MAY 1, 2000

IN ISRAEL

Eleven TAU academic staff members were awarded the Rector's Best Teacher Prize by Rector Nili Cohen. The winners were chosen by their respective Faculty or School, organized by the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, headed by Prof. Sidney Strauss.

The TAU Senate approved the establishment of the Porter School of Environmental Studies.

The TAU Senate approved the establishment of the Hella Gertner Chair for Research in Hypertension. The incumbent of the Chair is Prof. Talma Rosenthal.

The Shoul N. Eisenberg Chair for East Asian Affairs was approved by the Senate. The Chair's incumbent is Prof. Aron Shai.

The TAU Senate approved the establishment of the Andrea and Charles Bronfman Center for the Media of the Jewish People.

The establishment of the Manna Institute for Plant Biosciences was approved by the Senate. Prof. Baruch Epel will head the Institute.

TAU has signed cooperation agreements with IBMEC University, Brazil; the University of Cyprus; and the Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia.

The Cymbalista Synagogue and Jewish Heritage Center held a memorial evening for Prof. Ariel Rosen-Zvi and dedicated the Beth Hamidrash in his name. The ceremony was chaired by President Itamar Rabinovich. Addresses were delivered by Rector Nili Cohen; Norbert Cymbalista; the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Israel Lau; and Yishai Rosen-Zvi.

The Jordanian conductor Rida Al Murtada was guest at a special concert of TAU's Samuel Rubin Israeli Academy of Music's symphony orchestra, in cooperation with the Hochschule fur Kunste, Bremen, Germany.

CONFERENCES

The Entin Faculty of Humanities and the Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies held a conference of all Departments of Jewish Philosophy at Israeli universities on "Myth, History, and Utopia in Jewish Thought." Opening remarks were delivered by Head of the School Prof. Yair Hoffman and organizer of the Conference Dr. Yoram Jacobson, a member of the TAU Department of Jewish Philosophy.

"The Contribution of the Jewish Theater (and other related media) Artists in German-Speaking Countries, Palestine and Israel" was the subject of a conference held by the Katz Faculty of Arts in cooperation with the University of Konstanz. Greetings were delivered by Dean Eli Rozik-Rosen.

Prof. Martin Hilb, Director of the Institute for Leadership and HRM, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, presented a lecture entitled "Integrated Management of Human Resources" at the TAU Faculty of Management-Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, under the auspices of the Lion Foundation. Opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Shmuel Kandel, Dean of the Faculty.

The International Forum (sponsored by the Department of Political Science, the Israeli English Speaking Friends and the Nahum Goldman Chair in Diplomacy) hosted South African Ambassador Johann Marx, who spoke on "South African Foreign Policy." The event was chaired by Prof. Aharon Klieman.

TAU's School of Physics and Astronomy; the Florence and George S. Wise Observatory; and the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Institute of Astronomy hosted the international Leonid MAC-99 Workshop, hosting 70 scientists from 18 countries. The Workshop followed observations in Israel of the Leonid meteor shower in November 1999 and was supported by TAU, the US Air Force, NASA and the Israel Space Agency.

"The Discovery of the Cairo Geniza and Its Significance for Jewish Studies" was the title of the lecture delivered by Dr. Meira Poliack of TAU's Department of Bible at the annual ceremony of the Moshe Dorf Fund for the Publication of TE'UDA research series at the Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies. Prof. Yair Hoffman, Head of the School, delivered greetings.

An Israeli-Turkish International Colloquy entitled "The First World War: Middle Eastern Perspectives" was held at TAU, organized by the TAU-affiliated Israel Society for Military History; the IDF Department of History; and the Turkish General Staff, Division of Military History and Strategic Studies.

The annual scientific conference of the Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies was entitled "Borders in Israel: Reality, Imagination and Identification." Opening remarks were delivered by Vice Rector Shimon Yankielowicz and Head of the School Prof. Yair Hoffman.

The Morris E. Curiel Center for International Studies held an international conference entitled "The New World Order: Russia between East and West," with the assistance of the Israel-Russia and CIS Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Greetings at the opening ceremony were delivered by Prof. Gabriel Gorodetsky, Director of the Curiel Center; Prof. Itamar Rabinovich, President of TAU; Mikhail Bogdanov, Ambassador of Russia; and Kazuhiko Togo, a Bureau Director-General in the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Prof. Gary Posner of John Hopkins University's Chemistry Department, Baltimore, was guest lecturer for the Joshua Jortner Distinguished Lectures in Chemistry of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Foundation. His lecture was entitled "Malaria Chemotherapy: Applications of Organic and Medicinal Chemistry."

The Suleyman Demirel Program for Contemporary Turkish Studies of the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies hosted Prof. Ali L. Karaosmanoglu of Bilkent University, who gave a lecture entitled "Turkey and Europe: The Transatlantic and Eurasian Dimension."

The TAU Sackler Faculty of Medicine held a workshop on "DNA Repair and Carcinogenesis" sponsored by the Israel Cancer Association and the Dr. Fisher Pharmaceutical Co. Prof. Hanoch Slor of TAU's Faculty of Medicine and Prof. Zvi Livneh of the Weizmann Institute of Science chaired the organizing committee.

