Summer 2009

Faculty Altruism

Turkish-Israeli Relations

Mathematical Superstars

TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

A dose of

Drug Development ptimism Pipeline Leads through TAU Cover Story: Doing the Math 16 Students of TAU's Gifted Program for A Dose Youth in Mathematics and Computer Science are reaping the top prizes at of Optimism 2 international competitions. With 20 different projects for drugs and medical devices coming down the pipeline, TAU researchers are playing a What Keeps major role in the development of remedies for devastating Turkish-Israeli diseases. Relations Going? 18 TAU Middle East expert Prof. Ofra Beyond the Bengio believes that Call of Duty 12 the current The Dalai Lama presents an coolness TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW international humanitarian award

Summer 2009 between the two countries will not to Dr. Galia Sabar, one of the many permanently damage relations. TAU faculty members who volunteer Issued by the Marketing and Donor Relations Dept. their time and skills to people who Development and Public Affairs Division need them. Tel Aviv University That Sinking Ramat Aviv 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel Feeling 21 A TAU researcher and Nato team Tel: +972 3 6408249 develop a way to predict sinkholes in Fax: + 972 3 6407080 the Dead Sea area. E-mail: [email protected] www.tau.ac.il

Editorial staff for TAU Review and Insider Editor: Louise Shalev Contributors: Rava Eleasari, Talma Agron, Pauline Reich, Ruti Ziv, Michal Alexander, Karin Kloosterman, Carl Hoffman, Gil Zohar, Esther Singer Graphic Design: TAU Graphics Design Studio/ Michal Semo-Kovetz; Dalit Pessach Dio’olamot Photography: Development and Public Affairs Division sections Photography Department/Michal Roche Ben Ami, Michal Kidron Additional Photography: Yoram Reshef, Arie Shaus, innovations 20 Israel Yosef, Sheila Shalhevet, Ofir Lotan, Dan Porges, AP, Michael Yamashita, Vicky Mack, Miri Gatennyo inside S1 Administrative Coordinator: Pauline Reich digest 25 Supplement: News on major Administrative Assistants: Roy Polad, Shani Shaflan Tel Aviv University supporters, Translation Services: Sagir Translations projects and Friends’ activities. Printing: Eli Meir Printing newsmakers 31 a Officers of Tel Aviv University

Robert Goldberg Chairman of the Board of Governors Dr. Leora Meridor Chairperson of the Executive Council Prof. Zvi Galil President Prof. Dany Leviatan Rector Mordehai Kohn Director-General Prof. Ehud Gazit Vice President for Research and Development Dr. Gary Sussman Vice President for Development and Public Affairs Dear friends, Yehiel Ben-Zvi Vice President Can Tel Aviv University revolutionize medical treatment with its scientific ad- Dr. Raymond R. Sackler, Michael H. Steinhardt vances? We aspire to no less than that. We Honorary Chairmen of the Board of Governors have been investing significant resources in building new, world-class Dr. h.c. Karl Heinz-Kipp, laboratories; recruiting innovative young researchers from top insti- Deputy Chairman of the Board of Governors tutions such as the NIH and Harvard; awarding fellowships to our Dr. h.c. Josef Buchmann, Stewart M. Colton, François Heilbronn, most talented master’s and doctoral students; and dedicating the time Dr. h.c. Raya Jaglom, John Landerer AM CBE, and energies of our professionals at Ramot, TAU’s technology trans- Adolfo Smolarz, Melvin S. Taub fer arm, to developing the business potential of campus discoveries. Vice Chairpersons of the Board of Governors Our mandate is to create a better and healthier world. If the appli- Prof. Aron Shai cation and commercialization of the university’s intellectual property Vice Rector translates into revenues, all the better: we can and do channel this Prof. Shimon Yankielowicz income back into our research effort. Pro-Rector Prof. Hannah Naveh In this issue of TAU Review, we focus on discoveries that demon- Dean of the Yolanda and David Katz strate the highest potential for development into breakthrough thera- Faculty of the Arts pies. We are introducing a new section that features in-depth analysis Prof. Ehud Heyman of current affairs by leading TAU scholars. The inaugural article is by Dean of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering Prof. Ofra Bengio on rehabilitating Turkish-Israeli relations. Prof. Haim J. Wolfson Scientific investigation stirs our curiosity, while compassionate Dean of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler giving warms our hearts. This issue also presents a sampling of the Faculty of Exact Sciences Prof. Shlomo Biderman wonderful volunteer work of our faculty in social welfare, education, Dean of the Lester and Sally Entin the arts and medicine, activity that the entire TAU community can Faculty of Humanities be proud of. Prof. Hanoch Dagan Dean of the Buchmann Faculty of Law Prof. Yoel Kloog Dean of the George S. Wise Sincerely, Faculty of Life Sciences Prof. Asher Tishler Dean of the Faculty of Management—Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration Prof. Yoseph Mekori Professor Zvi Galil Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine Prof. Noah Lewin-Epstein TAU President Dean of the Gershon H. Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences Prof. Yoav Ariel Dean of Students Prof. David Menashri Dean for Special Programs Getting to that “Eureka!” moment of discovering new treatments for Alzheimer’s, cancer or heart disease requires many years of painstaking basic science in the university or hospital laboratory. Then come development costs that can reach $900 million per drug, clinical trials that can drag on Hundreds of senior scientists and graduate students at TAU work in for a decade, and a grueling drug-related research fields on cam- FDA approval process. But pus and at affiliated hospitals. Their common goal: to produce candidates for several TAU researchers, for drugs and therapies that are ready life-changing new drugs for pharmaceutical companies to de- based on their pioneering velop into working – and possibly

By TAU Review staff life-saving – remedies. technologies now stand on the “About 20 recently licensed projects for drugs and medical devices verge of clinical success and are coming down the TAU pipeline,” commercialization. says Dr. Ze’ev Weinfeld, the CEO of Ramot, the university’s technology transfer company. “Tel Aviv University is a pow- erhouse in commercializing drug- related innovation, particularly for

2 We're coming up with novel the treatment of diseases and injuries thinking about the most of the central nervous system,” says stubborn medical problems. Weinfeld. In Alzheimer’s drugs alone, Ramot has licensed out six technolo- gies that are in various stages of de- velopment from pre-clinical testing to projects to the university’s broad Dr. Ronit Satchi- Fainaro and advanced clinical trials. Three of them cross-disciplinary research expertise. her team are are from the laboratory of Prof. Beka “We’re coming up with novel think- developing drugs that target Solomon, who was cited last year by ing about the most stubborn medi- malignant tumors. Scientific American as being one of the cal problems because our researchers top 50 innovators in the world. draw from knowledge in medicine, “We are confident and optimistic life sciences, exact sciences and engi- that out of these technologies we’ll see neering.” a drug on the market that will help Tel Aviv University is unique patients and their families combat among the world’s leading biomedi- this dreadful disease,” says Weinfeld. cal research centers, he says, because Prof. Zvi Galil, the TAU President, of this multidisciplinary approach. attributes the wealth of drug-related The university’s teams incorporate

3 practiced molecular and cell biolo- to currently have a drug in the fi- two companies are now engaged in gists, geneticists, biochemists and nal stage of clinical testing. The Phase III clinical trials on humans biophysicists, neuroscientists, psycho- Romanian-born neuro-immunologist which Solomon hopes will be com- biologists and computer scientists. is closing in on a treatment that will pleted in eight months. If efficacious, They are joined by physicians, sur- prevent the build-up of plaques in the and contingent on FDA approval, the geons and imaging experts at TAU- drug will be marketed inter- affiliated hospitals in the Tel Aviv nationally. metropolitan area that serve the larg- Prof. Solomon has been est patient population in Israel. working on a second ap- Biomedical research by TAU fac- proach for preventing ulty in recent years has led to the de- In Alzheimer's drugs alone, Alzheimer’s. She has devel- velopment, beyond the half-a-dozen we've licensed out six oped antibodies called BBS1 candidates for Alzheimer’s drugs, technologies that are in various that inhibit the formation of of potentially better treatments for the amyloid beta peptide to stages of development. schizophrenia, cancer, cardiovascu- begin with, so that harmful lar disease, burns and diabetes. The amyloid plaques can never following overview briefly describes brain. These accretions of toxic mate- form. The therapy could be admin- TAU breakthroughs that hold prom- rial, made up of amyloid beta pep- istered in the form of a vaccine that ise for business development, are cur- tides – snippets of protein – are the would prevent the disease altogether. rently being tested or have already hit hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. The The BBS1 technology was recently the market. deposits form in the areas of the brain licensed to NasVax Ltd., an Israeli that control memory and cognition, company that works in the field of Q: leading to the deterioration of the sur- prophylactic vaccines and immuno- rounding cells and tissue, and the im- therapeutics. How to prevent pairment of those functions. damage to Once lodged there, the peptide Viruses R Us aggregates cannot be dissolved, re- brain function? sulting in Alzheimer’s – until now an Solomon is optimistic about her incurable, degenerative and terminal technologies that are mainly pre- Preventing Plaque disease that was first described by ventive in nature. At the same time, German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer though, she is striding down another Prof. Beka Solomon of the in 1906. avenue of research, one that could po- Department of Molecular Micro- Solomon is targeting the antibod- tentially lead to a cure for Alzheimer’s. biology and Biotechnology at the ies which allow the plaques to cleave In former Soviet countries, phage George S. Wise Faculty of Life to brain cells; by disrupting their for- therapy – the therapeutic use of vi- Sciences is the only TAU scientist mation, she envisions preventing the ruses to fight bacterial infections – creation of new plaques. Thus she was extensively employed for some hopes to block further brain deterio- 90 years. Phages, a ubiquitous part ration. of our environment, affect bacteria “If you can stop the neuron dam- without being harmful to humans, age when people are only 40 or 50 she explains. years old, you can prevent the dis- Though the controversial phage ease,” she says. therapy has not been approved in The technology has been licensed any Western country, Solomon posits to both the Ireland-based neuro- that the filamentous phage could po- Prof. Beka science biotechnology company, Elan tentially dissolve plaques in the brain Solomon Corporation plc, and the US phar- – until now considered non-soluble – maceutical giant Wyeth. (In January and reverse Alzheimer’s symptoms. Wyeth merged with Pfizer in a $68 A start-up called Neurophage billion deal to create the world’s larg- Pharmaceuticals of Cambridge, est drug development business.) The Massachusetts, is funding Solomon’s 4 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

research, which is still at the pre-clin- ical phase of development. Solomon’s The ABCs of Clinical Trials novel approach of using phage viruses Drug developers across the world conform to an international system of standard- to physically disaggregate amyloid ized clinical trials, each phase of which has a different purpose and helps scientists plaque has shown very promising re- answer different questions: sults in the laboratory for Alzheimer’s, In Phase I trials, researchers test an experimental drug or treatment on a small Parkinson’s and ALS. group of people (20-80) for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects. Natural Shield for Brain Cells In Phase II trials, the experimental drug or treatment is given to a larger group of While Prof. Solomon is working people (100-300) to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety. to prevent the buildup of plaques in In Phase III trials, the experimental drug or treatment is given to large groups of peo- Alzheimer’s, Prof. Illana Gozes of the ple (1,000-3,000) to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to com- Sackler Faculty of Medicine is tak- monly used treatments, and collect information that will allow it to be used safely. ing a different approach. She aims In Phase IV trials, post-marketing studies delineate additional information including to harness naturally occurring com- the drug's risks, benefits and optimal use.

Source: The US National Institutes of Health’s website, www.ClinicalTrial.gov

patients suffering from the mild ing patients, demonstrating its poten- cognitive impairment that precedes tial to serve as an effective therapy for Alzheimer’s disease. In clinical trials, the disease. the drug, which is given in the form The active component of the drug Prof. Ilana of a nasal spray, not only improved is a fragment derived from a naturally Gozes functioning but was confirmed to be occurring neuron-protective brain safe and well tolerated by participat- protein known as ADNP, which

A Story of Epix Proportions "One of the most inspiring moments of my life was when our Alzheimer's drug was pounds with the unique ability to administered in human trials,” says TAU alumna Dr. Sharon Shacham (pictured). She defend brain cells against damage by has good cause for satisfaction. The PhD work she pursued at TAU yielded an im- Alzheimer’s disease and an early onset portant three-dimensional protein modeling tool for the research of drug candidates. type of dementia called frontotempo- The resulting Alzheimer’s drug, PRX–03140, has the ral dementia. potential to improve cognition and memory and slow Prof. Gozes, Director of both the progression of the disease. the Adams Super-Center for Brain The drug is being developed by the US drug com- Studies and the Levie-Edersheim- pany, Epix Pharmaceuticals, where until recently Dr. Gitter Institute for Functional Brain Shacham held the post of Senior Vice President of Imaging and incumbent of the Lily Drug Development. Her partners in the TAU patent and Avraham Gildor Chair for the are Prof. Zvi Naor, who holds the Abraham E. Kazan Investigation of Growth Factors, Chair in Structural Biology at the George. S. Wise has been investigating the function Faculty of Life Sciences, and former TAU faculty of natural brain proteins for many member Dr. Oren Becker. years together with Dr. Douglas “Having started with a 3D model of a protein, Brenneman, formerly of the US based on the technique we developed at Tel Aviv University, and a virtual molecule on a National Institutes of Health. computer screen – and now having a drug being administered to tens of people with an The drug candidate Gozes and excellent safety profile and potential breakthrough for this terrible disease, makes me her colleagues have invented – davu- believe in science and technology, and the human spirit," says Shacham. netide (AL-108) – has been shown to significantly improve the memory of

5 Gozes and her colleagues discovered Head of TAU’s Felsenstein Medical brain activity can spiral out of control and first published in 1999. The frag- Research Center and Director of the into delusional thoughts, hallucina- ment has been shown to restore the Research Unit at the TAU-affiliated tions and other symptoms of psycho- function of structures in the brain Geha Mental Health Center, one of sis. However, simply administering called microtubules that are critical Israel’s leading mental health institu- GABA to an affected person is not for communication in and between tions. possible because the GABA molecule brain cells. A generation ago schizophrenia was can’t cross the blood-brain barrier The drug candidate is in Phase II treated with anti-psycotic medications – a protective membrane stretched clinical trials. that induced severe Parkinson’s dis- around the entire brain. “It is important to note that ease-like side effects including tremor, Weizman and his colleagues have the clinical trials demonstrate that rigidity and a frozen facial expression. found a way to allow GABA to safely ADNP is a promising drug devel- While second generation medications “hitchhike” across the blood-brain opment target, meaning that other are a great improvement over their barrier by linking it to perphenazine therapies we are developing based on predecessors in that they reduce such – an efficient anti-psychotic drug that this and related proteins have clear symptoms, they too have an unwant- has been in clinical use for decades. relevance for other central nervous ed side effect of appetite stimulation, “We hope this will emerge as a true system diseases,” says Gozes. resulting in obesity. bonus for millions of schizophrenia Davunetide and other brain pro- tecting drug candidates discovered and studied by Prof. Gozes at TAU are licensed exclusively for clinical de- From left: Dr. Irit velopment to the Canadian company Gil-Ad, Allon Therapeutics, of which Prof. Prof. Avi Weizman, Gozes is founder and Chief Scientific Prof. Officer. Abraham Nudelman Science Daily recently hailed and Dr. Gozes’ work to limit brain damage Ada Rephaeli as offering hope for an effective treat- ment against Alzheimer’s and diseases where patients suffer from cogni- tive deficits, such as Parkinson’s and schizophrenia. Q: How to create kinder Prof. Weizman, together with col- sufferers,” says Weizman. “The new leagues Dr. Ada Rephaeli and Dr. Irit ‘super-molecule’ we’ve designed seems schizophrenia Gil-Ad of the Felsenstein Center and to be a very efficient treatment and it drugs? Prof. Abraham Nudelman of Bar- doesn’t produce Parkinson’s symp- Ilan University, have developed a new toms or metabolic side effects.” Helping the Brain Put on the drug for schizophrenia, called BL- BL-1020 is presently in the final Brakes 1020, with none of the devastating stages of Phase II clinical trials. Two side effects of the other anti-psychotic related treatments Weizman and his "Schizophrenia is a severely debili- medications. colleagues are developing, one for tating disease that develops frequently Their approach harnesses the ben- neuropathic pain and the other for in adolescence and ends with 10 per- eficial properties of GABA, a natu- Parkinson’s disease, are in pre-clinical cent of its sufferers committing sui- rally occurring chemical in the brain studies. All three substances have cide. Nearly one percent of the gen- that regulates neural activity. GABA been licensed by TAU’s Ramot and eral population is afflicted, making serves as the brain’s “brakes,” rein- Bar-Ilan Research and Development it humankind’s number one mental ing in over-excitability. When these Ltd. to the Jerusalem-based pharma- health issue," says Prof. Avi Weizman, brakes are not working properly, ceutical company BioLineRx, Ltd. 6 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

Q: "We hypothesized that bad, can- II trials are planned to begin later this How to nip cer-inducing Ras protein binds to the year. cancer in the cell wall like a key into a lock," says Kloog. “Based on this concept, we Hope for Thwarting Colon prepared small synthetic molecules bud? Cancer that mimic the Ras key. Once these Salirasib Could Be Key decoy keys enter the lock, they pre- Prof. Rina Rosin-Arbesfeld of Biochemist Prof. Yoel Kloog is op- vent the real key – the mutated Ras TAU’s Department of Anatomy and timistic that his new drug Salirasib – from entering the cell wall,” he says. Anthropology at the Sackler Faculty will revolutionize cancer treatment. "Because oncogenic Ras is now of Medicine is now testing her prom- Kloog serves as Dean of the George S. prevented from interacting with the ising new gene therapy for a highly le- Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, Head right lock it remains inactive," says thal form of cancer – colon and rectal of the Prajs-Drimmer Institute for the Kloog. cancer. Development of Anti-Degenerative In clinical tests to date at Johns Rosin-Arbesfeld’s revolutionary Drugs and incumbent of the Jack Hopkins University in Baltimore, treatment uses a specific type of an- H. Skirball Chair in Applied Maryland, the drug, taken orally in tibiotic to deactivate mutations in a Neurobiology. tandem with pancreatic tumor drug gene called APC that, when function- The drug, otherwise known as fars- nesyl thiosalicylic acid, is currently li- The Eyes Have It censed to Concordia Pharmaceuticals, Dry eye sufferers and contact lens wearers with chronic irritation caused by a biotechnology company in Florida, corneal damage owe a tear of thanks to biochemist Prof. Naphtali Savion and oph- and is in Phase II clinical trials. thalmologist Prof. Arieh S. Solomon of TAU's Goldschleger Eye Research Institute, Salirasib is related to the Ras signal part of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. The pair holds the distinction of inventing transduction protein, which commu- the first Tel Aviv University technology to be completely developed into - amar nicates signals from outside the cell ketable drug. Lipimix, drops to treat dry eye, was licensed to and developed by to the nucleus. Certain mutations in Tubilux Pharma, an Italian ophthalmic health care company that launched the drug Ras genes interrupt normal intracel- in Italy in 2006. lular signals, leading to tumor growth Says Solomon: “This drug – based and metastasis. on collaboration between two inventors “Many of the most severe human representing the integration of basic diseases are due to defects in the com- science and clinical research – enhanc- plex network of signaling,” begins es healing processes of the cornea and the biochemist. Nearly a quarter of brings relief to people suffering from all human tumors contain Ras muta- dry eye, irritants, burns and pain asso- tions, and in specific tumor types this ciated with eye surgeries." figure can be as high as 90 percent, Both Solomon and Savion are opti- says Kloog. mistic that FDA approval will be grant- Notwithstanding the urgency of ed soon, and Lipimix will be available that high number, an understanding outside of Europe. of the mutations mechanism eluded scientists for years. Kloog acknowl- edges he wasted years of research in a Gemcitabine, has shown promise for ing normally, suppresses the appear- dead end trying to discover a way to treating pancreatic cancer – which ance of tumors. stop the Ras malfunctioning. “There almost always is fatal. The drug has A large number of colorectal can- is no anti-Ras drug,” he now states. proven successful in Phase II clini- cer patients have a so-called "non- Instead Kloog came up with an cal trials conducted on lung cancer sense mutation" in the APC gene. alternative postulation: Rather than patients at Memorial Sloan-Kettering These mutations change an amino prevent the formation of mutated Cancer Center in New York State. acid into a "stop sign" that interferes Ras, why not try and prevent it from While still pending FDA approv- with the tumor suppression function locking itself down into the cell mem- al, 50,000 tablets have already been of APC. As a result, the body unwit- brane and wreaking havoc? manufactured and randomized phase tingly permits the growth of cancer- 7 ous polyps, which, if not surgically re- body. This holds significant promise moved in time, will almost inevitably for the development of therapies that prove fatal. could keep tumors permanently dor- “By using our novel treatment we mant, making cancer a chronic but are trying to tell the cell to ignore the manageable disease. stop sign, and produce a functional Satchi-Fainaro believes her revo- APC protein," says Rosin-Arbesfeld. lutionary pharmaceutical treatment Tests in a lab setting have succeeded will have further applications in- in shrinking polyps and restoring cluding new treatments for diabetic APC gene function. retinopathy (blindness), arthritis and Rosin-Arbesfeld’s research inflammation. Her drug candidates, has received support from the now in active business development, Colton Family Next Generation have been supported by the Israel Technologies Institute and is today Science Foundation, the Bi-National supported by the Nofar project of the Science Foundation and the Israel

