Dr. Yosef Walder z”l

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Dr. Yosef Walder z”l.

Dr. Walder was a renowned baal chesed and askan in his hometown of Chicago and well beyond. He and his wife founded the Walder Education Center, through which they enriched the community in so many ways. He was likewise involved in numerous initiatives, mosdos, and chesed undertakings.

Dr. Walder, M.D., Ph.D. was a professor of biochemistry at the University of Iowa College of Medicine before starting his own company, Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), in 1987 through a partnership with Baxter Healthcare Corporation.

This Illinois branch of IDT has given honorable employment to hundreds of Torah observant Jews in an environment rich with Torah ideals, and mitzvah observance.

IDT became the world’s leading provider of synthetic RNA and DNA used in life sciences research. It helps scientists analyze the genetic makeup of all organisms, supporting numerous medical and other applications, from finding cures for diseases to finding new biological solutions for cleaning up our natural resources.

One of its beneficiaries is the Dor Yeshorim program which successfully eliminates the agonizing occurrence of fatal and debilitating genetic diseases in Jewish families worldwide through its premarital genetic screening program.

In its first 10 years, IDT grew from a startup with 10 synthesizing machines to a small company with more than 500, shipping an average 75,000 custom oligos per day to more than 82,000 customers worldwide.

Dr. Walder held numerous patents for his pioneering breakthrough technologies. In March 2018, IDT was acquired by Danaher Corporation for a reported $1.9 billion.

With the massive profit, Dr. Walder and his wife Elizabeth (Shira Malka) Walder created the Walder Foundation, a private family foundation based in Skokie, Illinois.

With a deep interest in Jewish affairs, the Walders support dozens—if not hundreds—of institutions around the country, in Israel, and throughout the world.

Closer to home, their visionary generosity has impacted the entire Chicagoland community through the myriad of programs and mosdos in which they play a pivotal role.

A few notable examples include: The Kehillah Fund for Jewish Education which provides over $850,000 per year in financial support to Jewish Day Schools in the ATT system; the Walder Education Pavilion of Torah Umesorah, which provides invaluable resources to educators all over the world; and Walder Science Center.

The levayah will be held on Wednesday at 8 a.m. at Ateres Ayala located at 3412 W Touhy Avenue in Skokie, IL.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}