Weiss, David W. 1927–

(David Walter Weiss)

PERSONAL:

Born July 6, 1927, in Vienna, Austria; naturalized U.S. citizen; immigrated to Israel, 1968; son of Hillel and Julie Weiss; married Judith Weintrob, 1951; children: Hillel Jonathan, Joshua Micah, Jeremy Moses. Ethnicity: "Human." Education: Brooklyn College (now of the City University of New York), B.A., 1949; Rutgers University, Ph.D. (microbiology), 1952; Oxford University, Ph.D. (medicine), 1957.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology, Hadassah Medical School, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, P.O. Box 12272, 91120 Jerusalem, Israel. E-mail—davidw@md2.huji.ac.il.

CAREER:

Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, research assistant, 1952-55; Oxford University, Medical Research Council, Oxford, England, director of tuberculosis unit, 1956-57; University of California, Berkeley, assistant professor, 1957-60, associate professor, 1960-65, professor of bacteriology and immunology, 1965-67, research immunologist at Cancer Research Genetics Laboratory, 1962-67, lecturer in zoology, 1975-78, research professor at Miller Institute of Basic Research in Science, 1966-67; Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel, professor and chair of Lautenberg Center for General and Tumor Immunology at Hadassah Medical School, beginning 1967, now professor emeritus, member of board of governors, 1986-90. Mount Sinai Hospital and Medical School, New York, NY, visiting professor, 1977-78. Center for Medical Ethics, chair of academic committee, 1988—; Cancer Research Institute, New York, NY, member of scientific advisory council; Midwinter Conference of Immunologists, member. Member of board of governors, Bar-Ilan University, 1982—, Jerusalem College of Technology, 1989-94, and Ben Gurion University of the Negev, 1989—. Avichai Foundation, member of board of trustees, 1990—. Member of editorial board, Transplantation Proceedings, Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, Immunopharmacology, and Cancer Therapeutics and Pharmacology. Military service: U.S. Army, 1946-48. Israel Defense Forces, 1968-82.

MEMBER:

Israel Immunological Society, Transplantation Society, American Association for Cancer Research, American Association of Immunologists, British Society of Immunology, Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland, New York Academy of Sciences.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Fellow, Rutgers Research and Endowment Foundation, 1949-52; Merck senior fellow, National Academy of Sciences, 1955-57; Distinguished Alumnus Award and medal, Brooklyn College of the City University of New York, 1961, D.Sc., 1983; senior scholar, American Cancer Society, 1962-63; Frank Sinatra Award, Pan American Cancer Cytology Society, 1973; Herbert Abeles scholar, 1974; St. John Medical Center, Tulsa, OK, award of honor, 1976, Ungerman-Lubin Cancer Research Award, 1977; Distinguished Alumnus Award and medal, Rabbi Jacob Joseph School, 1977; award of honor, Dr. 1 Fund Foundation, 1983; Prentis Prize and Medal, Michigan Cancer Foundation, 1983; proclamation of honor, City Council of Beverly Hills, CA, 1995; Austrian Cross of Honor for Science and Art, first class, 2005.

WRITINGS:

(Editor) Immunological Parameters of Host-Tumor Relationships, Academic Press (New York, NY), 1971.

(Editor, with Avivah Zuckerman) Dynamic Aspects of Host-Parasite Relationships, Academic Press (New York, NY), 1973.

Tumor Antigenicity and Approaches to Tumor Immunotherapy: An Outline, Springer-Verlag (New York, NY), 1980.

The Wings of the Dove: Jewish Values, Science, and Halachah, B'nai B'rith Books (Washington, DC), 1987.

Reluctant Return: A Survivor's Journey to an Austrian Town (memoir), Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1999.

Contributor to medical journals and other periodicals, including Judaism and Hadassah.

Weiss's memoir was also published in German.

SIDELIGHTS:

David W. Weiss told CA: "Upon obligatory retirement at age sixty-eight (obligatory at universities in Israel) I decided to call a halt to my career in medical science. There is very little chance of making important contributions to the rapidly evolving fields in which I was active in one's seventies. I took up a second, new career in writing. One novel is under consideration by publishers, and a second in being completed. I have also written a series of short stories based on encounters with Arabs in Israel and Jordan, which have been positive and led to new friendships. My wife and I are active in Israel's peace movements and are studying spoken Arabic, so as to communicate in that language as well as with our large circle of Arab friends. I believe it is important to emphasize that many encounters between Jews and Muslim and Christian Arabs are not hostile but, rather, humane and friendly. Eight of these stories have been published so far in magazines; all will eventually appear as a book.

"Until 1995 I had refused all contact with Austria and Austrians, the memories of my life there during the six months after the Anschluss in 1938 to Nazi Germany having been those of vicious persecution. However, having returned in 1995 at the invitation of Protestant and Catholic groups in my former hometown, close friendships developed there. I have returned repeatedly since then and have become active in the building of new bridges with Austrian students, teachers, and scientists. My book, Reluctant Return: A Survivor's Journey to an Austrian Town, was published in 1999 and has been translated into German."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Weiss, David W., Reluctant Return: A Survivor's Journey to an Austrian Town, Indiana University Press (Bloomington, IN), 1999.

PERIODICALS

Publishers Weekly, September 6, 1999, review of Reluctant Return, p. 88.