Chief Scientist of the Israeli Ministry Cancer Association. Drug crystals located on of Trade and Industry. Satchi-Fainaro already holds five top of a biodegradable film. The film is used to build an Rosin-Arbesfeld’s work is carried patents from her last three years of re- active implant. out by a lab team of eight who view search at TAU, as well as seven more their work as a personal crusade. from her years at Harvard University, “Quite a few of the students who Boston Children’s Hospital and the that can deliver antibiotic drugs di- study with me had someone in their University of London. rectly to burns or wounds. “Seventy- family die of colorectal cancer,” she five percent of the deaths says. Q: resulting from severe burns “If we bring it to the marketplace,” to large parts of the body she says of her gene therapy, “it would How can we occur because of infec- be amazing.” help the body tion,” says Dr. Zilberman. Starving Tumors heal faster and “Our artificial skin im- of Blood Supply plant, which is made of a better? combination of biodegrad- New faculty recruit Dr. Ronit Medical Implants with Added able polymer films and fib- Satchi-Fainaro and her students are ers, combats infection effectively by Value developing cutting-edge targeted delivering antibiotics directly to the drugs that cut off the blood supply to Dr. Meital Zilberman is engaged affected area.” malignant tumors, causing them to in research at TAU’s Department of In the area of cardiovascular dis- shrink and die, or at the very least, to Biomedical Engineering that prom- ease, the team is developing novel cease growing. ises to transform fields as diverse as biodegradeable coatings for vascular Malignant tumors develop new burn treatment and bone and tissue stents that have the unique ability to blood vessels to supply and fuel their regeneration. release drugs for preventing restono- growth in a process called angio- Dr. Zilberman, of the Iby and sis – re-narrowing of the arteries – a genesis. To date, drugs developed to Aladar Fleischman Faculty of common occurrence after surgery. destroy this supply line have proved Engineering, is developing a new The system releases the drug mol- toxic to the patient. Dr. Satchi- generation of medical implants with ecules to the blood vessel wall in a Fainaro and her laboratory team at biological properties that allow for controlled manner. the Department of Physiology and the controlled release of drugs and Another interesting development Pharmacology of the Sackler Faculty protein molecules to the surrounding in Dr. Zilberman’s laboratory is the of Medicine have developed a new tissue. design of scaffolds for tissue and bone family of drugs which, acting selec- In the field of wound healing, Dr. regeneration. Used to support or sub- tively, inhibit tumor angiogenesis Zilberman and her team are develop- stitute for damaged or missing tissue, without poisoning other parts of the ing a cutting-edge artificial skin graft the team’s unique biodegradeable

8 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

structures incorporate molecules that a way that can reduce the threat of in- Solving the transplant enhance tissue growth and healing – stent thrombosis," says Hardy. conundrum effectively generating new tissue. The research is supported by the With over 20 years experience in Zilberman’s research won the Colton Family Next Generation the field, Prof. Shimon Efrat, incum- Technion Institute of Technology’s Technologies Institute together with bent of the Nancy Gluck Regan Chair Juludan Prize for Excellence in Johnson & Johnson. in Juvenile Diabetes at the Sackler Scientific Research with Clinical Faculty Medicine, is harnessing the Application. Q: power of stem cells to develop what Sprouting New Blood Vessels could be the first cure for diabetes. How to put One of the main indications of On the experimental horizon is Type 1 diabetes is a significantly re- the research of Dr. Britta Hardy and an end to diabetes duced amount of insulin-producing Prof. Alexander Battler of TAU’s suffering? cells in the pancreas. Until today, Felsenstein Medical Research Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, whose work promises an entirely new treat- ment avenue for vascular and coro- nary disease. For the past six years the pair has been studying angiogenesis – the sprouting of new blood vessels – with Start-Up the goal of preventing gangrene in for Wound Care limbs suffering from oxygen deficien- Prof. Amihay Freeman of TAU’s cy. In laboratory tests, the two were Department of Molecular Microbiology able to restore blood flow in tissue and Biotechnology is interested in com- that lacked proper blood circulation prehensive wound care. His start-up by injecting peptides that induced the EnzySurge develops innovative treat- generation of new, alternative blood ments for chronic wounds resulting from vessels. diabetes, bedsores or ulcers of the skin. The company’s flagship DermaStream® Hardy compares finding these pep- product, based on the proprietary Continuous Streaming Therapy technology (CST) tides – novel, small protein molecules licensed from Ramot, treats wounds with a constant stream of specially designed Prof. – to finding a needle in a haystack. liquid solutions for wound debridement (removal of necrotic dead tissue), reduction Amihay Freeman The advanced technologies used by of harmful bacteria and faster wound closure. Hardy enable the right peptide to be What does this continuous streaming actually do? selected from a library consisting of “It lets the therapeutic fluid stream continuously over the wound, removing dis- a billion different combinations of charges and dead tissue while moisturizing and soothing. The treatment allows much amino acids. greater control of the healing process and markedly reduces the patient’s pain,” says Another use of the peptides is for Freeman. coating stents used in angioplasty Designed for use in hospitals, outpatient clinics, nursing homes and for home procedures for clogged blood ves- care, CST is an enormous improvement over the traditional treatment of chronic sels. "One of the main problems with wounds with bandages or by surgery in that it shortens healing time, prevents hospi- stents today is that blood clots, or talization and reduces treatment costs. CST and EnzySurge have gained support and thrombosis, can form in them, often collaboration from experts and senior physicians in Israel and the US, Freeman says. leading to death,” explains Hardy. The company has completed clinical trials in Israel with highly promising re- "In the lab we have shown that our sults, and has recently received a green light to launch its first clinical trial in the US. peptides can bring about the growth EnzySurge is seeking FDA approval for its products and plans to launch marketing of a film of arterial tissue that could activities in the US within a year. coat the stent from within, leave the blood vessel open and prevent clots. We hope the peptides will be used in

9 these insulin-producing cells – known diabetes by 2025, there is an urgent as beta cells – could not be regener- need for efficient and targeted new ated, and a pancreas transplant was therapies. Molecular biologist Prof. Drug Delivery Man the only effective way to reverse the Hagit Eldar-Finkelman of the Sackler phenomenon. Yet transplants pose Faculty of Medicine heads the world’s their own problems: organ donors are first research group to have discovered few and far between, and the threat a method that could reverse resistance of immunosuppression – whereby the to insulin, the substance that helps body rejects the transplanted pancre- our bodies break down sugar properly. as – is constant. Eldar-Finkelman’s research focuses Now, TAU geneticist Prof. Efrat on understanding the linkage be- has found a way to overcome these tween obesity and diabetes. In partic- h u r d l e s . ular, she is seek- Using genet- ing out specific Dr. Dan Peer of the George S. Wise ic engineer- molecular de- Faculty of Life Sciences, a TAU gradu- ing he has fects that occur Dr. Dan ate who has recently returned from developed a Our business development team in response to Peer Harvard University, is one of dozens of new source understands both sides of the a high-fat diet TAU scientists engaging in drug deliv- of human academy-industry equation. – defects that ery research. insulin-pro- underlie the Peer is combining nano-medicine ducing cells development of and drug delivery to create nano-sized based on the patient’s own bone insulin resistance and trigger the on- drug carriers – tiny submicron parti- marrow stem cells. In the lab, he has set of Type 2 diabetes. After discover- cles – that can hone in like a GPS sys- shown these beta cells to be capable ing that one of the main contributors tem on specific cancer and immune of restoring and maintaining normal to insulin resistance was the GSK3 cells. The nano-carriers developed by blood sugar levels. Efrat’s approach enzyme, her team set about finding Peer and his team incorporate a new could potentially yield a pioneering ways to block it and improve insulin class of molecules called siRNAs that treatment, or even cure, for diabetes action in fat cells. can block the production of any faulty by providing an abundant source of Today, Eldar-Finkelman and her protein produced in these cells and insulin-producing cells for transplan- team have developed several novel deliver multiple therapeutic agents si- tation that will not be rejected by the drug candidates that act as inhibitors multaneously to eradicate the disease. patient’s immune system. of GSK-3. They are working in col- laboration with Dr. Moshe Portnoy In the case of Crohn’s disease, for Combating insulin resistance example, the carriers will target over- of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler active immune system cells in the gut. With up to 300 million people ex- School of Chemistry to formulate and In other diseases such as cancer, they pected to develop Type 2 (adult onset) optimize drug compounds and to de- can deliver material to specific cancer cells, leaving the surrounding healthy cells intact. "The technology we are developing represents a potential breakthrough for the treatment of im- mune diseases and has applications in breast, pancreatic and brain cancers and for a vaccination against HIV," says Peer.

Prof. Shimon Efrat 10 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

the fundamental basis for the degen- (Association of University Technology eration process in the different cases, Managers) and has been featured on Prof. Hagit we can develop drugs for Alzheimer’s the cover of Nature Nanotechnology, Eldar- disease without being a neurobiol- the foremost scientific journal in this Finkelman ogist, and for diabetes without being area of science. an endocrinologist." Summing up the drug pipeline at Gazit’s patented technology to ma- TAU, Gazit says, "Tel Aviv University nipulate the structure of nano-assem- is truly a world leader in the develop- blies has been licensed by the German ment of drug candidates. The combi- company Merz Pharmaceuticals, a nation of excellent basic science to- leading international player in the gether with the desire to translate it area of Alzheimer’s disease research into drugs for the benefit of society is and treatment. at the basis of our activity." Gazit’s Alzheimer’s research made the 2008 list of 100 top techno- logical innovations of the AUTM Gil Zohar contributed to this article termine how to best administer and deliver them to the patient. What’s the Big Deal? Interestingly, the enzyme has also been shown to hold potential as a Ramot Connects Professors with Industry drug for neurodegenerative disorders Life science discoveries that translate into drugs can bring in substantial sums including Alzheimer’ disease. of money to a university in the form of licensing and royalty fees, which can amount to millions of dollars a year, says Dr. Ze’ev Weinfeld, who is the CEO of Ramot, the Multi-Purpose Drug Platform university’s technology transfer and commercialization arm. “Our business development team is made up of people who have a scientific edu- The TAU Vice President for cation and who have spent substantial time working in industry, so they understand Research and Development, Prof. both sides of the academy-industry equation,” says Weinfeld, who himself holds a Ehud Gazit, is involved in the de- PhD in physics from TAU and has over 20 years of industry experience. velopment of drugs to treat preva- Ramot’s licensing professionals work at identifying promising new technologies at lent degenerative diseases such the university and their potential applications. They find partners in industry who can as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and take on these technologies and develop them into products, and they negotiate the Type 2 diabetes. He and his team appropriate deals that will ensure diligence in developing the technologies, so that at the Department of Molecular they result in income to the university. Microbiology and Biotechnology are Apart from their work in pharmaceuticals, Weinfeld and his staff of 30 pursue studying the way in which tiny ag- licensing agreements in the areas of engineering, high tech, computer science and gregates of proteins, known as nano- the exact sciences. assemblies, form and cause damage to Ramot also secures funds to “bridge the development gap” for inventions that the surrounding tissue. are not quite ready to be licensed, says Weinfeld. “We’ve brought in philanthropic "While Alzheimer’s and diabetes money, private investments and funds from commercial companies such as Johnson seem to be so different, in both cases & Johnson.” very similar nano-assemblies are be- Seven TAU projects were developed in the framework of the Tel Aviv University ing formed," says Gazit. If these na- Future Technology Partnership, an $8.5 million venture fund that was set up in 2003 no-assemblies are formed in the area and is yielding results. Ramot now seeks to establish a new multimillion dollar fund of the brain associated with learning that will work on the same principle. and memory, it leads to Alzheimer’s “We’re looking for investors. They get a certain percentage of what we receive disease, notes Gazit. If they are be- from the commercialization. I believe it’s a generous one,” says Weinfeld. ing formed in the pancreas it leads In the final analysis, says Weinfeld, "a success for Ramot is to see TelAviv to late-stage Type 2 diabetes. "Being University-based drugs that save and improve lives." a nanotechnologist who understands

11 community

Beyond the Call ofIn the D course ofuty more than two decades, Sabar’s odyssey of compas- TAU faculty are volunteering sion brought her in and out of Africa, researching and working with diverse their time and expertise to African populations in Ethiopia, change lives in Israel and abroad Kenya and even Tel Aviv. A hallmark of Sabar’s approach is that she has Dr. Galia Sabar of TAU’s Department grant workers in Israel, a community succeeded in intertwining her aca-

Dr. Galia of Middle Eastern and African Studies whose search for a better life is con- demic research in issues with direct, Sabar with a describes herself as a mother first, and stantly thwarted by harsh political hands-on involvement. boy in Ghana and, above, a teacher and scholar of Africa second. realities. receiving an She is also the first Israeli to receive Sabar is not alone in her dedica- award from the Dalai the Unsung Heroes of Compassion tion. Beyond the dozens and dozens of Lama Award from the Dalai Lama. institutionally-backed social involve- Rescuing The award is granted under the ment projects at TAU, individual fac- Ethiopian Jewry auspices of the San Francisco NGO ulty members have been volunteering Sabar’s journey began in mid- “Wisdom in Action,” which selected their professional training, skills and 1980s Ethiopia, just before Operation 50 people from around the world expertise where they can make the Moses, when she worked undercover who quietly volunteer their efforts most difference. In Israel and abroad, to help Ethiopian Jews escape a ty- to serve the disenfranchised and within Israeli society and in cultures rannical regime. At the time, Sabar their communities, exemplifying a throughout the world, these TAU was 22 years old and earning an un- unique heroism that rarely makes professors, physicians and adminis- dergraduate degree at TAU in Middle news headlines. Sabar was chosen trative staff members are improving Eastern and African Studies. At first, for the award in recognition of her society, and often learning hard and Sabar says, she was kept in the dark work with African refugees and mi- valuable lessons along the way. about the true nature of her own ac- 12 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

tivities: As far as she knew, her job was man behavior for the first time. Sabar again, Sabar’s research translated to simply to act as a tour guide to North soon joined forces with the Jerusalem social action: She joined the board of American Jewish leaders visiting the AIDS Project, a local NGO, devising the Hotline for Migrant Workers, an Jewish community in Ethiopia. AIDS programs for African groups in Israeli NGO. Gradually Sabar came to realize Israel and abroad. Today, Sabar focuses mainly on that these “tourism ventures” were instilling an appreciation for African in actuality a cover for preparations Africa in Tel Aviv culture in her students at TAU. “In for Operation Moses. On several oc- Sabar’s passion for researching the courses I teach, I try to inspire in casions, Sabar’s tour groups were ac- African culture was to continue, but my students first curiousity and then, By Ilana Teitelbaum companied by an undercover Mossad this time she discovered Africa right I hope, knowledge and a zeal to learn agent. next door. “In 1997 I realized that I about other cultures,” Sabar explains. ”Being in Ethiopia was danger- didn’t have to go to Africa to contin- “I see over the years that the more my ous,” Sabar acknowledges. “We were ue my research – Africa had come to students know, the less afraid and prej- bringing money and information to Israel,” recounts Sabar. udiced they are, and the more open.” Ethiopian Jews, which was against Twenty thousand West African Ethiopian law. We were encouraging migrant workers were living in South them to walk by foot to Sudan – a Tel Aviv at that time. Sabar came distance of hundreds of miles – where upon the community by chance, Making Art, they could be airlifted in planes from when she heard an African woman in Prof. Motti Not War Omer the Israeli Navy.” the street singing a gospel song in an There are currently no art muse- But once the Ethiopian Jews ar- African language. “I approached the ums in the Arab towns of Israel, and rived en masse in Israel, Sabar discov- woman and said, ‘This is amazing, Prof. Mordechai Omer ered that her work was just beginning. what are you singing?’” Sabar recalls. of TAU’s Department “I had gotten very involved in the lives “It was the beginning of a wonderful of Art History is deter- of the Ethiopian Jews prior to their friendship.” mined to fill the void. journey to Israel,” she explains. “So Sabar discovered that a vibrant His goal: to help es- when they came to Israel I felt that I community had sprung up in Tel tablish a museum in had a responsibility to bring their cul- Aviv, replete with churches and busi- the Israeli Arab city of ture and rich history to the awareness nesses. She began to research the Umm el-Fahem that will of Israelis who were handling the ab- culture of the community. When showcase the vibrancy of sorption and aliyah processes.” the community was ultimately de- Arab contemporary art With an eye toward educating the ported, she followed them to Africa in Israel. Exhibitions in the museum will include works of art Israeli public about Ethiopian Jewish to research the trauma of their de- The Okashi society, and thereby generating tol- portation and their readjustment to produced by a diverse array of popula- Museum in erance, Sabar lectured around the life in Africa – a process especially tions in Israel: Muslim and Christian Acre country at various government, edu- difficult for the children. And once Arabs, Druse and Bedouin. cational and public institutions. “My goal was that Israelis wouldn’t see Ethiopian Jews as primitive people, but rather as a people with a full and rich social and religious life in their country,” she says. For her PhD dissertation, Sabar shifted her research focus to Kenya, where she gathered data about the sociopolitical causes of AIDS. Once back in Israel, she helped to organ- ize an international research group to study the behavioral causes of AIDS, taking AIDS research out of the sci- ence lab and into the realm of hu- 13 Omer, who holds the Carlo and founder of TAU’s two-year post-un- But the one thing that particularly Karin Giersch Chair for Research in dergraduate museology course, Omer impresses Biger about Dimona is the Modern Painting at TAU and serves is training four Arab art historians value the residents place on educa- as Director of the Tel Aviv Museum and artists for the upcoming task tion. In contrast to more central cit- of Art as well as of TAU’s Genia of running the museum. He is also ies in Israel, where children with dis- Schreiber Art Gallery, is also advis- volunteering his help in the various abilities can get lost in the shuffle, in ing museums in Israel’s geographic aspects of establishing the museum, Dimona the school system invests periphery. Among them is the Okashi which include advising the director, money and time to educate children Prof. Gideon Museum in Acre, a city which is pop- raising funds, choosing an architect, with disabilities. In doing so, says Biger ulated equally by Arab and Jewish and planning the layout. Biger, residents of Dimona are dem- residents and which has become a Omer believes that providing op- onstrating that they recognize their portunities to Arab artists can ulti- future lies in education. mately help pave the road to peace ”When I’m here in Dimona, I re- in the region. He concludes, “Art is ally understand that the south is no the best way to build bridges between less important than the Tel Aviv area. cultures and between people.” I feel more connected to Israel as a whole,” says Biger. “This experience may draw me to research the con- nection between Israel’s center and A Geographic periphery, to discover how the center Imperative can learn and benefit from the periph- One of the world’s leading authori- eral cities.” ties on Israel’s geographic bounda- ries, Prof. Gideon Biger of TAU’s Department of Geography and Human Environment is now explor- Saving a Life, or ing the realities of life within those Just a Smile boundaries. Given the opportunity Beauty may only be skin deep, to take a sabbatical year, Biger opted but that is cold comfort to children to volunteer as a high school geogra- with facial deformities. That’s where phy teacher in the Israeli development Operation Smile comes in. The in- town of Dimona. ternational charity organization is From participating in high-level dedicated to providing plastic surgery meeting point for the exchange of ar- political negotiations with Syria, to repair children’s facial deformities tistic cultural traditions and heritage. Biger now derives satisfaction from The museum’s exhibits bridge past preparing teenagers for their high and present through arts and crafts as school exams. “I felt I had to give back well as high-level contemporary art. something that I got all my life from Such projects, Omer explains, will Israel, and wanted to share it with the enable Arab artists to express their people here,” he explains. voice in Israeli society. “Our goal is Located in the Negev desert, to convey to the Israeli public that Dimona is often regarded as a back- these artists exist, that they live and water. But Biger was pleased to dis- create here, and that it’s wonderful,” cover that this perception is far from says Omer. reality. The people of Dimona, he Omer’s background in Umm el- points out, are well-traveled, educat- Fahem extends many years back to ed and fiercely independent, with a when he volunteered as an advisor burgeoning cultural life. He describes for their art gallery. Now he is cham- Dimona as a green area of the desert pioning an expanded, full-fledged where people are welcoming of stran- museum in a variety of ways. The gers. 14 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

