Officers and Board of Directors

STAFF

Sam Hoenig is a founder and President of the Negev Foundation. Sam has had over 25 years of experience with foreign and domestic agricultural and land related projects. He has assisted the United States Department of Agriculture and Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and coordinated agricultural transfer initiatives between the United States and Israel. Sam has also served as a consultant to the Minister for Agricultural Affairs to North America at the Israel Embassy in Washington. In addition, Sam is a member of several civic committees in Cleveland including the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland, The Ohio Jewish Communities, and is Chairman of Kol Israel Foundation Second Generation.  Prior to becoming President of The Negev Foundation in 1995, Mr. Hoenig spent seventeen years as Executive Director of the Jewish National Fund in Ohio.  He attended Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the University of Wisconsin.  He later went on to University of Southern California, completing 2 graduate degrees in Business and Administration. 

Dr. Sarah Horowitz serves as the Program Director of the Ohio-Israel Agricultural Initiative for The Negev Foundation. Sarah has over thirty years of research experience in microbiology and biotechnology in industry and academia. She has written over 90 publications, patent applications and technical reports, and has given numerous presentations and invited seminars. Prior to becoming Program Director of OIAI, Sarah served as Administrative Director and President of UPAH Tech, Inc., Environmental and Aquaculture Microbiology Consulting and Service in Cleveland, Ohio, Senior Project Leader, Biotechnology Branch, British Petroleum Research Center in Cleveland, Research Associate and Instructor in the Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology in the School of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and as a Research Associate in the Department of Biochemistry at Michigan State University. Sarah attended Tel-Aviv University in Israel where she received a B.S. in Biology and M.S. in Microbiology. She received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Louisville, KY.

Jan Markulin has served as the Office Administrator for the Negev Foundation since 1999. Prior to joining as a vital part of the Negev Foundation’s Cleveland office, Jan held the role of Executive Secretary at the Cuyahoga County Board of Mental Retardation and as Credit Secretary and Proof Reader for Premier Industrial Corp. in Cleveland, OH. Jan received her degree from Sawyer College of Business in Cleveland Heights, OH. She is married to her husband, John, of sixteen years and is the mother of four daughters.  In her free time, Jan enjoys reading and writing poetry and short stories.

Alan Goldman serves as a grant-writer for the Negev Foundation. He is currently the Development Director of RSVP of Greater Cleveland and Course Developer for Aish.com in Lakewood, NJ. He has also served as the Endowments and Foundations Senior Associate for the Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland and as a Judaic Studies teacher at Fuchs Mizrachi School in Cleveland. In addition, Alan has served as the President and Vice President of Torat Tzion Kollel, as a member of the Board of Trustees for Young Israel of Greater Cleveland, and as a Chair of the Constitution Committee for Fuchs Mizrachin School. Alan received a B.A. in Political Science from Columbia University in New York, a M.S.W. from Wurzweiler School of Social Work, Yeshiva University, and J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law. 

Marc Coles serves as the Israeli liaison for BioOhio, a business development initiative of the State of Ohio and as a consultant for BioJerusalem, a business development initiative of the Development Authority. He is also the Senior Vice President of Business Development for the Ohio Chamber of Commerce in Beachwood, OH. He has served as Vice President and General Counsel for the Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., in Israel, as a Consultant for Biomedicom Creative Bio-Medical Computing Ltd., in Israel, and as the Director of Regulatory Affairs for Biodan Medical Systems Ltd., in Israel. Marc Received his B.A. from Miami University, J.D. from Case Western Reserve University, and M.B.A. from the Kellogg School of Management in Evanston, IL, and Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration in Tel-Aviv, Israel. Marc was born in Cleveland OH, but moved to Israel in 1982. back to top

Officers and Board of Directors marked with * are of blessed memory.