23 Facts About Frank Lowy

Sir Frank P Lowy is an Australian-Israeli businessman of Jewish Slovakian-Hungarian origins and the former long-time Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre company with billion of assets under management in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe.

Frank Lowy is a former Chairman of Scentre Group, the owner and manager of Westfield-branded shopping centres in Australia and New Zealand.

Frank Lowy is chairman of the Institute for National Securities Studies, an independent academic institute that studies key issues relating to Israel's national security and Middle East affairs.

Frank Lowy was born in Czechoslovakia, and was forced to live in a ghetto in Hungary during World War II.

Frank Lowy made his way to France in 1946, where he boarded the ship Yagur, heading for Mandatory Palestine.

In 1952, Frank Lowy left Israel and joined his family, who had left Europe for Australia and started a business delivering small goods.

Frank Lowy was appointed a Director of the Reserve Bank of Australia in 1995, was reappointed in 2000 and 2003, and concluded his term in 2005.

In 2008 Frank Lowy and related interests were mentioned in documents stolen from the LGT Bank of Liechtenstein by a former employee.

Frank Lowy maintained he had not done anything wrong, the matter was settled with the ATO, and no action was taken.

In October 2015, Frank Lowy stepped down as the chairman of the Scentre Group, a role that he had held for 55 years.

Frank Lowy married Shirley Rusanow in 1954, having met at a Jewish dance when he was 21.

Frank Lowy's wife was the founder of the Chai Foundation which is dedicated to finding and funding research into effective but less toxic forms of cancer therapy.

Lady Frank Lowy died in Tel Aviv in December 2020, after a long battle with dementia.

In What Will Become of Us, a documentary screened at the 2019 Sydney Film Festival, Frank Lowy spoke openly of the trauma of gradually losing his wife.

Frank Lowy has appeared on the Financial Review Rich List, formerly the BRW Rich 200 list, every year since it was first published in 1983.

Frank Lowy completed his term-limited period of leading the FFA, then handed over power to his son Steven.

Frank Lowy sold the last of his shares in Sydney FC at that time.

Frank Lowy has a reputation for giving of his time and financial support to a broad range of causes.

Together with the Packer family, in 2008 Frank Lowy donated an undisclosed amount towards the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.

The establishment of the Frank Lowy Institute led him to being awarded the Woodrow Wilson Award for Corporate Citizenship in 2005 by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

On 2 October 2007 Frank Lowy received the Henni Friedlander Award for the Common Good at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, United States.

In 2008 Frank Lowy was honoured by Australia Post for his contribution to philanthropy as one of the nation's five leading, living philanthropists with a commemorative postage stamp that was released on the eve of Australia Day as part of the Australian Legends series.

Frank Lowy was knighted in the 2017 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to business and philanthropy.