in developing countries around the Dr. Lior Sasson world. examining a Last winter, Dr. Dean Ad-El, a boy from the Palestinian plastic surgeon at the TAU-affiliated Authority a Rabin Medical Center and a member day before surgery of TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, journeyed to Madurai in South India with Operation Smile to operate on patients. Facial deformities are preva- lent in the villages of South India due to intermarriage. In the course of two weeks, Ad-El operated on more than 20 patients. Ad-El describes the instant grati- fication that surgery can bring in cases such as this. “The profession of plastic surgery is different from anything else, because in less than an hour you’ve transformed a malformed The main goal of SACH is to im- developing countries to work along- child into a new person,” he says. prove the quality of pediatric cardiac side local medical personnel. In Israel, “Most of the kids were very young, care in developing countries. The or- SACH is currently training a surgeon and you could see the joy in their par- ganization is best known for bringing from China, two cardiologists from ents’ eyes – it was amazing.” children from developing countries to Tanzania and two anesthesiologists Meanwhile, the doctors who Israel for emergency open-heart sur- from the Palestinian Authority. volunteer for Save a Child’s Heart gery, but it also trains doctors in de- Joining him as a volunteer for (SACH), an Israeli-based NGO, are veloping countries and sends medical SACH is his colleague from the tackling life-threatening conditions missions overseas. Over half the pa- Wolfson Medical Center and Sackler in developing countries. The Israeli tients treated by SACH are from Arab Faculty of Medicine, Dr. Vadim branch of the organization is headed countries, including the Palestinian Khazin, an anesthesiologist who has by TAU’s Dr. Lior Sasson, Director Authority, Iraq and Jordan. participated in missions to Ethiopia, of the Cardiothoracic Department Dr. Sasson is intensely engaged in China, Russia, the Ukraine and and Head of the Pediatric Cardiac all three aspects of SACH: he oper- Moldova. Khazin’s job is twofold: Surgery Unit at the TAU-affiliated ates, trains doctors from other coun- To examine children before surgery Wolfson Medical Center in Holon. tries and leads medical missions to and anesthetize them, and to assist in training local doctors. The training process posed a challenge for Khazin in China and Ethiopia, since he doesn’t speak the local languages. He TAU Administrative Staff Member was forced to resort to hand-gestures Wins Knesset Prize for Volunteerism in order to communicate, as well as Sophia Braun (pictured right), a specialist in medical informat- teaching by example. ics at TAU’s Gitter-Smolarz Library of Life Sciences and Medicine, But ultimately the training process received the Knesset Speaker’s Prize from then Speaker Dalia has been successful. “After a few years Itzik (left) for her volunteer work at the Center for Women’s Health we noticed improvement in the local doctors’ performance, and now they Information in the Ultra-Orthodox community of Bnei Brak. The can perform the surgery almost as multi-talented Braun, who holds master’s degrees in library sci- well,” says Khazin. “Every year they ence and organic chemistry, has also won a Lifetime Achievement improve, but it’s still not enough. A Award from the Israeli Cosmetics Manufacturers Association for lot of people need our help.” her development of Dead Sea cosmetic preparations.

15 The IsraeliteaminCyprus prized students 16 By Carl Hoffman D day of the contest. contest. of the day last the on boyfriend her to married getting after – ring wedding gold a with Israel to home came also Inna but competition, the at performance for her fine medal silver a she win did of herexperience Not life. only derful won most the toward she heading was realize didn’t she Students, ity forUnivers- Olympiad Mathematical European Southeastern 2008 Israel the at represent to Cyprus to went n Bvry ake Sho of School Sackler Beverly Raymond the and by 18 run to is 12 year-olds, at aimed program, The Science. Computer and Mathematics in Youth Gifted for Program TAU’s at out started all They common: in thing one have whizzes math young these backgrounds, and personality in mathemat vary they While competitions. ics international at top prizes winning been have who TAU When na s n o svrl tdns at students several of one is Inna 9 erod na Entova Inna year-old 19 oing the Math - - ficially in undergraduate studies. studies. undergraduate in ficially of enroll matriculate can they school, high from they after and, credits academic garnering courses, TAU in students university regular study alongside They principals. school high their by recommended are program Exact of Sciences. Faculty Sackler Beverly and Raymond the of both Computer Science, of School Blavatnik the with together Sciences Mathematical taught her mathematics but also also but only mathematics her not taught Program Youth Gifted members.” faculty tually, even and, students graduate and ate undergradu of source major a as self it established firmly has years, many for wonderfully it run has who Arbel Beno Prof. known after program’ ‘Beno’s as informally says: program, school, “The mathematics the of h yug atcpns n the in participants young The Inna readily declares that the the that declares readily Inna head Krivelevich, Michael Prof. competitions at international prizes are takingtop Science and Computer Youth inMathematics Program Gifted for from TAU’sStudents - - - - Gladkich brought home agold. Gladkich Alexey while medals, silver additional won Zlydenko Oleg and Goueta Bar students TAU Inna, Alongside ance. perform students’ TAU the to large a part in due place first took team ematics, was also in the program. the in also was ematics, math in student PhD a Eisenbod, Rami husband, Her career. academic and an degrees study toward graduate to service IDF her of end TAU the at the Israeli Navy, she plans to toreturn in serving Currently her life. changed ture prosperity and security.” and prosperity ture fu Israel’s to crucial are that fields in greatness achieve can who focus and creativity enthusiasm, with equipped people young a driven of “is flow program steady the of impact term otrl ere ad hps o be come aprofessor someday.” to “hopes and degrees doctoral TAUto master’s and his forreturn to plans he IDF, the in soldier a Today 14. at Youth Gifted entered for Program and the 13 age at prodigy ical Spain. Madrid, in Olympics Math International 2008 the at prize first won also Dan while Bulgaria, heldin Mathematical Students, University for Competition International 2008 Increasing creativity Increasing

At At the Cyprus Olympiad, the Israeli long- the that believes Arbel Prof. Alexey, 20, emigrated from Russia Russia from emigrated 20, Alexey, Dan was identified as a mathemat a as identified was Dan Youth alumnus alumnus the at Carmon Dan Gifted Youth fellow his with medal gold a IDF.the in serving presently grade. Heis too fifth the in mathematics” of student “serious a calls be he what came and on early numbers special for a knack had he knew He 10. age at Alexey shared shared Alexey ------Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

Evolutionary theoretician Dr. Lilach Hadany, 36, has come home to TAU and a faculty position at the Risky Department of Plant Sciences after several years of researching and lec- turing in the United States. For Hadany, coming back to TAU Business? gain brain was about returning to her alma mater. “It is my university. It’s the New faculty recruit university I studied at all the way. I was here as a child in the university’s Lilach Hadany Unit for Science-Oriented Youth. searches for the Also, the department I’m in is very evolutionary hows strong,” she says. At TAU, Hadany is investigating and whys of sexual the intricacies of biological evolution. reproduction A particular interest at present is the evolution of sexual reproduction – tion – or, choosing mates – came into specifically why sex became necessary the picture, transforming sex from a for organisms to reproduce, long a relatively rare event into an obligatory major issue among biologists. process for many higher organisms. Hadany argues that asexual repro- duction – reproduction without sex – A Tel Aviv gal is theoretically a much safer and less Born and raised in Tel Aviv, risky way for an organism to produce Hadany received her bachelor’s de- the next generation. She explains the gree in 1996 in TAU’s Adi Lautman problem: “Why should an individual Interdisciplinary Program for of Iowa. In 2008, Hadany returned risk its good genetic makeup by mix- Outstanding Students, majoring in to Israel and TAU, supported by a ing it with someone else’s and creat- biology and mathematics, with ad- Marie Curie EU reintegration grant, ing combinations that would not nec- ditional studies in philosophy and designed to enable expatriate scientists essarily be as good?” Also, she notes, psychology. Her master’s degree came to return to and work in their home sexual reproduction is quite costly: a year later, awarded summa cum countries. This grant is of special “You need to produce males, indi- laude, followed by a PhD in 2001, fo- importance to countries like Israel, viduals need to find each other, court cusing on the underlying theme that which have long suffered from a seri- By Carl Hoffman each other, incur possible conflicts, has guided her thinking and research ous “brain drain” of young profession- and so on.” ever since – the minute processes, or als seeking opportunities overseas. The university has exerted great ef- forts to provide Hadany with a work environment conducive to her re- A “reintegration grant” given by the search. These include converting what had been a normal “wet” lab – used EU enabled this young researcher to for the study of biological specimens return to Israel and TAU. – to a “dry” lab for her computers and mathematical models. In addition to that, TAU offered Hadany suggests that organisms nuts and bolts, of biological evolution. yet another attraction. Hadany says, may have originally assumed the risk The irresistible offer of a post-doc- “One real advantage to TAU is that of mixing their genetic makeup with toral fellowship at Stanford University the students here are excellent. We others only as a response to bad times, lured Hadany away from Israel to the get much better students than simi- such as environmental challenges. At United States, where she later received lar universities in other places in the a later stage in evolution, sexual selec- a faculty position at the University world.” 17 Israel’s three-week offensive in Gaza in January 2009 threatened to wreck the unique relationship be- tween Turkey and Israel. How could a crisis between Israel and a third party analysis bring about such a deep transforma- tion in the bilateral relations that had been developing between the two countries for more than 15 years? The harsh Turkish reaction to the offensive was taken as a major indi- cation of a Turkish volte-face at both the official and popular level. In a se- ries of unprecedented attacks Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan lashed out at Israel, declaring that the blood of dead Palestinian chil- dren would not be left on the ground and that Israel’s deeds were “a crime against humanity.” Worse still, he called for the expulsion of Israel, his ally, from the United Nations for ig- noring the organization’s call to stop

An anti- the fighting in Gaza. Israel rally in Then came the Davos incident at Istanbul the end of January in which Erdogan Miracles demonstratively walked off the stage or What Keeps Interests: Turkish-Israeli Relations Going? The recent crisis in Turkish-Israeli relations has raised questions both regarding the durability of these relations and the effect their decline would have on the larger strategic landscape in the region. Middle East scholar Prof. Ofra Bengio analyzes the dynamics of the relationship and their underpinnings

18 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

during a debate with Israeli President the very time that Erdogan was lash- of visits by high-ranking Turkish of- Shimon Peres. No wonder Erdogan ing out at Israel the two states report- ficials and even the establishment of came to be considered a hero by edly signed a new bilateral arms deal. a hotline between Erdogan and then Gazans, Iranians and Syrians. Taking Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. their cue from him, the media and the Why stick with Israel? To sum up, for all the damage done Turkish street escalated their anti-Is- Many Turks wonder why Turkey, a to Turkish-Israeli relations due to the rael and at times even anti-Semitic at- major power in the region, still needs Gaza offensive, the historic bonds of tacks to a point that in some instances strong relations with Israel at a time amity between the two peoples and surpassed those voiced in Arab coun- when the entire regional strategic the two states are likely once again tries. Huge anti-Israel demonstra- map has drastically changed from to prove strong enough to overcome tions flooded the streets of Turkey’s that of the 1990s when the two forged the crisis, even though it might take major cities and towns; demonstra- their strategic ties. The answer seems much longer this time. tors burned Israeli flags and waved quite obvious. To fulfill its proactive anti-Israel and anti-Semitic slogans. role, Ankara needs to remain on good One of the placards read: “Jews and terms with Israel and thus enhance Armenians cannot enter, but dogs its stature and maneuverability as an can.” honest broker. It has to preserve its The reaction at the popular level image as a role model of a democratic was part spontaneous and part of- Muslim country, maintaining the ficially organized. The mobilization age old balances between East and of schoolchildren pointed to a po- West, between the Arab world and litical hand acting behind the scenes. Israel, and between Muslim and non- Turkey, caught up in these dynam- Muslim countries. Most important of ics, appeared to be coalescing with all, Turkey needs to maintain its stra- Hamas, Syria and Iran in the axis of tegic alignment with Israel to ward evil. off the primary dangers facing both In fact, however, Turkey’s stance countries, especially international ter- on Gaza should be understood as part rorism and the nuclearization of the of the AKP (Justice and Development region. Party) government’s domestic and In Israel, wisely enough, the offi- foreign policy: it was a diversionist cial reaction to the Turkish attacks ploy at home and a challenge to rivals was low-key. Indeed, in the eyes of at home and abroad. some Israelis it was even too concilia- Evidently, there was genuine sym- tory. In truth, Israel could not afford pathy for the Palestinians among the the luxury of antagonizing such an Turkish people. But the government important partner in a largely hostile was also apparently attempting to region. Jerusalem was willing to bury Prof. Ofra Bengio manipulate this sympathy in order to its resentment in the understanding A Senior Research Fellow at the mobilize support for the AKP in the that if it managed to contain the cri- Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Turkish local elections in March by sis in Gaza it would be able to weather Eastern and African Studies and deflecting attention from the Kurdish the Turkish storm as well. Senior Lecturer at the Department problem, challenging the military – The correlation between progress in of Middle Eastern and African the architect of relations with Israel the peace process with the Palestinians History, Entin Faculty of Humanities, – and enhancing Turkey’s role among and Turkish-Israeli relations, first ap- Prof. Bengio specializes in con- Arab and Muslim countries. parent in the early 1990s, continues temporary Middle Eastern history Yet for all its rhetorical and emo- to hold. In the interim, the collapse and politics of Iraq, and the Arabic tional reactions, the Turkish govern- of the peace process in October 2000 language. Her book, The Turkish- ment did not initiate any “punitive” and the ensuing violence caused con- Israeli Relationship: Changing move against Israel. It did not recall its siderable damage to relations, where- Ties of Middle Eastern Outsiders ambassador from Israel as it had done as Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in (2004), was recently translated into on an earlier occasion. Moreover, at summer 2005 engendered a flood Turkish and published in Turkey. 19 Reserve. According to Koren, the rock hyrax is an “excellent study system for The Call of behavioral ecology,” since it lives in mixed gender social groups and can the Wild be studied in its natural environment. The song of rock hyraxes Moreover, the hyraxes communicate in the Judean desert vocally all year round and their songs are complex and individually unique, communicates far more she notes. than just their readiness Wailing, which starts a typical to mate hyrax song, indicates weight. The more wails, the heavier the singer. A The mating cries of rock hyraxes cial functions, but until now, there mid-song sound that Dr. Koren calls (Procavia capensis) – small, furry has been no attempt to break down “chucks” communicates size – body badger-like mammals whose closest complex songs into more meaningful length and head diameter – and stress relatives are African elephants – re- elements. levels stimulated by the hormone cor- veal crucial information about the For three years, Koren, whose re- tisol. The researchers also discovered animals’ vital statistics, including search was carried out under the su- that songs concluding with a series body weight and size, as well as their pervision of Prof. Eli Geffen of the of snorts were connected to the male health and hormonal levels, says TAU Department of Zoology, George S. singer’s dominance in the group and zoologist Lee Koren. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, re- the condition of the animal’s pelt. Animal calls are known to signal corded the tonal range of 20 adult The research was published in danger, territory, and other vital so- male hyraxes at the Ein Gedi Nature Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

With the growing use of nanotech- nology in a wide range of applica- Environmental Risks of tions, from biomedicine to electronics and materials engineering, scientists Nanotechnology are concerned about how nano-parti- TAU is leading a European-funded project to develop the cles – tiny aggregates made up of just a few hundred atoms – might interact world's most advanced database on nano-particle toxicity with the environment, and more im- portantly, with the human body. Environment Commented Database, tions and the public at large via the Now, researchers at TAU are lead- was established at the initiative of Internet. ing a project to construct a database Prof. Oded Maimon, a member The four-year project includes re- on the toxicity of nano-particles and of the Department of Industrial searchers from leading European and their impact on the environment. The Engineering, Fleischman Faculty of Israeli institutions and is being oper- NHECD, Nano-particles Health and Engineering. ated on a budget of 1.5 million euros “What’s unique about this data- under the European Union's Seventh base,” explain Prof. Maimon, “is that Framework Program for Research it will analyze all the data that exists and Technological Development. in the world about nano-particles, The database’s advanced algorithms and will generate predictions, based for data retrieval were developed by on proprietary TAU mathematical Prof. Maimon and his team. Leading models, on harm they might possi- the toxicology work group is Prof. bly do to our health and natural sur- Rafi Kornstein of the Sackler Faculty roundings.” of Medicine, while overall project These findings will be made widely manager is Abel Browarnik, a doc- available to research institutions, in- toral student at the Department of dustry, non-governmental organiza- Industrial Engineering. 20 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

That Sinking Feeling Dangerous sinkholes around the Dead Sea can now be detected through a TAU-developed monitoring system

