle of the southern part of Latin America for independence from Spain,

The largest auditorium on campus, given by philanthropists from the UK was designed by Arie Elhanani.

A gift of Sir Isaac Wolfson of the UK, in honor of his wife, for housing of Weizmann Institute scientists.

A gift of Chaim Weizmann’s early supporters in the UK. Designed by Arie Elhanani, it is considered a landmark building in Israeli architecture. This building is being converted for use as an international conference center.

A gift of donors from Washington, DC, was dedicated in the presence of Nils Bohr, Robert Oppenheimer and other renowned physicists. Initially known as the Institute for Nuclear Science, it later housed the Electronics Department. Today it houses the Department of Physics of Complex Systems.

A gift of friends from the US.