FROMAN, IAN

FROMAN, IAN (1937– ), Israeli tennis developer. Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Froman received his degree in dentistry in 1961 from the University of Witwatersrand. In 1964 he immigrated to Israel. A tennis player from his youth, he represented South Africa in the Wimbledon championship in 1961, participated in Maccabiahs as a South African and as an Israeli, was captain of the Israeli Davis Cup team and trainer of the national tennis team. He left dentistry in 1974 to devote himself full time to advancing a tennis center for Israeli youth which opened in 1976. There are now eight such tennis centers throughout Israel with thousands of young people participating in the sport. In 1989 he was awarded the Israel Prize for sport and physical culture. In 2004 he was chosen to be the chairmen of the Israeli tennis association, and was one of the torch carriers during the independence ceremony. (Fern Lee Seckbach)