In 1990, a passenger bus traveling this unique region – the lowest point industrial evaporation of water for the down Highway 90 that hugs the on the surface of the earth. The uni- Dead Sea mineral industry. western shore of the Dead Sea sud- versity is now planning an expanded Eppelbaum’s monitoring system denly swayed and lurched. The bus Dead Sea Interdisciplinary Research makes innovative use of 3D micro- had narrowly escaped the first of Center that will focus on trans-bor- gravity modeling, which detects thousands of natural depressions der processes taking place within the extremely small differences in the known as sinkholes to appear on Dead Sea basin and be run in coop- Earth’s gravitational field. A sinkhole, both the Israeli and the Jordanian eration with international scientists which is a cavity, has less gravitational By Esther Singer sides of this biblically famous body and research institutions. field than the solid ground surround- of water. Now, TAU geophysicist Dr. Detection of potential sinkholes is ing it. However, telling the difference Lev Eppelbaum has developed a sys- crucial because they not only dam- between the gravitational field of a tem that can predict and monitor ar- age the environment, but pose a di- sinkhole and gravitational pull related eas of sinkhole formation around the rect threat to the tourist industry and to other geophysical features is espe- Dead Sea. agriculture. Sinkholes cave in and cially difficult at the Dead Sea, which Eppelbaum, an associate professor expand so fast that a one meter hole lies on an earthquake-prone fault line at the Department of Geophysics and can become 10 meters deep in just that causes shifts in rock and salt de- Planetary Sciences of the Raymond three years. The hazard has forced the posits underground. and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact closure of popular campsites, halted Eppelbaum’s modeling system is Sciences, is developing the project construction of new hotel complexes able to tell the difference between under the NATO Science for Peace and delayed the expansion of lucrative tiny variants in gravity caused by Program together with colleagues date groves. sinkholes and variants due to the from Israel, Jordan and France. Sinkholes are caused by the alarm- unique configuration of the Dead Sea His research is part of the ever- ing drop in the water level of the area. His new early detection system growing body of expertise on the Dead Sea due to poor rainfall, the can now alert the authorities to the Dead Sea that is concentrated at TAU, diversion of much needed water from formation of sinkholes before they which leads Israel in the research of its upstream sources, pollution, and constitute a hazard. 21 Prof. Israel Finkelstein of the Sonia and Marco Nadler Institute of Archaeology and Jacob M. Alkow Department of Archaeology and Ancient Near Eastern Civilizations has Large-Scale Multidisciplinary been appointed principal investigator of a 3 million euro ($3.9 m) European Research Council (ERC) grant for the Archeology Project world’s largest project to reconstruct the history of biblical Israel by ap- to Be Led by TAU plying the hard sciences. The project supports students and post-docs in ten different research tracks, and is being The project draws on a range of raphy – the mineralogical analysis of conducted in cooperation with Prof. technologies to examine ancient ma- stone and pottery using techniques Steve Weiner and colleagues at the terial finds. Research teams are ex- commonly used by earth scientists Weizmann Institute of Science. amining how mathematical knowl- – is being utilized to identify the ”With very few contemporary edge in ancient Israel was deployed raw materials and fabrication meth- records, with biblical testimony that in managing complex administrative was written a long time after the systems such as taxation and com- events described took place, and with modity storage; analyzing pollen the strong theological agenda of both records to reconstruct past vegetation the original authors and some mod- and climate; studying the relationship ern scholars, reconstructing the world between diet and human genetics; Prof. Israel Finkelstein of ancient Israel is a complex matter and analyzing Hebrew inscriptions that requires going beyond traditional from the First Temple Period through scholarship,” says Finkelstein, who clustering and handwriting recogni- holds the Jacob M. Alkow Chair in the tion algorithms from computer sci- Archaeology of Israel in the Bronze ence. and Iron Ages. “The exact and life sci- In the Laboratory of Comparative ences are able to reveal data that is not Micro-Archeology, headed by TAU’s visible to the naked eye,” he says. Prof. Yuval Goren, ceramic petrog-

an Earth-based computer. It can map Monitoring Pollution from Space levels of ozone, water vapor, oxygen, A TAU-developed system that can warn of problems with air carbon dioxide and mineral species, quality or agricultural crops will be incorporated into a and provide information on land con- German Space Agency project tamination and soil fertility, includ- ing soil moisture levels and damage An innovative system for ana- Ben-Dor, a specialist in remote to vegetation resulting from pests or lyzing atmospheric and soil pol- earth sensing, notes that until now water and nutrient shortages. lution levels developed by Prof. Eyal air pollution and soil monitoring by According to Ben-Dor, data col- Ben-Dor of TAU’s Department of land-based systems provided only lected over a ten-year period from a Geography and Human Environment limited local information. The sys- special airborne spectral imaging de- will be installed on the German Space tem he is developing will enable rapid vice over Israel has demonstrated the Agency’s first environmental mapping and simultaneous mapping of more potential of the technology. “The sys- satellite – Hyperspectral EnMap. The extensive land areas and is equal to tem can be used for mapping the sa- satellite is slated for launch in 2012 hundreds of land-based monitoring linity of agricultural land prior to the at a cost of 150 million euros and is systems on the ground. planting season or to pinpoint areas expected to significantly advance the The device measures reflected so- where cotton crops are suffering from field of environmental monitoring. lar radiation and relays the data to insufficient watering,” he says. 22 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

at TAU received substantial ERC research project that specializes in the TAU professors in funding. Prof. Noga Alon of TAU’s growing field of molecular electronics, the humanities and Raymond and Beverly Sackler School a branch of nanoscience. Molecular of Mathematics and the Blavatnik electronics, explains Nitzan, is a new exact sciences are School of Computer Science, an approach for devising excelling in winning Israel Prize laureate and incumbent tiny electronic devic- substantial grants of the Florence and Ted Baumritter es on the molecular from the European Chair in Combinatorics, was award- scale. Applications Research Council for ed over 1 million euros ($1.4 million) include sensors, dis- outstanding projects for a research project on “Discrete plays, smart materi- Mathematics: Methods, Challenges als, molecular motors, Prof. Abraham and Applications.’’ The project’s ob- logic and memory de- Nitzan ods of vessels. According to Goren jective is to inves- vices, molecular-scale this information can help establish tigate fundamental transistors and energy transduction trade patterns, manufacturing proc- problems in discrete devices. According to Nitzan, the ad- esses and even political organization. mathematics, the vantage of molecules in these devices Among the rare written texts to have branch of math- stems from their ability to bind to one survived from the kingdom of Judah ematics dealing with another, recognize one another and as- are ostraca, which are writings on ce- finite structures, as semble into larger structures. ramic sherds, and bullae, clay sealings well as their connec- Prof. Noga Alon This is the first year the ERC is dis- attached to scrolls and papyri that tion to problems in information the- bursing prestigious Advanced Grants were sent from one authority to an- ory, additive number theory, graph to outstanding, established research other. Determining their geographical theory and theoretical computer sci- leaders. Last year the Raymond and origin will help map the network of ence. Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact administrative correspondence, says Prof. Abraham Nitzan, incum- Sciences made a strong showing in Goren. bent of the Riwka (nee Schechter) the ERC’s first Starting Grant com- and Iser Kodesz Chair in Chemical petition, with young faculty member Mathematics and molecular Dynamics at TAU’s Raymond and Julia Kempe of the Blavatnik School electronics Beverly Sackler School of Chemistry, of Computer Science ranking 1st In addition to the funding for was awarded an ERC grant of approxi- among 9,000 young researchers of 88 archaeology, two other projects mately 850,000 euros ($1 million) for a nationalities.

TAU researchers have developed or cochlear implants that convert a new method for processing sound sounds into electrical impulses that that can enable the hearing impaired stimulate the auditory nerve. Both to understand speech in noisy envi- techniques have proven effective in ronments. Impaired hearing ability in quiet environments, but are not de- noisy places is largely due to the loss signed to filter out background noise of tiny hair cells in the inner ear. The in loud places. technique, developed by Prof. Miriam The method, which is based on a Furst-Yust and her team at the School mathematical algorithm, can be in- of Electrical Engineering, Fleischman corporated into hearing aids or co- Faculty of Engineering, reproduces chlear implants and has been proven the functioning of the lost hair cells effective in tests on hearing impaired in noisy background situations. individuals under noisy conditions. To date, the most common solu- Filtering The technology has been patented by tions for amplifying sound are hear- Ramot, TAU’s technology transfer ing aids that work by stimulating Out Loud arm, and is currently being marketed residual hearing in the inner ear, for commercialization. Noise 23 If Brian Epstein hadn’t spot- month period during 2007. After ted the Beatles at an obscure filtering out unrelated information Liverpool club in 1961, we during the first three month period, would probably never even the team used data from the remain- have heard of the group, and ing six months to track the increas- they would certainly never ing popularity of emerging artists and have reached international compare them to the Billboard chart. stardom. The resulting information enabled Now, TAU’s Prof. Yuval them to develop a system to predict Shavitt of the School of which artists would break out of their Electrical Engineering has local markets. developed software that can predict who will make it onto the next billboard charts – without the need for a talent The key was scout. Using data collected understanding the from Gnutella, the most pop- role of geography. ular peer-to-peer file-sharing network in the United States, Shavitt has developed a com- puter algorithm that can spot Location is key an emerging artist several “The key was understanding the weeks or months before na- role of geography in the rising popu- tional success hits. Clearly, larity of these artists,” says Shavitt. this ability to predict the next His team realized that the artists who music phenomenon could eventually make it big nationally first become a profitable tool for have a sizable number of user queries music producers and record in their local region, even when they labels. have zero queries from elsewhere in the US. A new frontier in the record The numbers for new artists start- business ed small, often with five, then 20, ”Until now, talent scouts for record then 150 queries within the artist’s Predicting the companies used instinct to pre- home city each week. At first glance dict the next rock personality,” says these numbers seem insignificant, Shavitt. “Our software has an aston- but Shavitt explains that exponential Next Big Thing ishing success rate – in some cases up growth in search queries from one to 50%. We’ve crossed a new frontier geographical region proved a reliable in Music in the record business.” predictor of a future breakout artist. Shavitt has already used the tech- In an effort to continue collecting nology with notable success. The data for future study, Shavitt has now A TAU-developed new releases of Soulja Boy and Sean started his own collection network Kingston were both flagged by his on Direct Connect, which gets about algorithm is helping to system in April 2007, and both songs a million hits a day. His student, forecast the musical became Billboard hits when they en- Koenigstein, is hoping to expand the future and could make tered the charts two months later. scope of the algorithm predictions talent scouts a thing Shavitt developed the algorithm to look at individual songs by well- of the past with graduate students Tomer Tankel established artists. “Will a Madonna and Noam Koenigstein. They exam- song sell because it’s a hit, or just be- ined millions of Gnutella user que- cause it’s sung by Madonna?” he asks. ries for unknown artists over a nine- “That’s what we’re looking at now.” 24 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

the Meitar family and South East Asia. “Cultural scholar- ships represent a way of sponsoring the work of promising young photographers,” added Meitar, who attended the exhibition opening along with the Ambassador of the Re- public of Korea to Israel, Young-Sam-Ma; TAU President Zvi Galil; Vice Rector Prof. Aron Shai, founder of TAU’s Department of East Asian Studies; and Prof. Zvika Serper, Chairperson of the department.

Toward a Korean studies track The exhibition was an important step in enhancing the academic study of Korea at TAU. Currently, some 40 stu- dents take courses in Korean studies that include a semi- nar on Korea’s economic, foreign and security policies made possible in part through the support of the Korea Foundation. The department hopes to expand this core Korea through the Lens curriculum into a Korean study track including Korean An exhibition of photographs of Korea language instruction. sponsored by the Meitar Collection helped Dr. Alon Levkowitz, a TAU specialist on Korea, says that promote interest in Korean studies at TAU with trade between Korea and Israel now South Korea and Israel have a lot in common: both accounting for $2 bil- countries gained independence in 1948 and had to lion a year, there is a struggle for international legitimacy, while remaining under growing appreciation constant threat from their neighbors. Both countries have of the importance of dynamic economies characterized by flourishing high-tech South Korea among industries. In both countries, modern urban living coexists Israeli students. “A alongside a more traditional, religious way of life. Korean study program This fusion between the modern and traditional was will enable students to reflected in an exhibition by photographer Adi Segal gain a deeper under- entitled, “South Korea through the Lens of the Camera,” standing of South which was held at TAU and initiated and sponsored by the Korea’s role in North Meitar Collection. East Asia and enhance their knowledge of South Korea’s In her photographs, Segal, 23, whose work in Korea culture and contribution to the world,” notes Levkowitz. was supported by a stipend from the Meitar Collection, Prof. Aron Shai, incumbent of the Shoul N. Eisenberg Dafna Meitar Nechmad creates a colorful social and cultural document of Korean Chair for East Asian Affairs, noted that the department has (left) and Adi life, juxtaposing images of high rise buildings and adver- proven experience building up specializations in Japa- Segal tisements for global brands with traditional dancing girls nese, Chinese and Indian studies and will be able to draw and Buddhist monks. on that experience for the Korean specialization. The Meitar Collection, the creation of TAU benefactor Zvi Meitar, founder of the Zvi Meitar Center for Advanced TAU’s first ever visiting professor from Korea, Prof. Chongko Choi, Legal Studies at TAU’s Buchmann an expert in South East Asian legal jurisprudence, taught for one se- Faculty of Law, comprises some mester this year at the Zvi Meitar Center for Advanced Legal Studies 150,000 negatives and photographs at TAU’s Buchmann Faculty of Law as part of a cooperation agree- reflecting the history of the State of ment between TAU and his home institution, Seoul National Univer- Israel, including works by seminal sity. Choi was at TAU to introduce Israeli students to the Confucian photographers Boris Karni, Beno approach to legal philosophy, an approach that he says is more “com- Rothenberg and Moshe Levine. The Prof. Chongko munitarian” than Western “rights-based” jurisprudence. collection is dedicated to conserving Choi Choi, who says he was amazed at the popularity of his course, and exhibiting these works. expressed a deep sympathy for Israeli students. According to Choi some 30,000 Dafna Meitar Nechmad, Zvi Meitar’s Korean tourists visit Israel each year, many of them Christian pilgrims. “About 35% daughter and director of the Mei- of Koreans are Christians and have deep messianic ties to the Jewish people and the tar Foundation, says the exhibition Old Testament,” he says. emphasizes the deep ties between

25 America’s financial crisis may seem Zakim of TAU’s Department of History required of him, and ultimately dies like a problem for the new millennium, focuses on how the rise of capitalism because he “prefers not to” eat, are but Herman Melville was already in the 19th century led to the idea of representative to Zakim of individual- exploring the potentially deadly milieu “the clerk”– a figure that had previ- ism and free choice taken to patho- of Wall Street back in the 1850s. ously not existed – and ultimately to logical extremes. His famous short story, “Bartleby the birth of corporate America as we the Scrivener,” was discussed by know it today. Corporate culture researchers from Israel and the US at Until the 19th century, explains Za- The power structure of the law a multidisciplinary conference jointly kim, most men took on their fathers’ office in which Bartleby works, and By Ilana Teitelbaum held this winter by Tel Aviv University professions or took charge of the the significance of the story vis-à-vis and the Hebrew University of Jeru- family business. It was only during concepts of power, are explored by salem. Prof. Gideon Kunda The story tells of the of TAU’s Depart- law clerk Bartleby who ment of Labor Stud- declines to perform ies, the author of the his duties, constantly award-winning book, responding that he Engineering Culture: “would prefer not to.” Control and Commit- At last Bartleby is fired ment in a High-Tech but refuses to leave the Corporation. office, and ultimately Kunda finds it fasci- ends up tragically nating that the themes starving to death. expressed in “Bar- ”The odd ambiguity tleby” are so closely of the story, and the related to his own enigmatic, piteous and Fear and Loathing study of the emotional unreasonable character under-life, often dark, of Bartleby, continue to of modern corporate intrigue students and on Wall Street culture. scholars alike,” says Dr. Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener,” the In his lecture, Kunda Milette Shamir, Chair subject of a TAU conference, remains as contrasts the manage- of the Department of ment techniques of English and Ameri- startlingly relevant today as when it was Captain Ahab in Mel- can Studies at TAU, published 150 years ago ville’s Moby Dick with who co-organized the those of the lawyer in conference. Speakers at the two-day Melville’s time that people began to “Bartleby.” Kunda suggests that in meeting provided insight into the leave the comforts of family for the Bartleby, Melville provides a subtle story from fields as diverse as com- stringent demands of the corporate sequel to Moby Dick, and answers munication, labor studies, and Asian- world. A new tradition of urban life the question, “What does Ishmael American studies. had begun. The concept of individual- do after he’s cast in the water?” The ism and personal ambition moved to answer according to Kunda is that The clerk the forefront of men’s consciousness. he is washed up on the shores of One of the distinguishing trade- Consequently, thousands of young Manhattan, and becomes a passive, marks of “Bartleby” is its innovative- men became clerks in the hope of maladaptive worker – Bartleby. ness: it is one of the first stories ever striking it rich – with the accompany- Subtle hints in the text, such as the published in America that explored ing paradox that it was nearly impos- juxtaposition of Bartleby with a bust office life. Until it was written, most sible to rise in the ranks from a clerk’s of the great Roman orator Cicero, fiction of the period was either set position. suggest that he still retains skills of in private homes or in adventures Zakim sees Bartleby as a coura- leadership, but simply “prefers not to” overseas. With the advent of Bartleby, geous and incisive critique of a use them anymore. corporate America is for the first time flawed system, long before many Dr. Shamir’s lecture involves the in- rendered in a fully formed artistic people were taking notice of its flaws. terrelationship of capitalism and Prot- depiction. Bartleby’s seemingly irrational behav- estant Christianity, and how business In his lecture on the period in which ior, in which he says that he “prefers became a symbolic form of worship Bartleby takes place, Dr. Michael not to” perform the tasks that are as people began to associate piety 26 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

with industry. “I think Bartleby has a system that places money over human was provided by the Cohen-Porter lot to tell us about the crisis of today,” kindness. Shamir concludes, “Melville Fund at the Department of English says Shamir. In her view, Bartleby’s is critiquing a moral blindness that and American Studies, other units boss, by firing Bartleby and indirectly remains in corporate culture today.” funded by the Porter family, and the causing his death, represents a value Partial support for the conference Clinton Fund for American Studies.

In the past, La Spezia was an Gateway to the Sea important European port city that primarily served the Italian Navy. A joint initiative between TAU and an Italian port city Today the military has left the area, aims to make Israel’s coastal cities more like their and the city is changing its character Mediterranean counterparts and encouraging collaborations such as the Israeli project to consolidate A view of Ever since the illegal immigrant ship with the Israeli coastline particularly, a comprehensive planning concept La Spezia Exodus 1947 left the port of La Spe- among Israeli planners and architects. that will maintain its architectural and zia en route to Israel, the Italian city “Israel is a country of refugees, and cultural heritage. has considered itself a “gateway to the sea is mostly blocked from our Zion.” In the framework of La Spezia’s view in coastal cities,” says Keinan, longstanding ties with Israel, TAU a lecturer at TAU’s Azrieli School of architect Peter Keinan initiated “Port Architecture, Katz Faculty of the Arts. Cities,” an architectural planning and “We look at the sands, whereas in It- city building project in La Spezia that aly people look toward the sea, which emphasizes the preservation of urban has always been an inseparable part heritage. of life. Israel needs a planning policy Nine fourth-year students from TAU for its waterfront cities that will make took part in the project, alongside the sea play a more integral role.” their Italian counterparts, planning The TAU students learned about projects including parks, buildings, the La Spezia sites while they were squares and streets in four sites still in Israel, seeing them for the first earmarked for development by the La time only when they submitted their The project was a joint initiative Spezia Municipality. projects in Italy. “This is how things of Tel Aviv University, the Technion Now in its second year, the Port happen in the era of cross-border ar- Institute of Technology, the WIZO Cities project aims to develop an chitectural planning, competitions and Haifa Academy of Design and Educa- awareness of and affinity with outsourcing,” explains Keinan, who tion, La Spezia Municipality and the Mediterranean cultures generally, and accompanied the students to Italy. Universities of Florence and Genoa.

