Sami Sagol
Mr. Sagol, Chairman of Keter Group, is a leading figure in the world of business and a renowned philanthropist. Born in Turkey, Sami Sagol immigrated to Israel as a child and received academic degrees from the Technion and Tel Aviv University.
Today, he serves on the Board of Governors of both these institutions, as well as on the Board of Shenkar College.
Sami Sagol is respected as the leading industrialist in the field of plastics worldwide, having transformed a successful Israeli company into one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of consumer products and a global trendsetter.
Mr. Sagol is esteemed by the community and by his employees for his unswerving respect for people. His company contributes to meeting the social needs of both individual families and the neighborhoods of his employees, which reflect a cross-section of Israel’s diverse society, including immigrants and natives, Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze, religious and secular.
Throughout his career, Sami has brought his energy and caring to help advance Israel’s younger generation. He recently established “d-VISION”, an international development and innovation center where more than 30 graduates of leading design academies take part in a two-year internship program within the Keter Group. This program provides a young generation of designers with practical experience and professional training, and paves the way for them to contribute to the advancement of Israel’s industrial arena.
As the owner of Hapoel “Keter” Tel Aviv, he established the “Education and Social Project”, which creatively uses soccer as a means to achieve personal enrichment and educational reinforcement among periphery youth. Today, over 25,000 children take part in this program, at over 400 locations across Israel.
Mr. Sagol is known for his great interest in brain research. In addition to the numerous studies and seminars in which he takes an active part, he also supports academic research of this important subject. Sami Sagol commemorated his late father with the establishment of the Joseph Sagol Neuroscience Center at Sheba Medical Center.
Sami Sagol and his family are also strong supporters of numerous other cultural, research and educational organizations, including Nitzan Baby, the New Israeli Opera, the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, the Haifa Science Museum, the Tel Aviv Museum and Bezalel Art Academy.
For excellence in developing and promoting a successful multinational company in a competitive international marketplace, Sami Sagol received a personal award of recognition from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Among other awards for his exemplary leadership, personal contribution, promotion of Israeli industry and efforts in improving Israeli society, Sami Sagol holds the Prize for Industry and Export from the President of Israel, the exclusive Lord Ziv Prize, Shenkar College’s International Entrepreneur Award and Tel Aviv University’s Hugo Ramniceanu
Prize in Economics.