The TAU School of Education held a conference upon the publication of the book, The Guards of Peace and Democracy, November 4th, 1995: Annals of a Project Organization, by Prof. Michael Chen. Greetings were delivered by Prof. Itamar Rabinovich and Head of the School Prof. David Chen.

The Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies held a conference entitled "Hebrew Literature One Hundred Years Ago" and the Dov Sadan Scholarship awarding ceremony.

"Women's Health - On Whose Agenda? " was the title of a conference held by the Women and Gender Studies Forum.

Philippe Busquin, Commissioner for Research of the European Union, delivered a lecture entitled "Europe in the 21st Century." Opening remarks were delivered by TAU President Itamar Rabinovich and concluding remarks by TAU Vice President Ambassador Avi Primor.

The TAU Israeli Friends held a ceremony inaugurating the Arie Schildman Scholarship Fund. Addresses were delivered by Prof. Ruth Shalgi, Dean of Students, and Aliza Coldner, a representative of the family.

The Israel-Argentina Friends Association held at TAU the inauguration ceremony of the Martin Fierro Institute of Folklore and Folk Music Studies, in the presence of singer Mercedes Sosa, and under the auspices of the Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of the Arts; the Argentinean Embassy; and the television channel, "Viva." Greetings were delivered by Dr. Ilana Ben Ami, TAU Vice President for Latin America and Spain; Prof. Eli Rozik-Rosen, Dean of the Katz Faculty; Jose Koren, Chairperson of the Association; and Patricia Suarez, the Argentinean Cultural Attache.

The TAU Theater Arts Department produced Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House in cooperation with the production fund named after Hadas Dror, who was killed in a terrorist attack on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv.

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

Prof. Nina Zaltzman of the Buchmann Faculty of Law won the Zeltner Prize awarded by the Israeli Chapter of Rotary International. Dean Prof. Eli Lederman presented the award.

The annual award ceremony of the Hendrik and Irene Gutwirth Research Prize in Diabetes Mellitus was held at TAU. The ceremony was chaired by Prof. Dov Lichtenberg, Vice Dean of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine. Mrs. Vivien Zimmet spoke on behalf of the family. The Prize recipients are Dr. Hagit Eldar-Finkelman of the Department of Human Genetics; Prof. Vladimir Toder of the Department of Embryology and Teratology; and Dr. Yoram Ramot of the TAU-affiliated Assaf Harofe Hospital.

The Lottie and Charles Zucker Scholarship award ceremony was held at TAU, chaired by Dr. Deborah Guth of the English Department. Prof. Dan Huppert, Dean of Immigrant Absorption, delivered greetings. Prof. Ruth Shalgi, Dean of Students, and Mr. Benjamin Zucker awarded the prizes.

The Bernice Schaffer Bessin Poetry Prize award ceremony was held at TAU, chaired by Dr. Deborah Guth of the English Department. Mrs. Barbara Zucker awarded the Prize to Israel Levin, who read his poems.

VISITS

University rectors from 17 Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries visited TAU. They met with Dr. Ilana Ben Ami, TAU Vice President for Latin America and Spain, and Prof. Zvi Medin, Head of the Institute of Latin American History.

Chen Zhili, the Minister of Education of the People's Republic of China, and a delegation was hosted to lunch by President Itamar Rabinovich and Rector Nili Cohen while visiting TAU. They visited the School of Education and the Laboratory for Research in Child Development.

ABROAD

The Howard Gilman Conference entitled "Comparative Human Rights" was held in Argentina in conjunction with the Argentine Institute of Comparative Law, organized by the Argentinean Friends. Participants from Israel were Rector Nili Cohen; Prof. Eli Lederman, Dean of the Buchmann Faculty of Law; TAU's Prof. Daniel Friedman; and Justices of the Israeli Supreme Court Prof. Itzhak Zamir and Dr. Mishael Cheshin. Rector Cohen met with Argentinean President Dr. Fernando de la Rua.

Rector of the Ludwig Maximilians University Prof. Andreas Heldrich, Chairman of the Munich Committee of the German Friends, was guest at an evening of poetry benefiting TAU, hosted by Dr. Josef Puluskier, in Munich. Actor and author Mario Adorf read from his works.

OBITUARIES

TAU mourns the passing away of Rosser Chinn, Honorary Member of the TAU Board of Governors, in London.

COMING EVENTS

The Board of Governors Meeting 2000 will take place on May 19-26, 2000. For registration contact Barbara Kandell, Secretary of the BOG - FAX 972-3-640-6257.

The 8th International Student Film Festival will take place on the TAU campus, at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and at other venues in Tel Aviv-Jaffa on May 27-June 3, 2000.

The Middle-East-Mediterranean Scholar Athlete Games will take place at Tel Aviv University on June 25- July 2, 2000.

The International Convention "Sefarad 2000" will take place in Madrid, Granada and Seville, on October 22-26, 2000. For registration contact the Department for Latin America and Spain - FAX 972-3-6412272; E-mail: ilanaba@post.tau.ac.il