Bringing Science to the TAU Community The hoopoe bird beat nine other A popular new lecture series for university staff mem- finalists to secure bers and students entitled “Science and Knowledge” the title of Israel's was launched this year at the initiative of Vice President national bird in a na- for Research and Development, Prof. Ehud Gazit, with tionwide competition assistance from Prof. Abraham Katzir of the Raymond held under the lead- and Beverly Sackler School of Physics and Astronomy. “The Birds” TAU-Style ership of Dr. Yossi Featuring lectures by TAU researchers, the series Leshem of TAU's Department of Zoology, and that was exposes the wider university community to outstand- sponsored by the Society for the Protection of Nature. The ing research being conducted on campus. This year’s hoopoe won 35 percent of the votes, beating the graceful lecture topics included laser weaponry, Israel’s Chris- prania and the goldfinch. ”The campaign was a way to get tian communities and their visual works, Alzheimer’s 4,500 schools, 9,500 kindergartens, all IDF units and the disease and autoimmune diseases. The series is one of public involved with birds and to learn about them and the the initiatives launched by Prof. Gazit to strengthen the importance of protecting them,“ said Leshem, who directs connection between the academic and administrative TAU's International Center for the Study of Bird Migration sectors on campus. in Latrun. The results of the competition were announced by Israeli President Shimon Peres. 27 Cancer Researchers the American Friends of TAU and TAU’s Ela Kodesz Institute for Research on Cancer Pool Resources Development and Protection. TAU researchers have joined The project is headed by Prof. Amnon Hizi together with scientists throughout of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and Prof. Israel to launch the Israeli Society for Jonathan Gershoni of the George S. Wise Cancer Research, a new framework Faculty of Life Sciences, both leading experts for specialists in cancer to pool their in the field. resources in the struggle against the In his introductory remarks to the confer- disease. ence, R. David Harden, Deputy-Director of The new framework will act as a USAID at the United States Embassy in Tel “vital tool for the prevention, early Prof. Karen Avraham Aviv, noted that 33 million people worldwide diagnosis and treatment of cancer,” are now HIV-AIDS carriers. He commended says TAU’s Prof. Eliezer Flescher, who TAU for its commitment to fighting the HIV- serves as Secretary of the Society. US Government AIDS virus and for “bringing excellence, inno- Flescher, of the Department of Clinical vation and the power of Israel’s finest minds Microbiology at the Sackler Faculty of Funds AIDS to this struggle.” Medicine, has discovered a new fam- Research at TAU Guest of honor at the conference was Dr. ily of vegetal substances that have A new project for a center Gary Nabel, Director of the Vaccine Research anti-carcinogenic properties. for AIDS and infectious dis- Center at the US National Institutes of Health Serving as honorary presi- eases funded by the Ameri- (NIH). The conference was co-organized by dent of the society is Prof. can Schools and Hospitals Professors Hizi and Gershoni, Prof. Karen Isaac Witz of the Department Abroad (ASHA) program of Avraham of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine of Cell Research and Immu- USAID was launched at a and Dr. Eran Bacharach of the George S. nology at TAU’s George S. conference supported by Wise Faculty of Life Sciences. Wise Faculty of Life Scienc- es, a pioneer in the research of cancer microenvironments – interactions between cancer cells New Research Consortium and molecular systems in the body – Prof. Eliezer and the impact of these interactions Flescher Targets Disease Therapy on the spread of malignancy. A multidisci- cell biology, computational biology The society will act as a coordinat- plinary collo- and cancer research is being applied ing body for the exchange of infor- quium for the to study microRNAs in normal and mation between cancer researchers research of microRNAs was launched malignant development. and students in Israel and around at TAU at a conference attended by The consortium was recently the world. This includes publicizing some 125 researchers, physicians, awarded a research grant from the funding opportunities, organizing con- graduate students and post-doctoral Wolfson Family Charitable Trust. ferences and in-service training, and fellows of the Sackler Faculty of Med- Support for the conference was facilitating professional networking icine and affiliated medical centers, received from the TAU Vice President in the field. The society will also aid the George S. Wise Faculty of Life of Research and Development, the students to expand their careers. Sciences and the Blavatnik School of Constantiner Institute of Molecular The society’s first ever meeting Computer Science. Genetics, Agentek, Danyel Biotek, was hosted by TAU at the Miriam and MicroRNAs are tiny pieces of RNA, Bio-Rad, Eldan and Getter. Adolfo Smolarz Auditorium and was the chemical building blocks that The opening lecture at the launch- attended by some 600 scientists and carry genetic information between ing conference was given by Prof. physicians. The keynote lecture was DNA to the protein and that control Reuven Agami of the Netherlands delivered by Prof. Anne-Lise Bor- the production of proteins. They play Cancer Institute. The conference was resen-Dale, President of the European a crucial role in growth and disease, organized by Prof. Karen Avraham of Association for Cancer Research. including cancer. MicroRNA research the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Over 120 research posters were on holds the promise of providing Shai Izraeli of the Sackler Faculty display at the conference. Support avenues for disease therapy in the of Medicine and the TAU-affiliated for the conference was provided by future. At TAU the unique experience Sheba Medical Center, and Prof. Orna the Israel Cancer Society, which has of basic researchers and physician- Elroy-Stein of the Wise Faculty of Life welcomed the initiative. scientists in the fields of genetics, Sciences. 28 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

Director of TAU’s Minerva

Reich-Ranicki Chair Gets Tel Aviv Launch Institute for German History, Prof. Marcel The Marcel Reich-Ranicki Chair in Music, TAU’s Prof. Moshe spoke on Marcel Reich- Reich-Ranicki German Literature of TAU’s Entin Fac- Zuckermann delivered a Ranicki’s life and achieve- ulty of Humanities was inaugurated lecture on Heine’s poetry, ments as one of Germany’s at TAU at a festive evening devoted especially his love poetry, foremost cultural figures. At to the German-Jewish poet Heinrich against the background 88, Reich-Ranicki still has Heine. The chair is named for Prof. of German Romanticism tremendous national influ- Marcel Reich-Ranicki, a celebrated on the one hand, and the transition to ence in promoting high culture and German literary critic and TAU honor- European modernity on the other. reading among the German public. At ary doctor, and was donated in his Soprano Daniella Lugassi and the dedication of the chair that took honor by private donors and institu- pianist Xu Yi-An, both TAU students, place in Frankfurt in 2007, Reich- tions in Germany. performed Dichterliebe, Heine poems Ranicki expressed his hope that the At the event, which took place at set to Robert Schumann’s music. chair would introduce young Israelis TAU’s Buchmann-Mehta School of In his remarks, Prof. Jose Brunner, to German literature.

year’s theme of “The Ottoman Legacy Texas Instruments Awards prizes for Contemporary Turkish Culture, Teaching Prize Institutions and Values.” Forty-one researchers from around Jacob Fainguelernt, Prize Rewards Expertise in the world competed for the award, Engineering Supervisor of Turkish History which is named for the late Sakip the Signal Processing and Prof. Amy Singer of TAU’s Depart- Sabanci, a prominent Turkish busi- Communication laboratories ment of Middle Eastern and African ness leader and philanthropist. The at the Fleischman Faculty History won first place in the 2008 award is designed to promote fresh of Engineering, received the Jacob Fainguelernt Sakip Sabanci International Research thinking and original research in Turk- DSP Educator Award of Texas Instru- Award competition. Singer’s prize- ish studies conducted in the social ments for his contribution in training winning article, entitled, “The Persis- sciences and humanities. The award students in digital signal processing tence of Philanthropy,” addressed this is administered by the Trustees of techniques and establishing labs in Prof. Amy Singer (left) Sabanci University and the prize win- the field. “This award underlines the and Güler ners are selected by an independent, university’s strong working relation- Sabanci, international jury. ship with Texas Instruments,” said Chair of the Board Singer, an expert in Ottoman socio- Fainguelernt at the award ceremony. of Trustees economic history, specializes in the Texas Instruments supports a number of Sabanci University, study of charity and philanthropy in of laboratories and research facilities at the award Ottoman and Islamic societies. at the faculty. ceremony

Competitive Research Awards Prizes recognizing the competitive Medicine, incumbent of the David and nano-devices for use in electronics, standing of TAU researchers within Inez Myers Chair for Cancer Genetics, chemistry and medicine, and for filing the university were awarded for the for his work on cellular response to six patent applications. third year by Prof. Ehud Gazit, TAU DNA damage. The prize for humani- Vice President for Research and ties and social sciences went to Prof. Development. The prizes reward Noah Lewin-Epstein, Dean of the faculty members who have submitted Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, an unusually high number of research for his research into perceptions of proposals, received substantial re- citizenship and solidarity among pop- search funding from outside sources ulations in various countries and the or filed for numerous patents. social and cultural integration of im- This year’s prize in science and migrants. The final prize, for applied technology was awarded to Prof. research, was given to Prof. Fernando From left: Prof. Yosef Shilo, TAU President Zvi Galil, Prof. Noah Yosef Shilo of the Department of Mo- Patolsky of the Raymond and Beverly Lewin-Epstein, Prof. Fernando Patolsky, and Vice President for lecular Genetics, Sackler Faculty of School of Chemistry, for developing Research and Development Prof. Ehud Gazit 29 and for his consistent support for Israel. people TAU President Zvi Galil said at the Russian Ambassador ceremony, “Dr. Fischer inspires our Launches New deepest respect and admiration. He Diplomats Forum Austrian President has taken an active and vocal role in Russian Ambassador Piotr V. the fight against anti-Semitism and Stegniy spoke on “Russia and the Receives Honorary extremism and has been a stead- Middle East in an Era of Change” Doctorate fast supporter of the State and of as guest of TAU’s S. Daniel Abra- Dr. Heinz Fischer, Federal Presi- higher education in Israel for over four ham Center for International and dent of the Republic of Austria, was decades.” He thanked Dr. Fischer for Regional Studies and the English- awarded a TAU honorary doctorate graciously hosting participants at the Speaking Friends of TAU. The in a festive ceremony held at TAU university’s 16th European Regional lecture was the first in a new Am- and presided over by President Zvi Conference in 2007 at the former bassadors Forum series, aimed Galil in the presence Imperial Palace of Vienna. at presenting the perspectives on of President of the Dr. Fischer has served as President international relations of foreign Jewish community in of Austria since 2004 and has held diplomats resident in Israel. Vienna Dr. Ariel Muzi- numerous governmental and politi- cant, Chief Rabbi of cal posts including Federal Minister the Jewish Community of Science and Research, Executive of Vienna Paul Chaim Chairman of the Socialist (Social Eisenberg, government Democratic) Group in the Austrian ministers, ambassa- Parliament, and Deputy Chairman of German Delegations dors and members of the Party of European Socialists. • A high the Austrian Friends A professor of political science profile Association of TAU. and law, Dr. Fischer is the author of delegation Dr. Fischer, who has longstanding numerous books and articles and the of university relations with TAU’s Austrian Friends co-editor of the Austrian Journal of heads and

Dr. Heinz Association as an Honorary Board Political Science. scientists Fischer Member, was recognized for his dedi- While at TAU, Dr. Fischer opened an visited TAU cation in the service of the Austrian exhibition entitled, “In Between: Con- German Minister of Education under the parliament and people spanning over temporary Austrian Art,” held at TAU’s Dr. Annette Schavan with TAU leadership President Zvi Galil four decades, his contribution to Genia Schreiber University Art Gallery. of German redressing the suffering caused by The exhibition was sponsored by the Minister of Education and BMBF, Dr. the Holocaust as President of the Na- Federal Ministry for Education, Arts Annette Schavan. They were in Israel tional Fund of the Republic of Austria and Culture of the Republic of Austria to mark the German-Israeli Year of for the Victims of National Socialism, and the Austrian Embassy in Israel. Science and Technology.

• Vice President of UN Envoy Talks Peace the German Robert H. Serry, the United Nations Special Bundestag Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Petra Pau discussed regional issues and the UN’s rela- (left) and a tions with Israel at a special event sponsored by delegation TAU’s S. Daniel Abraham Center for Internation- from the al and Regional Studies and other TAU units. German Embassy and the Bundestag UN Special Middle East Serry, who represents UN Secretary-General were hosted by Prof. Dina Porat Coordinator Ban Ki-Moon in peace discussions, said that (right), Head of TAU’s Stephen Roth Robert Serry too many Israelis tended to view the UN as hos- Institute for the Study of Anti-Semi- tile to Israel and that is was important for him to tism and Contemporary Racism, and try and change this image. He told the audience the institute team. Discussions fo- of students, professors and the wider public cused on current issues in anti-Semi- that “a far more positive agenda is now being tism and possible ways of combating pursued between the UN and Israel.” its manifestations. 30 Summer 2009 TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY REVIEW

Dr. Leora Meridor, Chairperson of Prof. David Moskona of TAU’s Maurice and Gabriela Executive Council Goldschleger School of Dental Dr. Leora Meridor has been appointed Chairperson Medicine has received an hon- of Tel Aviv University’s Executive Council, replac- orary doctorate from Plovdiv ing Dov Lautman who has completed an eight-year University, Bulgaria. He was term of office. Meridor studied math, physics, and recognized for his outstanding contribution as economics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the founder of a chair for the development of where she received her BSc, MSc and PhD. She also dental treatment. pursued post-doctoral research at MIT in the US. Dr. Ze’ev Weinfeld Dr. Meridor held several positions in the Bank of Israel, includ- , who ing Head of Research; was the Chairperson of the Board of Bezeq holds a PhD in physics from International, of Poalim Capital Markets and Investments Ltd., TAU, has been appointed CEO and of Walla Communication Ltd.; and was Senior Vice President of Ramot, the TAU technology and Head of the Credit Division and Risk Management at the First transfer company. He brings International Bank. She is a member of the board of directors of sev- to the position over 20 years of makers news eral companies including Teva Pharmaceuticals Ind. Ltd. and Osem industry and technology transfer experience. Investments Ltd. Dr. Weinfeld joined Ramot in 2001 as Vice President for Intellectual Property and Business Development and later served as Executive Vice President for Business and Development. Prior Prof. Aron Shai appointed Vice Rector to this he was Director of Image Guided Surgery Prof. Aron Shai of the Department of East Asian and Intellectual Property at Biosense Webster, a Studies, incumbent of TAU’s Shoul N. Eisenberg Johnson and Johnson company, and a member Chair for East Asian Affairs, has been appointed of the management team in Israel. Before that Vice Rector. Prof. Shai received his BA and MA he served in a number of managerial positions from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and his in the R&D and Marketing Departments of PhD from Oxford University. He joined TAU in Elscint Ltd.’s Nuclear Medicine Division. 1972 and served as Chairman of both the Department of History (1993 to 1996) and the Department of East Asian Studies (1994 to Arik Rosenblum has 1997). Between 2007 and 2009 he was a member of the Council for been appointed Director of Higher Education. the Development and Public Prof. Shai has been a visiting professor at the University of Toronto Affairs Division. For the last and the East-Asian Institute, Columbia University; Director of four years Arik was the Chief Studies at the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, Operating Officer and Senior Paris; and Academic Dean at the David Yellin College of Education, Development Executive of the International Jerusalem. He has also served as member of the Board of Directors of Relations Division of the American Jewish Joint the Israel Phoenix Assurance Company Ltd, and of the Israel-Foreign Distribution Committee. In the past, Arik has Trade Risks Insurance Corporation Ltd, and was a member of the served as a shaliach (emissary from Israel) to the Academic Council of the Open University of Israel and of Safed Jewish Community of Hartford, Connecticut, College. He has published several books on China and international as well as the director of development for sev- affairs and two historical novels. eral leading Israeli non-profit organizations.

Appointments: • Prof. Tammie Ronen, Social Sciences, Director of the Renata Adler Memorial Research Center for Child Development and Psychopathology • Dr. Vera Kaplan, Humanities, Director of the Cummings Center for Russian and East European Studies • Dr. Yaniv Assaf, Exact Sciences, Director of the Alfredo Federico Strauss Center for Computational Neuro-Imaging • Prof. Abraham Katzir, Exact Sciences, Director of the Abramson Center for Medical Physics • Prof. Mark Shtaif, Engineering, Director of the Advanced Communication Center • Dr. Nir Osherov, Medicine, Head of the Ela Kodesz Institute of Host Defense against Infectious Diseases • Prof. Yossi Shain, Social Sciences, Head of the Frances Brody Institute for Applied Diplomacy • Prof. Baruch Wolach, Medicine, in- cumbent of the Leon Alcalay Chair in Pediatric Immunology • Prof. Oded Maimon, Engineering, incumbent of the Chair in Industrial Engineering 31 Six TAU Faculty Receive 2009 Israel Prizes

Prof. Zvi Laron – Israel Prize for Prof. Mordechai Shani – Israel Medical Research Prize for Lifetime Achievement Prof. Zvi Laron of the Sackler Prof. Mordechai Shani’s achieve- Faculty of Medicine is a founding father ments serve as benchmarks in the his- of pediatric endocrinology in Israel. His tory of medicine and public health in groundbreaking studies on growth hor- Israel. A member of the Sackler Faculty mones and biological tissue have set the international of Medicine and former director-general of the Ministry standard for the treatment of dwarfism among children. of Health, he founded Tel Hashomer Hospital, restruc- He founded Israel’s largest center for the treatment tured modern psychiatric care in Israel, created and ad- of Type 1 (juvenile) diabetes. Working at the TAU- vanced the National Health Insurance Law, established affiliated Beilinson Hospital and Schneider Children’s numerous research institutes and foundations, and nur- Medical Center of Israel, he has practiced as a physician tured new generations of physicians. for over 50 years. Prof. Zahava Solomon – Israel Prize Prof. Israel Levin – Israel Prize for for the Research of Social Work the Study of Hebrew Literature Prof. Zahava Solomon symbolizes Prof. Israel Levin, a member and Israel’s excellence in the research of former chair of the Department of social work. Her research assesses the Hebrew Literature, Entin Faculty of psychological toll of trauma on indi- Humanities, holds a place of honor in viduals including Holocaust survi- the study of medieval poetry and literature. His work vors and terror victims, with a particular emphasis on combines analytical, aesthetic and ideological ap- former prisoners of war and traumatized soldiers. Prof. proaches, demonstrating connections between different Solomon’s studies at the Bob Shapell School of Social cultures, between generations of writers, between the Work, Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences, and for the religious and the secular, and between original Hebrew Israel Defense Forces have deepened our understanding works and their Arabic sources of inspiration. of human responses to traumatic stress as well as raised public awareness of these issues. Prof. Reuven Tsur – Israel Prize for General Literature Prof. Yehuda “Judd” Ne’eman – Prof. Reuven Tsur of the Department Israel Prize for Cinema of Literature at TAU’s Entin Faculty of A former chairman of the Depart- Humanities is a prominent literature ment of Film and Television at TAU’s researcher in Israel, a theoretician of ex- Katz Faculty of the Arts, Prof. Yehuda traordinary originality and a scholar of international re- Ne’eman is a filmmaker and cinema nown. He is one of the founding fathers of the cognitive researcher. The combination of artist and thinker is ex- approach to literature, and coined the term “cognitive po- pressed in Ne’eman’s complexity, lyricism and human- etics.” Prof. Tsur has translated poetry into Hebrew and ity, and in the depth of his artistic and academic work published studies in translation theory, metaphor, litera- that serves as an exemplary tool of film instruction. ture instruction, hypnotic poetry and critical competence.

