The Museum of the History of Polish Jews is proud to announce a new gift commitment of $2,000,000 from Mr. William Bowes, a well-known San Francisco venture capitalist and philanthropist. The generous gift will provide key support to the development and implementation of the Global Education Outreach Program of the Museum.

This partnership would not have been possible without the involvement and support of Honorary Consul Tad Taube, Museum Distinguished Benefactor, Chairman of Taube Philanthropies and President of the Koret Foundation, who introduced Mr. Bowes to the landmark museum and its innovative educational mission.

The Global Education Outreach Program will subsidize group visits to the Museum from countries around the world, as well as finance its Museum Without Walls programs, which include state-of-the-art mobile applications, interactive genealogy research, accessible educational resources, international conferences, and more. Academic opportunities, such as lectureships, fellowships, symposia and publishing, will create partnerships between the Museum and prominent American universities and help strengthen Polish-Jewish studies in the U.S. and worldwide.

William K. Bowes, Jr., a venture capitalist in the Bay Area for nearly 50 years, founded U.S. Venture Partners (U.S.V.P.). Mr. Bowes was born in San Francisco, graduated with a B.A. in Economics from Stanford University and an M.B.A. from Harvard University, and served in the U.S. Army infantry in the South Pacific and Japan during and after World War II.

Today, Mr. Bowes dedicates his time to supporting education and medical research. Mr. Bowes served as Chairman of the successful Mission Bay Campaign, a $240 million initiative of the University of California San Francisco. In 2007, Mr. Bowes was named the San Francisco Bay Area’s Outstanding Philanthropist by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Golden Gate Chapter and Northern California Grantmakers.

To date, the Museum's global educational activities have included Polish Intercultural Youth Encounters (PIYE) and the Polin Academy Summer Seminar (PASS). PIYE, currently in its seventh year, is an educational program in which Israeli students come to Poland to take part in workshops, tour Warsaw and other Polish cities, and discover complex Polish Jewish history as well as contemporary Polish and Israeli culture. In the fall, the Polish PIYE students will go to Israel where, for three months, they will study at Tel Aviv University and become familiar with the history, traditions, culture and current socio-political situation of Israel. The project is a joint initiative of the Museum and the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland and has been funded yearly by Museum Distinguished Benefactors Tomasz Ulatowski and Ygal Orzechow.

This summer marked the inaugural edition of PASS, an educational program for North American educators during which they are introduced to the subjects treated in the Museum’s 8-gallery Core Exhibition and tasked with helping the Museum to develop culturally sensitive guided tours for groups from North America to the Museum's state-of-the-art Core Exhibition. PASS was launched this summer with the support of Phyllis Cook, the Association of the Jewish Historical Institute of Poland, and Boeing. Educational outreach throughout Poland is now ably supported with a three-year grant totaling $3,000,000 from the Government of Norway. Similarly, the new multi-year gift from Mr. Bowes enables the Museum to execute its ambitious educational plans worldwide.