United States
Gary M. Abramson is a top real estate entrepreneur and a highly respected leader who has been a pillar of the Washington, D.C. Jewish community for decades. He began his professional career in 1969 at the Tower Companies, a three-generation family-owned real estate development business in the Washington, D.C. area. Founded by Gary’s father Albert Abramson in 1947, Tower is now the largest builder of LEED®-certified green building properties in the D.C. metro area, and one of the pioneers of sustainable building practices in the United States. Over the years, Mr. Abramson has designed numerous office buildings, apartments, shopping centers, and mixed-use complexes, and has overseen multiple aspects of the company, including leasing, management, development, construction, architecture, design, and aesthetics. Today, he serves as a partner in the company.
Mr. Abramson received his BA (1968) in government and public administration from American University in Washington, D.C. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Board of Trustees of American University; Former Chairman of the Heifetz International Music Institute in Virginia; a member of the Washington Advisory Board of Truist Bank; and, for the past three decades, has been actively involved with the Weizmann Institute of Science and its American Committee (ACWIS).
Mr. Abramson was first elected to the Weizmann Institute’s Board of Governors in 1988 and has been a valued contributing member ever since. In November 2018, he was appointed a Life Member of the International Board. He and his wife Pennie share a deep dedication to advancing the future of science in Israel, and lead by example through committed service and leadership on the ACWIS Board of Directors and the Weizmann Institute Board.
The couple are generous supporters of multiple Weizmann endeavors. In 2009, they established the Abramson Family Center for Young Scientists, which has provided vital support to outstanding new recruits at the Institute, and have also contributed to brain research. Mr. and Mrs. Abramson are members of the President’s Circle of the Weizmann Institute.
Most recently, the Abramson family provided the naming gift to establish the Pennie and Gary Abramson Family International Residence, a state-of-the-art building that will serve as a dormitory complex and social hub for Weizmann international students and postdoctoral fellows.
Gary and Pennie Abramson have three children and four grandchildren.