Ze'ev Davidovitch

September 28, 1935 - February 7, 2022

Dr. Ze'ev Davidovitch, age 86, passed away on February 7, 2022 (ו׳ אדר א׳ ה׳תשפ״ב) in Boca Raton, Florida. He was born on the first day of Rosh Hashanah (September 28, 1935) in Ramat Gan, Israel. His parents, Hillel and Sarah, immigrated to Palestine from Lodz, Poland in 1934. Ze'ev grew up in Tel Aviv where he attended the BILU grade school and Ironit Bet High School. Between 1953 and 1956, he served in the IDF's Nachal Brigade. Upon completion of his military service, he enrolled as a dental student at Hebrew University, Jerusalem, graduating in 1961 with a DMD degree and the Massler Award for his doctorate thesis. Two years later, he entered a post graduate program in orthodontics at the Forsyth Dental Center-Harvard University, Boston, Mass. Upon returning to Israel in 1966, he engaged in a full time academic career, starting in Hebrew University (1966-69), followed by University of Nebraska (1969-70), University of Pennsylvania (1970-83), The Ohio State University (1983-93), Harvard University (1993-98), and University of Oklahoma (1998-2000). In two of these schools, Ohio State and Harvard, Dr. Davidovitch served as Chairman of the Department of Orthodontics. Throughout his career, his main interests were the correlations between clinical orthodontics and the vast field of biology. His goal was to explore the effects of orthodontic forces on cells that surround the teeth. He was granted two patents from the U.S. Patent Office (1979 and 2016) for development of devices aimed at administering orally minute electric currents for acceleration of tooth movement. He organized eight international conferences in various countries on the biology of tooth eruption, resorption and movement, and edited their proceeding books, containing over 200 articles. He also co-edited three textbooks on the same subjects, and authored over 100 articles and book chapters. He was the recipient of several research grants from the NIH, NSF, and from private investors. In 2016, Dr. Davidovitch was appointed President of Rapid Orthodontics, Inc., an Ohio company for the design and manufacturing of tooth movement accelerating devices. All these activities attracted researchers from a number of countries to Dr. Davidovitch's lab, and resulted in invitations to lecture and be a keynote speaker in many universities and conferences around the world. In addition, Dr. Davidovitch served regularly as a reviewer of dental research grant applications to NIH, and of manuscripts submitted to various scientific periodicals. He was a member of The American Association of Dental Research, The American Association of Orthodontists, and The American Association for the Advancement of Science. On top of his prolific academic achievements and affiliations, Dr. Davidovitch has been a member of Congregation Tifereth Israel in Columbus, Ohio since 1985. Prior to that, he was a member of Temple Beth Shalom in Cherry Hill, New Jersey for 15 years. Dr. Davidovitch had an active and inquisitive mind, and a unique sense of humor. He enjoyed spending time with his family and friends, reading, writing, creating art (sculpting and painting in particular), cooking, listening to Jewish and Israeli music, and watching classic comedy sketches. He is survived by his loving wife of 59 years Galia (Geiger); his son Dr. Moshe Davidovitch (Zivit) from Tel Aviv, Israel; his daughters, Yael Levi (Yhezkel) from Bexley, Ohio; Tammar Afriat (Asher) from Kfar Ha'oranim, Israel; Daphna Zuckerbrod (Daniel) from Oak Park, Michigan; grandchildren Maya, Gall, Lehee Davidovitch; Tali, Yaniv (Orel), Nitzan, Nadav, Noa, Avigay'il Levi; Yuval, Talya, Gili Afriat; Naftali, Rivka, Devorah, Shoshana, and Hadassah Zuckerbrod. A graveside service will be held at 2:00pm on Wednesday, February 9th at the New Tifereth Israel Cemetery, 2565 Performance Way. For a link to the Zoom, please email [email protected] Shiva will be observed at the home of Yael and Yhezkel Levi on Wednesday 5-8 (Mincha at 5:45pm), Thursday 2-5pm, Friday 11am-2pm, Sunday 12-3pm, and Monday 2-5pm. In lieu of flowers, donations in Ze'ev's memory may be made to Congregation Tifereth Israel at www.tiferethisrael.org or The Jewish National Fund at www.jnf.org