• AIS Fellow, Prof. Dov Te’eni, Management • Vice President Honors: Errata: TAU Review, Winter 2008/9 of the Latin American Jewish Studies Association (LAJSA), Prof. Check Point Systems is based in Tel Aviv, Ranaan Rein, Humanities • President of the Association for Research Israel, and not as stated (p. 11). in Otolaryngology, Prof. Karen B. Avraham, Medicine • First recipi- The painting by Reuven Rubin is of ent of the Teresa Award for the Advancement of Feminist Scholarship, Jerusalem in the 1960s, and not as Prof. Dafna Lemish, Social Sciences stated (p. 25). 32 Tel Aviv University

Peace through Business Inside: Support for Education young faculty New Sofaer Family • International MBA program Budapest in English welcomes top Regional candidates from Asian, Conference Indian and Arab nations • emphasis on candidates from Asia, India and ships, given out on This fall, when the new academic year be- Arab countries. The remainder will consist of the basis of both Profile: Joseph gins, 40 gifted young business students from young Israelis, both Jewish and Arab, as well outstanding aca- Hackmey many different lands will meet each other for the as students from the Palestinian Authority. The demic perform- first time at TAU. Shy smiles and introductory enrollment of Arab women in particular will be handshakes will be passed around in what will highly encouraged. Several generous scholar- Cont. on page S7 be remembered by the participants for years to come as the beginning of many friendships and meaningful business associations. During the From the President’s desk year, studying together and sharing a rare edu- cational opportunity at the newly established Dear Friends, English-language Sofaer Family International Out of adversity springs opportunity. In this last year Tel Aviv MBA program, these future business leaders of University has faced three considerable hurdles: continued government their respective countries will form the strong cuts to the higher education budget; the disruption to studies caused by international ties – with each other – that will the war in Gaza; and fallout from the worldwide financial crisis. serve them throughout their careers. Yet if anything, the university community has linked hands more With this important new initiative, the determinedly than ever before. Mr. Amos Shapira, the President of the Sofaer family reaches far beyond the academic Israeli Friends Association, is leading an effort to improve our branding and global business worlds. They wish to help with the aim of emerging from the current situation an even more com- ameliorate the Middle East conflict through a petitive institution than before. Faculty and administrative staff worked closely together to ease shared philosophy of commerce, supported by the burden on students who were called up for IDF reserve duty in Gaza. a powerful network of personal partnerships. Most encouraging of all has been the support of our governors, donors and friends. I was “Everyone would like to see peace in the heartened by the excellent turnout at our European Regional Conference in Budapest in March. Middle East,” says Prof. Asher Tishler, Dean of Our friends associations around the world continue their outstanding activities, which draw the Faculty of Management at TAU, the new pro- thousands, and our dynamic lay leaders – some newly recruited – evince dedication and en- gram’s home, “but the Sofaer family is taking an thusiasm. Thanks to our staunchest supporters, we will end this fiscal year with giving levels at about innovative step toward that end. Their program those of last year, especially in the United States and Israel. We greatly value this vote of confi- will not only promote Israel as a powerhouse in dence. We anticipate that next year, 2010, will be more challenging, but our will is strong and business, it will be a nexus of sustainable busi- our university infrastructure solid. With your continued partnership and engagement, we will ness relationships, a bridge across the East-West succeed in our mission of excellence. divide.” Indeed, moving forward, it has been provi- sioned that at least two thirds of the participat- ing students must be foreign nationals, with an Professor Zvi Galil, TAU President S1 legacy

Frances Brody was a most remarkable woman. ulty members with experience in diplomacy, Brody She entered the wholly male-dominated world government and the media. Intended to be- of industry as a young girl in 1930, working as come a national center, it will offer workshops Endowment a bookkeeper for the Alpert & Alpert Iron and and seminars to enhance the professionalism Metal Company. Without any formal train- of Israel’s foreign service personnel as well Benefits Israeli ing, she soon mastered the business, becom- as other official representatives of the nation ing its only administrator through the trying from the trade sector, defense industry, Jewish Diplomacy times of the Great Depression, then rising to Agency and more. full partner in 1947, and assuming the com- “Frances’s generosity of spirit touched pany’s leadership role a decade later. For the countless lives. Her philanthropy was heart- next 27 years, she guided her company to new felt, wide-ranging and innovative. We will all The generous spirit heights, contending successfully in the chal- miss her wisdom and warmth, and are very of Frances Brody, an lenging arena of international commerce, and grateful for her innovative endowment,” eu- esteemed friend of inspiring new generations of women to break logized William F. Cohen, Chairman of the TAU who died in Los through the “glass ceiling.” American Friends of Tel Aviv University. Angeles in 2008, will Upon her retirement in 1984, Brody be- The Institute will be headed by Prof. Yossi live on for many years came a major force in philanthropy. Shain, Head of the Abba Eban Program in to come through the She had this to say about her gift to TAU: Diplomacy at TAU’s Gordon Faculty of Social Frances Brody Institute “Personal experience got me thinking that Sciences, and Romulo for Applied Diplomacy. Israeli representatives need training. It is not Betancourt Professor of Endowed through a be- Frances Brody just their message that is important. It is how Political Science. quest to the American Friends of TAU, the in- they conduct themselves that reverberates stitute bearing her name will realize one of her back on people’s impression of the country. most cherished visions: teaching the practical And that takes training. I believe Tel Aviv skills needed by diplomats and others who of- University is uniquely constituted to provide ficially advocate for Israel around the world. such training.” Prof. Yossi Shain A dear friend of the State of Israel and TAU, The new Frances Brody Institute for who passionately believed that “Israel is a bas- Applied Diplomacy will rely on the knowl- tion of world learning and scientific progress,” edge and expertise of distinguished TAU fac-

funds the family supports at the university. Prof. David Mindich, great-grandson of A Family Affair Rabbi Gutwirth, used the visit to TAU as an opportunity to do some research into the fam- A prize in poetry and a fund in diabetes mellitus ily history, which he shared with a group of are among the many projects at TAU more than 60 family members, scholarship re- cipients and faculty at an award ceremony on supported by the extended campus. This was Prof. Mindich’s first visit to Gutwirth family Israel within the framework of the Gutwirth family reunion, and he was joined by his 12- year old son, Isaiah Mindich, and brother, Jeremy Mindich. Each year, the descendants of Rabbi Tuviah “Tuviah’s children and his children’s chil- Gutman Gutwirth’s eight children – now dren have not only given my generation a gift, reaching the fifth generation – travel to Israel but have created something extraordinary from around the globe to reunite and celebrate here at Tel Aviv University and at other insti- the generosity of the family and their legacy of tutions around Israel,” said David Mindich in supporting higher education in Israel. a moving speech describing his family’s legacy During their recent trip, the members of in Israel. the extended Gutwirth family visited TAU The funds established by members of and met with recipients of the numerous the Gutwirth family include the nationwide

S2 legacy

Looking Back TAU Sackler School of Medicine alumnus Dr. and Paying Mark Fleisher expresses his Forward gratitude with a generous thank-you gift When Dr. Mark Fleisher MD of Jacksonville, Florida, contemplated visiting Israel with his wife and two sons, he remem- The Sackler Faculty of Medicine Dear Marsha, bered a silent covenant he made upon gradu- ating from the Sackler School of Medicine. tion, both in Israel and worldwide,” explains Eighteen years have passed since graduation. In that time, Rhonda and I have been quite fortunate. Our two “When I signed the book at graduation with Prof. Yoseph Mekori, Dean of the Sackler boys, Max and Samuel, are thriving. Medicine is both fun the letters MD affixed to my name for the first Faculty of Medicine. “It will conduct research and fascinating. How did I get so lucky? Although America time, I closed my eyes and made a silent prom- on the development and assessment of faculty, is the Land of Opportunity, I never had the opportunity to attend medical school in my own nation. In essence, it is a ise that I would someday show my gratitude,” curricula and teaching techniques, and will land where opportunity must be earned. That’s fair. On the he told his family in their kitchen one morning. also operate a Clinical Skills Laboratory. We other hand, Israel is the Land of Redemption. Throughout He knew that day had come. He sat down and are very proud and happy to receive such a our history, we speak of how G-d redeemed us and that Israel allows us to redeem ourselves. That’s unique. sent a letter along with a check to his dear friend generous donation for this important project MacArthur spoke of “Duty. Honor. Country.” As a grad- and mentor Marsha Warner at the New York from one of our successful graduates, and we uate of the Sackler School of Medicine, I think in terms State Office of the Sackler School of Medicine. hope that this will be the first step in our of duty, honor and countries: America and Israel. It has been too long since I have been in Israel. This June, we look Upon visiting Israel, Dr. Fleisher and his endeavor to establish an actively involved forward to spending our twentieth wedding anniversary family were received by TAU President Prof. alumni organization.” with our sons in Israel. We are happy to be able to donate $100,000 to my alma mater. Use it as you wish. It is a gift Zvi Galil, who thanked them for their gener- “People often ask me where I went to people who gave me quite a gift. osity. Prof. Galil noted that the Fleisher family to school,” says Dr. Fleisher, “and even contribution would help start a new initiative though I went to quite a few in my life, the Love, at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine: establishing only one I mention is Sackler. It gave me Mark Fleisher MD a Medical Education Center. three things: an education, a perspective Sackler School of Medicine Class of 1990 “The Medical Education Center will focus and, most importantly, an opportunity. on enhancing the processes of medical educa- For these things I will be forever grateful.”

The extended Gutwirth family at TAU

TAU student Jeremy Miriam and Aaron Gutwirth Scholarship Schaffer Bessin Prize in Poetry, donated by Martziano (left) and Fund, donated by the Aaron Gutwirth Fund; Barbara Bessin Zucker and Dr. Margaret Jeremy Mindich the Lotty Zucker Gutwirth and Charles Bessin Peppercorn in honor of their mother; Zucker Scholarship Fund for new immi- and the Moshe Dorf Fund for the publication Research Prize in Diabetes Mellitus, donated grant students, donated by Benjamin Zucker, of the Te’uda series in Jewish Studies, to honor by Vivien and Paul Zimmet of Australia, in Margot Mindich Zucker and Francine Zucker Moshe Dorf, a close friend of the Gutwirths. memory of her parents, is awarded at TAU in memory of their parents; the Bernice Additionally, the Hendrik and Irene Gutwirth annually.

S3 initiatives

The planned Dr. Habib Levy Iran Floor A New will incorporate a library Home for of rare Iranian documents The new floor, TAU campus. Its core will comprise Dr. Levy’s Iranian which joins the own private collection of rare books and Dr. Habib Levy documents. Other remarkable collections to and Program for be housed on the floor include the complete Iranian Jewish personal holdings of renowned Middle East Middle History at TAU’s scholar Prof. Bernard Lewis; the libraries of Center for Iranian Studies, salutes this lead- Prof. Franz Rosenthal of Yale University and er of Iranian Jewry and author of the classic Prof. Farhad Kazemi of New York University; Eastern work, Comprehensive History of the Jews of Iran the historical documentation archive of the (1960). The project has received seed money Iranian Jewish engineer Iraj Safai; the archives Heritage from a fund established by Dr. Levy’s grand- of the Center of Iranian Jewish Oral History daughter, Laura Merage, and her husband in Los Angeles, including interviews with over David. 100 Jewish Iranian leaders; and the Herbert “Because of the political situation in Iran Cohen collection of rare books from the 16th, today, little is known about current develop- 17th and 18th centuries. ments in the country’s society, culture and “We intend to develop the Dr. Habib Levy internal affairs. People also tend to forget Floor into one of the world’s major reference that Iran has a splendid cultural heritage and centers for Iranian Jewish history and culture, a grand history that go back thousands of as well as the general history of Iran and the years,” says Laura Merage, who resides in the Middle East,” says Prof. David Menashri, United States and Head of TAU’s visits Israel several Center for Iranian times a year. “We S t u d i e s a n d wish to bring this Dean for Special incredibly rich field Programs. “The of knowledge to the special collections attention of young gathered here will Israeli research- serve the advanced ers and the entire research needs of The name of Dr. Habib Levy (1896– Israeli public. We scholars and stu- 1984), a scholar, Zionist, community leader, feel that Tel Aviv dents from Israel philanthropist, businessman and medical pro- University is the and abroad. We fessional from Tehran – will be commemorat- perfect partner for this mission.” have no doubt that the comfortably furnished ed through a new TAU facility that is under The new Dr. Habib Levy Floor will com- setting, complete with an authentic Persian construction: the Dr. Habib Levy Floor for prise 6,500 square feet on the third story of garden at the center, will be conducive to ex- Iranian and Middle Eastern Collections. the recently renovated Wiener Library on the cellent academic study and research.”

Swiss Margarete und of Governors and has been volunteering for Walther Lichtenstein the past decade to promote education among Dr. Joel Sinnreich Foundation, which youth. recognized for tuition is chaired by Dr. Joel Bestowing a certificate of recognition on scholarships Sinnreich. The scholar- Dr. Sinnreich, TAU President Zvi Galil wrote: ships are allocated by “Behind every scholarship lies a story of talent the foundation to un- and need. With the cost of higher education in- Dr. Joel Sinnreich Numerous talented students from dis- dergraduate students creasing exponentially, more and more students advantaged backgrounds have been able to for the duration of their studies. fall into this category each year. Dr. Sinnreich’s pursue their education at Tel Aviv University Dr. Sinnreich grew up in Israel and re- continuous, annual support in financing the in the past years thanks to the generous sup- ceived his PhD from the Weizmann Institute future of both the students and the country can port of the Scholarship Committee of the of Science. He is a member of TAU’s Board be seen as a message of hope.” S4 initiatives

Check Point Establishes Institute at TAU

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., CEO Gil Shwed, who is a TAU Governor Prof. Ran tific core – the the highly successful, Israeli-founded global and Chairman of the Board of TAU’s Youth Canetti is mathematical an expert in leader in information security, which is head- University. “Because securing information cryptography algorithm and quartered in Tel Aviv, has joined forces with systems is a complex task that involves a and network the compu- TAU to establish the Check Point Founded multi-level approach and touches many fields security. ter’s structure. Institute for Information Security – a unique and disciplines, the Check Point Institute will But other research facility dedicated to this critical field promote both interdisciplinary research and considerations of study. Financed jointly by both organiza- in-depth research in specific disciplines, thus – such as sociological and legal aspects and tions, the Institute operates under the aus- enhancing collaboration between the academ- user friendliness – are also critical.” Other pices of TAU’s Blavatnik School of Computer ic world and industry,” Shwed says. studies already launched at the institute deal Science, and is headed by Prof. Ran Canetti, The Check with techniques for protecting software from a leading Israeli information security expert. Point Institute unauthorized tampering and the standardiza- Prof. Canetti has returned to Israel especially will support tion of protocols for secure communication for this purpose, after residing in the US since selected research projects conducted by fac- over the Internet – hot topics in the field of 1995 – first as a post-doc at the Massachusetts ulty, graduate students and post docs at TAU. information security today. Institute of Technology, and then working at Workshops and symposiums, where creative TAU President Prof. Zvi Galil saluted IBM Laboratories in New York. ideas can be exchanged and developed, will Check Point for its vision and contribution, “As today’s global society is embracing in- also be organized and hosted by the institute. especially at a time when Israel’s higher educa- formation technology and becoming increas- “One of our first projects is developing an tion is experiencing increasing financial hard- ingly dependent on information systems, advanced system for electronic elections,” says ship. “The Check Point Institute will enable the notion of information security is taking Prof. Canetti. “A project like this combines a us to foster the future generation in informa- on a whole new meaning,” says Check Point vast range of areas: first there’s the hard scien- tion security,” he said.

Galil, TAU President, and Hungarian Aliza Bin-Noun, Israeli Ambassador to Hungary. Rhapsody On the following days, participants enjoyed visits TAU’s European to some of Budapest’s out- Conference was held standing historical sites, including the Hungarian From left: TAU President Zvi Galil; for the first time Parliament, hosted by the Speaker of the Israeli Ambassador Aliza Bin- in historic Budapest House, Dr. Szili Katalin, the Labyrinth of Noun; Hungarian Minister with- out Portfolio in charge of Science, Georg Katcz Buda Castle, and the Dohány Synagogue, the Research and Innovation, Prof. Tel Aviv University’s 18th European largest synagogue in Europe and the second Károly Molnár; TAU Vice President Conference was held in March in Budapest, largest in the world. Yehiel Ben-Zvi; and Chairperson of the conference organizing Hungary, home to one of the largest Jewish On Friday night, participants attended a committee Georgette Avruch. communities in Europe prior to World War Kabbalat Shabbat and dinner at the Sofitel II. The conference’s compelling program led Budapest Hotel hosted by TAU governor and the 80 participants – all dear friends and supporter Georg Katcz of Austria. Greetings lecular geneticist Prof. Karen Avraham and board members of TAU – on a fascinating were given by TAU President Zvi Galil and a lecture on the integration of former East discovery tour of Budapest’s rich artistic and President of the Federation of Hungarian European countries into the European Union cultural heritage as well as of the history of Jewish communities, Peter Feldmayer. Prof. by Hungarian Member of the European Hungarian Jewry. Dr. Alfred Schoner, Rector of the Theological Parliament Dr. Alexandra Dobolyi. The conference’s welcoming reception Seminary, University for Jewish Studies, Cultural highlights were a performance was held at Budapest’s historical Gundel Budapest, spoke on the past, present and fu- of Puccini’s Turnadot at the Budapest State Restaurant, famous for its original wine cellars ture of Hungarian Jewry. Opera House and an excursion to the pic- dating back to the 19th century. Greetings were Other items on the program included turesque town of Szentendre. The event delivered by Prof. Károly Molnár, Hungarian thought-provoking lectures by TAU’s Prof. was capped off with a farewell dinner at the Minister without Portfolio in charge of Asher Susser on the ramifications of Israel’s Udvarhaz Restaurant and performances of Science, Research and Innovation; Prof. Zvi war in Gaza; a talk on genetics by TAU mo- Gypsy music and folklore. S5 young excellence

