Background
David Blankfein-Tabachnick is the son of Robert Blankfein and Leslie Wald Blankfein. He has a notable family background in academic, professional, and philanthropic leadership. His father, Robert, is a Manhattan physician and a member of the Class Council—a select leadership group within Yale College’s Class of 1954 whose members include Richard Gilder, Daniel Strickler, Jr., Joel Smilow, Charles B. Johnson, Gerald Grinstein, Russell S. Reynolds, Jr. and Steven J. Kumble. The group is renowned for establishing the record-setting $110 million “54/50 Fund,” which has had a lasting impact on Yale. Robert graduated from Hotchkiss in the class of 1950 and serves as the Class Agent.
Robert is the son of Jules Blankfein (Yale College Class of 1921), who was a physician, founder and president of Physicians Hospital in New York City (established in 1935), as well as a member of the Board of Trustees of New York Medical College. Robert also served as president of Physicians Hospital during the 1980s.
On his mother’s side, David descends from a lineage of pioneers in oral and maxillofacial surgery. His grandfather, Arthur Wald, made advances in grafting in oral, plastic and reconstructive surgery with the early use of fibrin foam and thrombin in the resection of large and rare mandibular tumors. He was Columbia trained and a 1937 graduate of the Columbia College of Dental and Oral Surgery. Arthur’s father, Armin Wald, was among the founders of the surgical sub-specialty in New York City in the early 1900s. David’s great-great-grandfather, Heinrich "Henry" Wald received his Doctor of Medicine (1872) and Doctor of Surgery (1877) from the University of Vienna Faculty of Medicine, and served as a preceptor in surgery at Columbia University from the late 1880s. The family's cosmetic surgical offices were located at 57 West 57th Street and 654 Madison Avenue—the latter now home to fashion designer Valentino's flagship New York City location.
Armin Wald’s nephew, Charles A. Reich, was a Yale law professor and cultural icon.
Later in his career, Arthur Wald co-founded the Springfield Instrument Company, which rapidly became a household brand. The company was acquired by Sunbeam and was later acquired by Taylor Precision Products.
David’s maternal grandmother, Addy Wald, was a Holocaust survivor and notably earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia University decades before the University officially became co-educational in 1983.
