Susan Wakil

Susan Wakil (1933 – 28 May 2018) was a Romanian businesswoman, a charity supporter and philanthropist who supported health, education and the arts in Australia.

Biography Susan Wakil was born in Bessarabia in 1933.

Wakil came with her aunt to live in Sydney at the age of 15, and was later joined by her father upon his release. As a young girl, she attended the Holy Cross College in Woollahra, where she studied English and bookkeeping. She found work in the fashion industry and through this she met her future husband, Isaac Wakil. thumb

Isaac Wakil was born in Baghdad in 1927 and arrived in Australia to escape Iraq after the violence of the Farhud in 1941. thumb

Wakil died on 28 May 2018.

Philanthropy The Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation was established In 2014. The Wakils began selling many of their property investments and announced their intention to establish a charitable foundation.

In 2015, a gift of $10.8 million was made to the University of Sydney to provide 12 perpetual nursing scholarships a year, half of them to support regional, rural or Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islanders. A few months later they made a donation of $35 million to support the construction of the Susan Wakil Health Building, which unites the medicine and health disciplines in one purpose-built facility at the University of Sydney.

The Art Gallery of New South Wales received a $24 million donation to the Sydney Modern project, which was the biggest cash donation in the institution’s history. thumb

The Wakils were also major benefactors of the Sydney Jewish Museum, supporting the Fund for Jewish Higher Education, making a significant contribution to tertiary-level Jewish studies and teacher training at the University of Sydney.

From 2015, through the Public Education Foundation, the Wakils funded scholarships for disadvantaged graduates of public schools undertaking tertiary or vocational education.

In 2022, the Susan and Isaac Wakil Foundation donated $20 million to establish the Isaac Wakil Biomedical Building, one of three buildings that will make up the Sydney Biomedical Accelerator complex due to open from 2026. The Isaac Wakil Biomedical Building will stand beside and connect to the Susan Wakil Health Building.

Julian Leeser, MP for Berowra, acknowledged Wakil as one of Australia’s greatest benefactors in the grievance debate in Parliament, Wednesday 27 June 2018.