Nathan Jacobson: enough, the two new incum- bents of the Nathan Jacobson Gifts that make Chairs are very grateful. a difference “Undoubtedly, the aid provided to us by people who are concerned with the fu- ture of science is crucial to expanding human knowledge,” says Micha, who is conducting Donors advanced research on chemotherapy treat- ments and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. “For Nathan Jacobson a young scientist like me, at a time like this, Mobilized Nathan Jacobson’s contribution is even more “G-d has given me the means to be able meaningful. It makes the for Critical to help, and with this comes tremendous re- difference between just sponsibility,” says international business lead- jotting down new ideas, Mission er and highly active philanthropist Nathan and conducting actual Jacobson. He first came from Canada to Israel research that will lead to Recruiting the finest just before the Yom Kippur war, and is now real medical solutions," moving here with his family. Inspired by his he says. young researchers for TAU 8-year-old daughter Katya Ma’ayan, to whom Oded, a TAU gradu- he hopes, as he says, “to leave a more decent Dr. Oded Hod ate, studies the applica- world,” Jacobson focuses much of his giv- tion of nano-materials Three young Israeli scholars, each a rising ing on young people – from disadvantaged for a variety of novel industrial and environ- talent in his own field, have recently been able youth in Toronto to Jewish orphans in the mental uses. “Mr. Jacobson’s important con- to return to Israel and join the academic staff Ukraine. Other beneficiaries of his generos- tribution comes to me at a critical stage, as of TAU, all thanks to the generous support ity include the poor of Jerusalem, blind peo- I make my first steps as an independent re- of two donors: Israeli-Canadian businessman ple in Canada, needy Jewish seniors in Kiev, searcher,” he says. “I am confident that Mr. Nathan Jacobson and American real estate de- Ukraine, and many others. Jacobson’s support will serve as a key factor on veloper Guilford Glazer. These donors belong “I believe that during an economic crisis, my way to becoming a leading scientist in my to an exclusive group of visionary supporters people with money should give double the field.” of the university who have helped TAU recruit usual amount, because those who need it had young faculty during the last five years. nothing before, and now they have even less The support will enable each new recruit to than nothing,” he asserts. conduct research and teach new generations Well aware that the entire higher educa- Guilford Glazer: of students in their area of specialty. With tion system in Israel is suffering from govern- these important gifts, the donors have recog- ment cutbacks, and "that even a large and 60-year friendship nized the paramount importance of combat- world-renowned institution like TAU needs with Israel ing Israel’s alarming brain drain, and reinforc- help,” Jacobson sponsored a TAU Technology Ever since Israel became a nation, Guilford ing the front lines of the country’s academia in Showcase event in Glazer has been a steadfast supporter of the general, and its largest university in particular, Toronto, and chose to State, as well as a close friend of many lead- with fresh and brilliant young minds. fund two Young Faculty Recruitment Chairs at TAU. His dona- tion is supporting Dr. Micha Fridman and Dr. Oded Hod, both of the Raymond and Dr. Micha Fridman Beverly Sackler School of Chemistry. The support has enabled both young researchers to return to Israel – Micha from Harvard University and Oded from Rice University in Houston, Texas. Understandably Guilford and Diane Glazer S6 young excellence

ers in Israel and the region, including David by sponsoring a Young Ben-Gurion, Moshe Dayan, Golda Meir and Faculty Recruitment Yitzhak Rabin. Together with his wife, Diane Chair at TAU. The new Sieratzki-Korczyn Prize Pregerson Glazer, he has supported projects faculty recruit, Dr. Roy in Neurosciences Established of the Israel Defense Forces, and sponsored Tzohar, 36, has returned numerous programs promoting peace in the to TAU from Columbia Middle East. University, New York, At TAU, Glazer supported a regional dia- where he researched logue program at the Moshe Dayan Center for Indian Buddhism for Middle Eastern and African Studies, which he his PhD studies. Roy, a co-founded together with other donors. He graduate of TAU’s Adi has also provided support for PhD students Lautman Program for from Nanjing University, China, to pursue Outstanding Students, Judaic studies at TAU and is supporting the is very glad to be home. publication of the complete works of Zvi “Needless to say, Preigerson, a relative of Diane. Preigerson’s American academia of- From left: Dr. Jechil Sieratzki, Tova Korczyn, Prof. Amos Korczyn and writings in Hebrew offer fers many opportuni- Barbara Sieratzki a valuable and detailed ties for growth and de- portrayal of the plight of velopment. However, I Tel Aviv University is proud to announce the launching Soviet Jewry during the was set on returning to of the Sieratzki-Korczyn Prize for Advances in Neuroscience, turmoil of much of the Israel and TAU," says to be awarded on an annual basis. The prize was established 20th century. Roy, now head of the by Barbara and Jechil (Harry) Sieratzki of Frankfurt and As one of the found- Indian Studies program London to encourage young researchers in the field of neu- ing members of the at TAU’s Department roscience. The prize was announced at a conference honor- Dr. Roy Tzohar American Friends of of East Asian Studies, ing renowned TAU neuroscientist Prof. Amos Korczyn of TAU, Glazer received which boasts the larg- TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the TAU-affiliated an Honorary Fellowship from TAU in 1982, est student body in Sourasky Medical Center. Prof. Korczyn was honored for and has supported a range of projects at the the Entin Faculty of his four decades of work as a brilliant neurologist and an university. Humanities. “Here I outstanding teacher of generations of students. After so many decades of deep involvement hope to pursue exciting The Sieratzki family is founder of the Sieratzki Chair in in building the future of the State of Israel, new approaches and Neurology at TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine, which is it was only natural for the Glazers to accept create new vistas for my held by Prof. Korczyn. Barbara Sieratzki is a founder of the the mission of advancing Israeli scholarship Israeli students.” German Friends association.

Cont. from page S1 to offer to promising young business people from the best business schools in the world. from every continent. In addition, the students will meet some of Peace through Business Education The Sofaer IMBA is part of TAU's Faculty TAU’s outstanding alumni, and will be contin- ance and financial need, will make the program of Management—Leon Recanati School of uously exposed to the unique entrepreneurial more accessible for top candidates of all nations. Business Administration, the only business and innovative environment of Israel’s business The Sofaers chose to launch their project school in Israel to receive international ac- community. at TAU thanks to the university’s world-class creditation by the Association to Advance “You do an MBA only once, and the experi- reputation, underscored by the significant role Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) – the ence stays with you forever,” says the program's played by its graduates in both the national and highest standard of achievement for business Academic Director and former Faculty dean, global business communities. The CEOs of 30 schools worldwide. Sofaer program organiz- Prof. Simon Benninga. “Foreign business lead- of Israel’s top 100 companies are TAU alumni, ers at TAU expect it to significantly boost the ers have shown they want to be close to Israel as are quite a few leaders of multi-billion dollar university’s global outreach, making it more because Israelis are proven entrepreneurs. In banks, pharmaceutical companies and high- attractive than ever to top graduate students creating and funding this program, the Sofaer tech conglomerates. Located at the hub of the the world over. The program's participants will family is providing an avenue for promising sophisticated Israeli economy, recognized for enjoy a superbly enriching curriculum, taught young business people to be forever connected its spirit of entrepreneurship and outstanding by the first-rate academic staff of the Faculty of to Israel and to its unique entrepreneurial op- achievements, TAU’s business school has a lot Management, together with visiting professors portunities.”

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nual prize, established in 2006, recognizes the Sacklers Support achievements of exceptional researchers up to the age of 45. This year, the prize focused on Young Excellence through the physics of structure formation and self-as- sembly of proteins and nucleic acids – a field Career Chairs dealing with structural changes in proteins, a cause of some of the most devastating genetic and Prize diseases. The three laureates for 2008, selected by an international panel coordinated by Professors David Andelman and Michael Kozlov of TAU, were recognized for seminal contribu- tions to their respective fields of research: Major TAU benefactors Dr. Raymond US National Academy of Science member and Beverly Sackler are continuing to sup- Prof. David A. Baker of the University of port growth at the Raymond and Beverly Washington for computational studies of pro-

Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences that bears Dr. Raymond and Beverly Sackler tein folding, structure and reactions, a research their name, manifesting the couple’s ethos of area that forms the basis for new treatments quality, academic excellence and international from the Institute for Advanced cooperation. Among their recent donations Study in Princeton, New Jersey; are career development chairs for two out- and Dr. Julia Kempe of the standing young researchers, and the annual Blavatnik School of Computer Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Science, who was ranked number Prize in Biophysics. one by the European Research Council among 9,000 young re- searchers last year. Nurturing a new generation “The Sacklers’ career support al- lows me to hire research assistants, of promising scientists From left: Prof. Jonathan Weissman, Prof. David Baker, invite guests from abroad, and attend inter- Prof. Martin Gruebele, Rector Prof. Dany Leviatan, Vice The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Career national conferences, promoting the interna- President for Research and Development Prof. Ehud Development Chairs donated by the Sacklers tional collaboration which is absolutely cru- Gazit, Prof. Michael Kozlov, Prof. David Andelman are advancing the activities of two young cial to my professional of genetic diseases and mutations caused by TAU faculty members: Dr. Boaz Klartag of growth,” says Klartag, flawed folding of proteins in body cells; Prof. the Raymond and Beverly Sackler School of who is the winner of Martin Gruebele of the University of Illinois Mathematical Sciences, who came to TAU the 2008 European for experimental studies of fast processes me- Mathematical Society diating the structural dynamics of complex (EMS) Prize. biomolecular systems, and for developing new Dr. Kempe heart- methods for measuring previously incom- ily agrees: “The Sackler putable ultra-fast processes occurring within Dr. Boaz Klartag Chair is a great honor. protein molecules; and Howard Hughes To me, it means that Investigator Prof. Jonathan S. Weissman from the university recognizes and approves of the University of California, San Francisco, my work. I will use it to send my students to for studies of protein folding in formation and workshops and conferences abroad, and to transmission of prions and for generating new create the best learning and research environ- insights into the causes of brain diseases. ment for my team, a space where new ideas The Sacklers’ continuing support demon- can be fruitfully exchanged.” strates their steadfast friendship and generos- ity and the profound mark they have made on Prize recognizes breakthroughs the intellectual life of the campus over three in biophysics decades.

The Raymond and Beverly Sackler International Prize in Biophysics was award- Dr. Julia Kempe specializes in quantum computing, which may drive the high- ed to three outstanding young scientists at a powered computers of the future. ceremony held on the TAU campus. The an- S8 friends

australia

Best Annual Oration Ever More than 230 guests, among them state politicians and community leaders, attended the 2009 Oration organized by the Victoria Chapter of the Australian Friends. This was the larg- est audience in the 13-year history of the event. Guest speaker was Greg Sheridan, foreign editor of The Australian, who spoke on “Israel’s Place in the World.” This year’s oration was sponsored by Bronia Raynor in memory of her husband Robert, an honorary member of the brazil Board of Governors and a generous supporter of the university. Israeli Expertise on Healthcare Prof. Jacob Glazer of the Faculty of From left: Evi Selwyn, honor- Management—Leon Recanati Graduate ary secretary; Ronald Krongold, President of the Victoria Chapter; School of Business Administration was a Vivien Zimmet, Vice President; guest speaker in São Paulo at a symposium on and Bronia Raynor healthcare economics commemorating “60 Years of the Creation of the State of Israel.” The event was organized by the Brazilian Friends led by Dr. Mario Adler together with IBMEC São Paulo and the Hospital Israelita argentina Albert Einstein. Over 150 people, including the Brazilian Minister of Health, participated Over 1,400 Attend Global Economy Conference in the conference where Prof. Glazer present- The Argentinean Friends led by Polly Deutsch organized the13th International Economic ed his insights into handling the economic Symposium entitled “Changes and Challenges in the Global Economy: Repercussions in crisis of healthcare systems around the world. Argentina and in the Financial Markets,” which took place in Buenos Aires. Attended by more than 1,400 people, the panelists included Prof. Leonardo Leiderman of TAU’s Eitan Berglas School of Economics; Prof. Jacob Frenkel, CEO of the G-30 Group and former Governor of the Bank of Israel; and Dr. Mario I. Blejer, former President of the Central Bank of Argentina. The symposium was followed by a farewell dinner given by Léon and Paula Arazi at their home in honor of Rafael Eldad, outgoing Israeli Ambassador to Argentina. Guests included TAU governors, members of the Board of the Argentinean Friends, and leading figures of the business and Jewish community who have sponsored activities of the university. Polly Deutsch and Prof. Leo Leiderman Focus on the Life Sciences The Friends Association organized the first Argentine- From left: Sergio Israeli Conference on Life Sciences in Buenos Aires, Grosskopf, Arie Einan, Director of the TAU which attracted 600 visiting and local scientists and Department for Latin students. Keynote speakers were Prof. Martin Kupiec America and Spain; and Dr. Miguel Weil of TAU’s George S. Wise Mirta and Fred Chaoul, Polly Deutsch, Adolfo Faculty of Life Sciences, who were also interviewed Smolarz, Kuky Grosskopf by the country’s most influential print and TV outlets and Miriam Smolarz in the area of science. TAU governors Adolfo and Miriam Smolarz host- ed the TAU researchers to a luncheon at their resi- dence. Prof. Kupiec explained the multiple activities carried out at the Faculty, which, in recognition of the Smolarzes’ dedication to advanced scientific research, has dedicated its Graduate School in their name.

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Montreal canada TAU Professors Hosted Toronto An audience of more than 300 heard Prof. Illana Gozes, Director of TAU’s Adams Super- TAU Technology Showcase Event Center for Brain Studies, who presented the The Toronto Chapter of the Canadian latest findings of her research in conquer- Friends organized a two-day symposium, the first of its kind in the country, entitled “Lab to Market: Matching Israeli Innovation to Canadian Know-How.” Hosted by Fogler Rubinoff LLP and TSX, the event introduced TAU’s technological innovations to Canadian businesses and investors in areas ranging from Alzheimer’s drugs to wind energy and bat- Cell Metrology; Benny Zeevi teries. The goal of the event was to promote M.D., Managing General long-term partnerships between Israel and Partner, DFJ Tamir Fishman Canada in the commercialization of univer- Ventures; Yair Ephrati, CEO sity discoveries. and partner in DS Apex M&A Distinguished scientists from medicine, Ltd.; and Jonathan Levy, the life sciences and engineering described some Israeli Trade Commissioner. of the more exciting patented technologies Sponsors were TAU Governor From left: Margaret Adams, Prof. Illana Gozes and Sylvan Adams that have recently come out of TAU laborato- Nathan Jacobson, President of ries. Among them were Prof. Ehud Gazit, Vice IFG Canada, who made the event possible; ing Alzheimer’s at an event co-hosted by the President for Research and Development; Canadian Chamber of Commerce; Toronto Canadian Friends in Montreal, Alzheimer Professors Avi Seifert, Menachem Nathan, Stock Exchange; Toronto Atmospheric Fund; Groupe and Congregation Shaare Zion. Irad Ben Gal, and Yosi Shacham-Diamand Fogler Rubinoff LLP; Sandfire Securities; of the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty Zeifman & Co.; and CIIRDF. Child psychiatrist Dr. Doron Gothelf of of Engineering; and Prof. TAU’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine was guest Amihay Freeman of the of honor at a reception held by the Montreal George S. Wise Faculty of Chapter which has launched a new initiative Life Sciences. Moderator of called “An Angel for Caroline.” The evening the event was Ze’ev Weinfeld, was hosted by Harriet and John Miller. CEO of Ramot, the technol- ogy transfer company of Prof. Asher Susser of TAU’s Moshe Dayan TAU. Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies Corporate supporters in- was guest of honor at an event in the home cluded Zeev Smilansky, Chief of Joe and Freeman Trager in Toronto. Prof. Science Officer of Anima Hanoch Dagan, Dean of TAU’s Buchmann Faculty of Law, participated in a discussion hosted by Sheldon Potter. Prof. Neta Ziv of From left: Sheldon Potter; Jonathan Levy, Israel Trade the Buchmann Faculty was the guest speaker Commissioner in Canada; Prof. Irad Ben-Gal; Prof. Avi Seifert at a reception hosted by Robinson Sheppard Shapiro in Montreal. Prof. David Menashri, Dean for Special Programs and Director of the Center for Iranian Studies, was the guest speaker at the home of Adelia and David Bensoussan, and at an event sponsored by Irwin Beutel at the Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue.

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germany

A Literary Evening The German Friends Association in coopera- tion with the City of Frankfurt held an event at Frankfurt’s medieval city hall in support of the Marcel Reich-Ranicki Chair in German literature at TAU. The famous author and pro- fessor of German literature, Ruth Klüger, read from the second part of her newly-published autobiography. Participants included TAU honorary doctors Prof. Dr. h.c. Marcel Reich- Ranicki; Mayor of Frankfurt Dr. h.c. Petra Roth and President of the German Friends Dr. h.c. Ernst Gerhardt. Literary critic and jour- nalist Uwe Wittstock welcomed the guests. A musical interlude featured well-known pianist From left, first row: Dr. Dieter Elisabeth Leonskaja who played works of Felix New Board Inducted Blessing, TAU representative Dr. Mendelssohn. The annual general meeting of the German Mati Kranz, Ruth Wagner, Dr. Friends of TAU hosted by Helaba Landesbank h.c. Ernst Gerhardt, Charlotte Knobloch, Yehiel Ben-Zvi, Sophie Hessen-Thüringen was recently held together Lohr and Peter Kobiela. Second with meetings of the executive board and row: Prof. Dr. Werner Meissner, the board of directors. TAU Vice President Michael Hocks, Gerhard Kittscher and Ari Schach. Photograph: Yehiel Ben-Zvi represented the university. Rafael Herlich, Frankfurt am Main Appointees to the board of directors includ- ed 2009 TAU Honorary Doctor Charlotte Knobloch, Prof. Dr. Marek Fischel and Hanns-Eberhard Schleyer as Vice Presidents; TAU Honorary Fellow Peter Kobiela as treas- urer; and Ari Schach as secretary of the board. From left: Elisabeth Leonskaja, Marcel Reich-Ranicki Dr. h.c. Ernst Gerhardt was re-appointed and Ruth Klüger. Photograph: Rafael Herlich, Frankfurt President of the Association. am Main Anja and Dr. Reinhard Hermes hosted Chopin Performance at their residence a fund-raising event organ- Elisabeth Leonskaja also performed works of ized by the German Friends in support of Chopin at the residence of Marija and Dr. the Marcel Reich-Ranicki From left: Hellmuth Miso Aksmanovic in Frankfurt in honor of Chair in German Literature. Karasek, Anja and Dr. Reinhard Hermes Tosia and Marcel Reich-Ranicki. The concert Journalist, literary critic, and Marcel Reich- was followed by a reception. novelist and author Prof. Dr. Ranicki. Photograph: Hellmuth Karasek read from Rafael Herlich, some of his works. Attorney Frankfurt am Main Dr. h.c. Hendrik H. Foth presented President of the German Friends, Dr. h.c. Ernst Gerhardt, and Vice Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors, Dr. h.c. Josef Buchmann, with a portrait of Marcel Reich-Ranicki, painted by Dr. Foth’s brother.

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uk Theater Arts Fundraiser with Sir Tom Stoppard The Tel Aviv University Trust in Great Britain in collaboration with TAU’s Department of Theater Arts held a fundraising event with spe- cial guest Sir Tom Stoppard, 2008 Dan David Prize laureate, and featuring the Ruth Kanner Theater Group. The event took place at france Gallery 176, a cutting-edge art gallery owned by Poju and Anita Zabludowicz. The evening was sponsored by Stenham Client Services (Deputy Chairman Edwin Wulfsohn), with a generous donation of wines by the Carmel Winery. More than 250 guests attended the recep- tion including Israeli Ambassador to the UK Ron Prosor, TAU President Prof. Zvi Galil, TAU Governor Dame Shirley Porter; outgo- ing TAU Trust Chairman David Meller and his wife Wendy; philanthropists Sir Sidney and Lady Lipworth; Chairman of the Scottish Group of the TAU Trust in Great Britain, Leslie Wolfson, and his wife Alma; CEO of Goldman Sachs Europe, Mike Sherwood; TAU Governor Edwin Wulfsohn and his wife From left: Yehiel Ben-Zvi; Claude Goasguen, former minister, Deputy Dina; and Dean of TAU’s Yolanda and David Mayor of the 16th arrondissement, Katz Faculty of the Arts Prof. Hannah Naveh. and President of the Friendship The evening’s Group France-Israel at the National Assembly; Dominique and Corinne guests enjoyed Perben; François Heilbronn, three short per- President of the French Friends; formances by TAU honorary doctor Prof. Jean Robert Pitte, and Eric de Rothschild the Ruth Kanner Theater Group, Within the framework of the festivities of featuring gradu- the 60th anniversary of the State of Israel, the ates of the TAU French Friends Association organized a tast- Theater Arts ing of French and Israeli wines at the French David Meller D e p a r t m e n t National Assembly Hall. TAU Vice President directed by Prof. Ruth Kanner of the Katz Yehiel Ben-Zvi represented the university. Faculty. The evening included a talk by Sir Tom Stoppard and was presided over by master of ceremonies Stephen Pollard, editor of the Jewish Chronicle. The program ended with a panel discussion hosted by actress Tracy Ann Oberman.

