Article Source: San Mateo County History Museum
2017 San Mateo County History Makers Announcement
The Board of Directors of the San Mateo County Historical Association is pleased to announce philanthropist Tad Taube of Woodside as its 2017 San Mateo County History Maker. Founder and Chairman of Taube Philanthropies, Taube awards grants to charitable programs and initiatives around the world. He’s overseen hundreds of millions of dollars in philanthropic donations and pledged most of his wealth to philanthropy as a signatory of the Gates/Buffet Giving Pledge.
Each year, the Historical Association hosts its History Makers Dinner, which highlights an individual or individuals who have made significant contributions to our regional history and beyond. Previous honorees have been the T. Jack Foster Family, Gordon Moore, Ann Johnson, Dr. Thomas Fogarty, the Borel Family, the Lane Family, the Roth Family, the Crocker Family, Keith Sorenson together with Jim Fox, Willie Mays, William K. Bowes, Jr. together with Reid W. Dennis, William H. Draper, and Pitch Johnson, Y.A. Tittle, Pete and Paula Uccelli and last year’s recipients, the Wisnom Family, for being pioneers of “Old San Mateo” and establishing its business community.
Tad Taube was born in Poland and fled the country just months before the outbreak of World War II. As a Polish Jew, he remembers the fearful journey through the heart of Nazi Germany, with SS officers scrutinizing his identification papers at each station.
Taube reunited with his family in New York City via Ellis Island. Nearly penniless, they moved to Los Angeles to seek business connections with Polish friends. Family circumstances improved, and Taube was able to afford and attend Stanford University. He participated in the Air Force ROTC program and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering in 1954.
After college, Taube joined the Air Force as a Communications Officer, responsible for installation of ground-to-air landing systems throughout the western United States. Following his military service, he returned to Stanford where he earned a master’s degree in industrial management. After a brief stint in the then-emerging high-tech industry, Taube pursued a successful career in real estate investment and management.
In 1968, San Francisco apparel giants Joseph and Stephanie Koret sought Taube and his Woodmont Companies to help diversify their assets in real estate. These investments soon dwarfed the Korets’ apparel fortune, so when their company, Koret of California, came to the brink of insolvency, they sought Taube’s investment expertise and appointed him Chairman and CEO. Over the next six years, the once struggling company was restored to profitability and in 1979, Taube engineered its sale to Levi Strauss & Co. for close to $100 million. Afterward, Taube returned to his real estate investments.
It was around this time that the Koret Foundation was established. Taube and three close associates joined Joseph Koret as Directors of the fledgling foundation. Koret passed away two years later, leaving his estate to enlarge the corpus of the Koret Foundation, and appointing Taube to lead it. Over the next 35 years, the foundation prospered in its philanthropic reach and asset growth under Taube’s leadership.
During that time, Taube founded Taube Philanthropies, comprising the Taube Family Foundation and later, Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture, which focuses on supporting organizations engaged in civic and cultural life, education, youth and sports initiatives, public policy research, and the strengthening of Jewish culture in the Bay Area, Israel and Poland. Taube serves as honorary consul of the Republic of Poland. Taube retired as President of the Koret Foundation in 2015 to focus his time and energies on leading Taube Philanthropies.
Mr. Taube has chosen to participate in the History Makers Dinner and to support the San Mateo County Historical Association because of its work in preserving the Peninsula’s past, and providing hands-on learning experiences for nearly 20,000 school children every year.
Altogether, the Historical Association’s activities include:
· Operating its three museums: San Mateo County History Museum, Sanchez Adobe and Woodside Store (combined attendance is projected to be 70,000 in fiscal 2017).
· Conducting its school programs at the three museums plus Folger Stable.
· Providing public access to its archives through its research library.
· Caring for the 420,000 items in its collections.
· Organizing special monthly educational programs for adults and children.
· Continuing a creative schedule of changing exhibits at the History Museum.
· Publishing its journal, La Peninsula.
· Acting as a clearing house for matters of historic preservation throughout the County.
A special event honoring Mr. Taube will be held on September 13, 2017 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Burlingame. The evening will begin at 6:00 p.m. with a hosted cocktail reception, followed by dinner, a brief live auction, and film.
Those interested in attending can contact the Historical Association via email:development@historysmc.org, or call 650-299-0104. Reservations must be made in advance. There will not be drop-in seating.
/s/ Sarah Phelps
Development Associate
San Mateo County Historical Association
2200 Broadway, Redwood City, CA 94063
Ph: 650.299.0104, ext. 224 | Fax: 650.299.0141
sarah@historysmc.org | www.historysmc.org
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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives
Source Credit: San Mateo County CA History Museum
Web Site: www.historysmc.org
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