Quick Facts
Biography
David Mitchell Magerman (born 1968) is a Jewish Computer Scientist and philanthropist from Brooklyn, New York. David formerly worked as a research scientist at Renaissance Technologies, a hedge fund management firm. From 1995 until 2008, David helped design Renaissance’s equities trading system and ultimately served as the head of production. David also researched artificial intelligence at the IBM T.J. Watson Research Center where he developed statistical methods for understanding speech and language. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Yeshiva University as well as the Board of Overseers of the University of Pennsylvania School of Engineering. David and his wife Debra live in Merion Station, Pennsylvania, with their four children.
Personal life
Magerman was born to Melvin and Sheila Magerman. His father owned All-City Taxi in Miami, Florida, and his mother was a secretary for a group of accounting firms in Tamarac. Magerman married his wife, Debra Magerman (née Kampel), on the 8th of August 1999. They have four children.
Education
Magerman received his Ph.D from Stanford University in Computer Science.He also received his B.S. from the University of Pennsylvania.
Philanthropy
Through founding The Kohelet Foundation, he has donated tens of millions of dollars to local causes. Some of these include Kohelet Yeshiva High School (renamed from Stern Hebrew High School in the gift's honor), Yeshiva University and the Yeshiva Lab School.
Business ventures
In order to maintain the Jewish community in his neighborhood, Magerman has worked on several business ventures. His first of these was Citron and Rose, an upscale Kosher certified meat restaurant, with Michael Solomonov as the head chef. After seeing little to no benefit of an upscale dining experience, Magerman re-branded the establishment as C&R Kitchen, and split with head chef Solomonov. During this time, he opened a second restaurant across the street, except this time a casual dairy establishment. The Dairy Cafe is currently open. To better serve the community, C&R Kitchen was closed and replaced with a more upscale place, The Dairy Express, known for its high capacity pizza oven. Currently under construction is C&R Tavern, a mix between a Kosher grocery store and a dining establishment.
Controversies
In 2017, Magerman publicly opposed his boss, Robert Mercer's, views concerning politics and race issues in America. Mercer, the co-CEO of Renaissance Technology, suspended Magerman without pay and later made the suspension permanent. Magerman is currently seeking an excess of $150,000 in damages over alleged racist comments and unlawful termination.