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Sir Tom Stoppard

Dame Shirley Porter (right) together with Ambassador Ron Prosor and the Cultural Attaché of the Israeli Embassy Sharon Harnoy

From left: Sir Tom Stoppard, Lecture Series on Tel Aviv Centennial New Chairman of TAU Trust Prof. Hannah Naveh, Tracy Ann Oberman, Prof. Ruth Tel Aviv University together with the Centre David Levin (pictured) Kanner and Stephen Pollard for Jewish Studies at the School of Oriental has been appointed and African Studies, University of London, Chairman of the TAU held a lecture series entitled “One Hundred Trust in Great Britain, Years of Tel Aviv: 1909-2009.” The series was replacing David Meller, sponsored by the Pears Foundation, TAU who was named a Governor Sir Trevor Chinn, CVO; and the 2009 Honorary Fellow Sheila and Denis Cohen Charitable Trust. The of TAU. Levin received his BA and MA New Executive Director of TAU Trust purpose of the series was to present perspec- from Oxford University and his MBA from Cara Case (pictured) tives on Tel Aviv – the world’s first Hebrew Stanford University. He served as Chief has been appointed city and today the center of Israel’s business Executive at Psion PLC, Chief Executive Executive Director of and cultural life – to the academic community Officer at Symbian Software Ltd., and he is the TAU Trust in Great and the general public. Talks touched on the currently Chief Executive Officer at United Britain. Born in New history and identity of the city, theater, archi- Business Media PLC, a global business pub- York, Case received her tecture, and music. lishing group with 5,000 staff worldwide. BA in Art History from TAU speakers were Prof. Anita Shapira, He is a member of the Finance Committee the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She Head of the Chaim Weizmann Institute of Oxford University Press, Chairman of the later lived in Hong Kong and moved to the UK for the Study of Zionism and Israel and in- International Steering Committee of One in 2004. She has been a Senior Membership cumbent of the Dr. Ruben Merenfeld Chair Voice, an organization aimed at promoting a and Development Associate in the Asia Society for the Study of Zionism; Prof. Nurit Yaari, peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian Hong Kong Center; Fundraising Chairman of Chairperson of the Department of Theater conflict in the Middle East, and Trustee of the UJC, Hong Kong; Fundraising Advisor of Arts; Dr. Edina Meyer-Maril, Department of the LeadersQuest Foundation, a development the Springboard Project; and development of- Art History and the David Azrieli School of catalyst charity. ficer for the New York City Ballet. Architecture; Prof. Tovi Fenster, Department of Geography and Human Environment; Prof. Tomer Lev, Head of the Buchmann- Mehta School of Music; and Prof. Irad Malkin, Chairperson of the Department of History and incumbent of the Maxwell Cummings Family Chair for the Study of Mediterranean Cultures and History. S13 friends

A Jazzy Boston Reception usa As part of AFTAU’s year-long celebration of the Centennial of Tel Aviv, Nadiv Tamir, Consul General of Israel to New England, hosted a group of American Friends at his residence. The Perspectives on International reception, which featured a lively concert by the Israeli jazz ensemble The Secret Music Project, Real Estate introduced AFTAU to Boston area business, cultural, academic and Jewish leaders. New York With a talk entitled “Did You Hear the One friend Julie Tauber McMahon, who has been about the Israeli, the Shopping Center and actively involved with the Tauber Initiative for the President of Macedonia,” real estate mag- the Advancement of Ethopian Youth at TAU, nate and TAU benefactor Chaim Katzman introduced TAU alumna Dr. Yarden Fanta captivated American Friends at a New Vagenshtein, the first Ethiopian woman in York cocktail reception hosted by Skadden Israel to earn a PhD. Dr. Fanta Vagenshtein is now pursuing post-doctoral studies at Harvard University with the partial support of TAU donors who believe in her potential to From left: Ronit and Nadav Tamir, Richard Sincere and become Israel’s first Ethiopian professor. Yarden Fanta Vagenshtein

“Lifting the Veil” in Beverly Hills Top Development More than 50 American friends attending a Professionals Join AFTAU dessert reception at the lovely home of Ruth Mark S. Freedman (pic- Low were fascinated by the innovative and im- tured), an experienced From left: Chaim Katzman, Gal Zak and Shulamit portant security-related research described by development executive in Rozen-Katzman TAU’s Prof. Abraham Katzir of the Raymond major gifts and capital Aarps. Katzman and his wife, Dr. Shulamit and Beverly Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences. fundraising, is Vice President of the Southeast Rosen-Katzman, both graduates of Tel Aviv Region of AFTAU, based in Boca Raton. University, support master’s and doctoral Previously Freedman was Executive Director fellowships as well as the Chaim Katzman of the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, and Gazit-Globes Real Estate Institute at TAU. Executive Director of the Southeast Region of the American Jewish Congress. He holds a PhD from Ohio State University, an MA from the University of North Carolina, and a BA from Bard College. He was also a member of the faculty of Rutgers University.

Ruth Low and Prof. Abraham Katzir Lilli R. Platt (pictured), an accomplished development “What’s Next for Israel?” executive in capital and ma- In a post-Israeli election tour, Prof. Asher jor gifts fundraising, is Vice Susser, former director of TAU’s Moshe President of the Northeast Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Region of AFTAU. Ms. Studies, spoke to rapt audiences at the homes Platt has served as Executive Director of and offices of leading American Friends across the Resource Department of the American the United States. In each venue, his timely Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC); topic – “After the Vote, After Gaza: What’s Assistant Dean for External Relations at the Next for Israel?” – was followed by a spirited School of Law at Hofstra University; and question-and-answer session. Highlights of Director of Development for the South Shore

From left: Prof. Eyal Zisser, Director of the Moshe Dayan the tour included receptions graciously hosted Y Jewish Community Center. She was award- Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies; Robert by Phyllis and Robert Topchik in Boca Raton; ed both MS and BS degrees by Brooklyn and Phyllis Topchik and Prof. Asher Susser Jacqueline Simkin in Miami Beach; Karen College. and Arturo Constantiner at their Manhattan home; James Dubin at the law firm, Paul, Weiss Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison in New York City; and Selwyn Gerber and Kip Hagopian in Los Angeles.

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Club Deliberates Legal History, Israeli Cinema Israel The former president of the Supreme Court of Israel, Prof. Aharon Barak, was the guest of honor at a meeting dedicated to “Law and History” of the Business Academic Club of the Israeli Friends The Candidates Talk Education of Tel Aviv University. Justice Barak spoke about the role of the Israeli Supreme Court from an Tel Aviv University together with the Hakol historical perspective, and he connected issue Hinuch (“all-education”) organization held a from legal history to the realities of contempo- conference entitled “Putting Education First.” rary public law. The forum was dedicated to Held just before the Israeli elections, the con- the Buchmann Faculty of Law, whose gradu- ference featured the three leading candidates ates are leaders in the highest echelons of the for Prime Minister: Tzippi Livni, Ehud Barak Israeli legal system. Two Buchmann Faculty and Benjamin Netanyahu. All three came to members delivered lectures: Prof. Ron Harris explain their perception and vision for edu- on “The First Great Mergers in History” and cation and how each one would promote it. Prof. Assaf Likhovski on “Aggressive Tax The conference was attended by economists, Planning in an Economic Crisis: Lessons of From left: Prof. Aharon Barak, TAU President Prof. Zvi educators, senior TAU faculty and Friends of History.” President of the Israeli Friends Amos Galil, Israeli Friends President Amos Shapira and Dean the University. Shapira greeted the guests. of the Buchmann Faculty of Law Prof. Hanoch Dagan

A further meeting of the TAU Business Academic Club entitled “The Muses Never Remain Silent – Israeli Cinema, an Artistic and Economic Success Story,” was held in hon- or of the Department of Film and Television. Participants included leading figures from the business world, senior university officials and Netanyahu, Livni representatives of the Israeli film industry. From left: Roni Kobrovsky, President, Coca Cola Israel; TAU President Prof. Zvi Galil praised the de- Amos Shapira, and Sigal Adar, Executive Director of the Israeli Friends of TAU partment in light of the impressive wealth of film prizes being garnered by its students and graduates, and President of the Israeli Friends Amos Shapira spoke of the successes of Israeli cinema alongside the successes of Israel’s high- tech, security and biomedical industries.

A Peek into the Past Friday Morning Mind Food Prof. Zvi Galil with Ehud Barak More than 150 members of the Israeli Friends Lectures delivered within the framework of the Association toured the Ramat Rahel excava- Friday morning lecture series for the English tion site after new discoveries were made there. Speaking Friends of TAU covered fields ranging Guiding the tour was TAU archaeologist and from Israeli politics to bioterrorism and bird mi- researcher Prof. Oded Lipschits, together with gration. The speakers were: Alon Pinkas, former other young research- Consul General in New York and President of ers from the Jacob the US-Israel Institute at the Rabin Center, Alkow Department “U.S. Elections and Israeli Elections: What Lies of Archaeology and Ahead”; Prof. Daniel Cohen, Sackler Faculty of Ancient Near Cultures. Medicine, “Emerging Infectious Diseases and Bioterrorism – A Global Threat”; Carmela Rubin, “Life Art and History in the Time of Reuven Rubin”; and Dr. Yossi Leshem, George

TAU doctoral S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences, “Migrating student Omer Birds Have No Borders.” Sergi explaining the excavations

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Creative donor Joseph sicians, opera singers, artists, chess players, scientists and students have been given mean- Hackmey has established ingful cultural and educational opportunities. the Hackmey Hebrew Now, Joseph Hackmey has chosen to crown his contributions with a gift that will Classical Library – a surely have a significant cultural impact. The combined Hebrew and Hackmey Hebrew Classical Library joins its two world-famous predecessors at Harvard English series University Press – the Loeb Classical Library of the greatest Hebrew and the I Tatti Renaissance Library. Like them it will offer classical texts – in the case of the texts ever written, Hackmey Library, Hebrew and Aramaic in to be published jointly with facing-page translation. “It’s an awe-inspiring mission,” says Prof. Harvard Aviad Kleinberg, Director of the TAU Press. University Press “This series will bring the greatest treasures of Hebrew culture to the English-speaking world. Indeed, the Hackmey Library is in itself an acknowledgement of the West’s Hebrew-Jewish roots, alongside its Greek and Roman foundations. The first four volumes of the series, out of 25, are slated to come out in 2011, and four more will be published every year after that. An Important Kleinberg will head an international advisory board of world experts that will select the texts Contribution and supervise their translation into English. Their first task is to choose texts from the to Western Civilization entire body of classical Hebrew and Aramaic literature, from post-Biblical times to the 18th A man of culture in the deepest sense of forward significantly. As Chairman of the century. “Believe me,” says Kleinberg, “it’s not the word, Hackmey has been a pillar of Israeli Israeli Chess Association he revolutionized an easy choice!” art and learning for the past three decades. the landscape of chess in Israel, increasing the Hackmey says, “When Prof. Kleinberg “There are four great passions in my life: art, number of Israel’s International suggested this new music, chess and physics,” he says, and in- Chess Grandmasters from 5 project, the idea ap- deed, he has made his mark on all of them. to 29 in just a few years. The pealed to me right From a biographical point of view, science Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra, away. I studied an- came first, when 19-year-old Joseph earned a the Israeli Opera, the Tel Aviv “This series will cient Greek and BSc in mathematics from MIT in 1964, fol- Museum of Art, the Israel bring the great- Latin, and have lowed a year later by an MSc in electronic Museum in Jerusalem, the Tate est treasures of learned to appreci- engineering from the same institution. He Gallery of London, and Israeli Hebrew culture ate the enormous pursued a distinguished career in insurance institutions of higher learning are to the English- contributions of as Managing Director and then Chairman of all among his prominent benefi- speaking world.” those cultures to sci- the Phoenix Assurance Company; Chairman ciaries. ence, philosophy and of the Israeli Insurance Association and of At Tel Aviv University alone he Joseph Hackmey knowledge through the Israeli Life Offices Association; and board has supported research in a wide the ages. But it was chairman and member of several other com- range of disciplines, including the Hebrew nation panies. Still, he always found time and energy physics, history, journalism, secu- that gave the world for his other true loves, and wherever he be- rity studies and American stud- its social concepts, came involved, he made a difference. ies, as well as the Genia Schreiber University that was first to uphold compassion as a pri- Under his personal sponsorship, the Israel Art Gallery, the Jubliee Fund and the Haim mary value. ‘Love thy neighbor as thyself’ is Phoenix Corporate Collection of Israeli Art Rubin Tel Aviv University Press. a Jewish precept through and through. And became a driving force in the previously The combined impact of Hackmey’s life it’s high time that this vital gift to humankind rather sleepy Israeli art scene, propelling it work is that thousands of talented young mu- receives proper recognition.”

S16 ARGENTINA Toronto SWITZERLAND Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de Tel 3130 Bathurst Street – Suite 214 Swiss Friends of Tel Aviv University Aviv en Argentina (AUTA) Toronto Bahnhofstr. 14 Paraguay 4010 p.1A Ontario M6A 2A1 POB 2315 1425 Buenos Aires Tel. +416 787 9930 8022 Zurich Argentina E-mail: [email protected] Tel. +41 44 211 6092 Tel. +54 11 4833 7090 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] FRANCE French Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFAUTA) UK AUSTRALIA 2 rue Alfred de Vigny Tel Aviv University Trust in Great Britain Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University – Victoria Paris 75008 1 Bentinck Street TOK Corporate Centre Tel. +33 1 40 70 18 07 London W1M 5RP 1/459 Toorak Road E-mail: [email protected] Tel. +44 207487 5280 Toorak E-mail: [email protected] Victoria 3142 GERMANY Scottish Friends of Tel Aviv University Tel. +61 3 9296 2065 Freunde der Universität Tel Aviv e.V. Leslie Wolfson & Co. Solicitors E-mail: [email protected] Friedberger Anlage 1-3 D-60314 Frankfurt am Main 19 Waterloo Street New South Wales Tel. +49 69 491 617 Glasgow G2 6BQ Landerer & Co. E-mail: [email protected] Tel. +44 141 248 4850 Level 31 E-mail: [email protected] 133 Castlereagh Street URUGUAY Sydney Asociación de Amigos de la Universidad de NSW 2000 Tel Aviv en Uruguay Tel.+61 2 9261 4242 Antonio Costa 3565 E-mail: [email protected] Tel Aviv University Montevideo 11300 Tel. +598 2 6284300 AUSTRIA E-mail: [email protected] Gesellschaft der Freunde der Universität Tel Aviv Friends in Österreich USA c/o Christl Langstadlinger Associations American Friends of Tel Aviv University University of Vienna around the Globe National Computational Physics 39 Broadway – Suite 1510 Boltzmanngasse 5 New York, NY 10006 1090 Vienna Tel. +212 742 9070 Austria E-mail: [email protected] Tel.: +43 1 4277 51108 E-mail: [email protected] ISRAEL Bay Area Israeli Friends of Tel Aviv University PMB 155 BRAZIL Tel Aviv University 484 Lake Park Avenue Sociedade de Amigos da Universidade de Tel Guttmann Administration Building – Room 002 Oakland, CA 94610 Aviv en Brazil Ramat Aviv 69978 Tel. +510 444 6000 Av. Atlantica 2856/801 Tel Aviv E-mail: [email protected] Rio de Janeiro RJ 22070-000 Tel.+972 3 640 8055/6401 Tel. +55 21 2549 9236 E-mail: [email protected] Western Region E-mail: [email protected] 9911 West Pico Boulevard – Suite 1010 MEXICO Los Angeles, CA 90035 Rua Dr. Eduardo de Souza Aranha 99/92 9° Asociacion Mexicana de Amigos de la Tel. +310 553 5232 04543-120 Sao Paulo SP Universidad de Tel Aviv E-mail: [email protected] Tel. +55 11 3849 3336 Seneca 307 Polanco 11560 E-mail: [email protected] Mexico DF Southeast Region Tel. +52 55 5280 5030 2201 NW Corporate Blvd. Rua Antonio Parreiras 322, Apr. 802 E-mail: [email protected] Suite 106 Cep. 90450-050 Boca Raton, FL 33431 Porto Alegre RGS NORWAY Tel. +561 995 1147 / +800 773 1802 Tel. +55 51 3330 0236 Norwegian Friends of Tel Aviv University E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Bogstadveien 8 Oslo 3 VENEZUELA CANADA Tel. +47 22 603190 Asociacion de Amigos de la Universidad de Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University – Montreal Tel Aviv en Venezuela Decarie Square SWEDEN Edificio Bet Am 6900 Decarie Boulevard – Suite 319 Swedish Friends of Tel Aviv University Avda. Washington Montreal POB 7647 San Bernardino Quebec H3X 2T8 S10394 Stockholm 1010 Caracas Tel.+514 344 3417 Tel. +46 8 997195 Tel. +58 212 550 2234 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Tel Aviv University Germany Lay Leadership Dr. h.c. Ernst Gerhardt President Worldwide German Friends of Tel Aviv University Israel Amos Shapira Argentina President Polly Mizrahi de Deutsch Israeli Friends of Tel Aviv University President Argentinean Friends of Tel Aviv University Mexico Jorge Adler Australia President Ronald D.M. Krongold Mexican Friends of Tel Aviv University President Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University Switzerland Victoria Chapter (Melbourne) Anette Bollag-Rothschild President John Landerer AM CBE Swiss Friends of Tel Aviv University President Australian Friends of Tel Aviv University UK New South Wales Chapter (Sydney) David Levin Chairman Austria Tel Aviv University Trust in Great Britain Dr. Hannes Androsch President Uruguay Austrian Friends of Tel Aviv University Ing. Carlos Spiller President Brazil Uruguayan Friends of Tel Aviv University Dr. Mario Arthur Adler President USA Brazilian Friends of Tel Aviv University Sao Paulo Chapter William F. Cohen National Chairman American Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFTAU) Eng. Luiz Chor President Venezuela Brazilian Friends of Tel Aviv University Rio de Janeiro Chapter Dr. Lia K. de Merenfeld President Venezuelan Friends of Tel Aviv University Eng. Pedro Simon Gus President Brazilian Friends of Tel Aviv University Porto Alegre Chapter

Canada Judge Barbara Seal, CM National President Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University (CFTAU)

Hon. Herbert Marx President Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University Montreal Chapter

Sheldon D. Potter President Canadian Friends of Tel Aviv University Toronto Chapter

France François Heilbronn President French Friends of Tel Aviv University (AFAUTA)

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