Fred Zeidman is a venture capitalist in the finest sense of the term. As Chairman of Corporate Strategies, Inc., among the many management positions he has held in various firms, Fred has given wings to the dreams of many an entrepreneur and emboldened the American spirit of innovation. Starting in the corporate finance department at Dean Witter & Co. in New York in 1969 and armed with an MBA from NYU, Fred set out on a career to empower fledgling companies to perfect their products and services with capital and guidance. His successes span the spectrum of emerging technology, alternative energy, and industrial service companies.
A formidable athlete, Fred’s boundless energy, sociability and political acumen have propelled him to leadership in a myriad of local, state, and national organizations, particularly those promoting Jewish causes, higher education and medicine. Fred is Chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Museum Council in Washington, D.C., Vice Chairman of the University of Texas Health Science Center and serves on the Executive Committee of the Texas Inter-Faith Housing Corporation. He is on the Chancellor Advisory Council of Texas Christian University and is former Vice Chairman of the Board of Regents of Texas Southern University.
Fred was honored three years running (2002-2004) by Forward Newspaper for selection to its prestigious “Forward 50.” He received Texas Southern University’s Lifetime Hero Award and the Guardian of the Human Spirit Award from the Holocaust Museum Houston.
Fred and his wife, Kay, a community leader in her own right, have four wonderful children.