JANUARY 1ST 2001

The School of Government and Policy of the Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences was inaugurated with a lecture by Elyakim Rubinstein, Israel's Attorney-General, entitled "In the Path of Law and Governance." The event was chaired by Rector Nili Cohen and greetings and opening addresses were delivered by President Itamar Rabinovich and Dean Moshe Semyonov. The event included a panel discussion on "Governance and Policy: Theory and Practice" chaired by Prof. Zeev Segal with the participation of Minister of Health Roni Milo, Chairman of the Coalition Ofir Pines, and former Minister of Absorption Yair Zaban. The second day of the inaugurating conference was entitled "Political Challenges in the Third Millennium." The opening lecture was delivered by Prof. S.N. Eisenstadt of the Hebrew University and the Van Leer Institute, followed by a session on "The State in the New Millennium - A View of International Relations" chaired by Prof. Abraham Ben-Zvi, Head of the TAU Security Studies Program, and a session on "The State in the New Millennium - Comparative Perspectives" chaired by Prof. Azar Gat, Chairman of the Department of Political Science. The French philosopher Bernard-Henri Levy delivered the lecture at the concluding session, entitled "Intellectuals and Politics."

The NCJW Program and Forum for Women and Gender Studies, founded by the National Council of Jewish Women, USA, was inaugurated. This is Israel's first undergraduate program in Women's Studies. Greetings were delivered by President Itamar Rabinovich; Rector Nili Cohen; Yael Dayan, Chairperson of the Knesset Committee on Women's Status; Jan Schneiderman, President of the National Council of Jewish Women; and Shulamit Aloni, 2000 Israel Prize laureate. Prof. Hannah Naveh, Head of the Program (in progress), delivered a lecture entitled "Knowledge from Within."

The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Visiting Chair in Exact Sciences was approved by the TAU Senate.

The Senate approved the establishment of the Faculty of Engineering Chair of Basic Research in Turbulence. The Chair's incumbent is Prof. Arkady Tsinober.

The newly established Louise Lea Flack Chair in Game Theory and Interactive Decisions was approved by the Senate. The incumbent is Prof. Dov Samet of the Faculty of Management - Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration.

Prof. Phillip Ein-Dor, Acting Chairman of the Technologies and Information Systems Program of the Faculty of Management - Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration was appointed the incumbent of the newly established Chair in New Economy Information Systems.

Prof. Nathan Nelson of the George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences was elected the incumbent of a new Chair for Function Membrane Transporters and Human Diseases.

The Emanuel Herzikowitz Chair for 19th and 20th Century Art was inaugurated. Greetings were delivered by Rector Nili Cohen; Dean of the Yolanda and David Katz Faculty of Arts Nurith Kenaan-Kedar; and Loni Herzikowitz in the name of the family. Dr. Ruth Markus of the Department of Art History delivered a lecture entitled "Landscape in the 19th Century - From Turner to Monet."

The Entin Faculty of Humanities' Chair of the History and Culture of the Jews of Salonika and Greece and the Unit for Foreign Languages held an inauguration ceremony for Ladino Culture Studies. Addresses were delivered by Dean Dan Laor and Itzhak Navon, the fifth President of the State of Israel and Chairman of the National Authority for Ladino Culture. Chair incumbent Prof. Alisa Meyuhas-Ginio, who is also Chairperson of the Department of General History, delivered a lecture entitled "The Spanish Community in Jerusalem."

The Senate approved cooperation agreements with 9 universities: American University, Bulgaria; Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia; Bordeaux 3 Michel de Montaigne, France; Ajou University, Korea; Moscow State University, Russia; Universidad Camilo Jose Cela; University of Minnesota, USA; University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA; University of Texas at Austin, USA.

CONFERENCES

Dr. Bruce Eisenstein, President of the IEEE, was guest lecturer at a colloquium moderated by TAU's Prof. Ady Seidman, incumbent of the Jokel Chair in Electronics, held at TAU's Fleischman Faculty of Engineering and entitled "Engineering Education in the Third Millennium."

The TAU Friends and the School of Education held a conference commemorating Prof. Moshe Smilansky on the fifth anniversary of his passing away. Greetings were delivered by Prof. Malka Margalit, Head of the School. A panel discussion entitled "What Happens When the Experiment Ends? - The Continuation of Educational Projects" was moderated by Prof. David Nevo. The statue "Tears" by artist Meir Petzhezada, donated by the family of the late Prof. Smilansky in his memory, was inaugurated at the entrance of the Sharett Education Building.

Thomas Graham, Head of the Russian Desk at the Carnegie Foundation, Washington, DC, was guest lecturer of TAU's Curiel Center for International Studies. He spoke on "Russia at a Crossroads: The Putin Era." Opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Gabriel Gorodetsky, Director of the Curiel Center.

Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin was the guest of the Buchmann Faculty of Law at a joint faculty and student lunch in the framework of the "Judiciary Guest" series.

Prof. Amnon Yariv of the California Institute of Technology delivered the guest lecture of the Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies, entitled "Photonic Bandgap Crystals - A New Class of Artificial Optical Materials." The event was moderated by Prof. Saul Abarbanel, the Institute's Head.

The Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies hosted Prof. David Donoho of the Statistics Department at Stanford University, who delivered a lecture entitled "Beyond Wavelets: Ridgelets, Curvelets and Much More." Chair of the event was Prof. Saul Abarbanel, the Institute's Head.

The Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism and the Institute for the History and Culture of Latin America held a conference to mark the publication of the book by Dr. Garciela Ben-Dror entitled The Catholic Church and the Jews, Argentine 1933-1945. Greetings were delivered by Conference Chairperson Prof. Dina Porat, Head of the Roth Institute, and by Prof. Zvi Medin, President of the International Federation of Latin American Studies.

The Buchmann Faculty of Law launched a lecture series on the History of Israeli Law. The first lecture by Dean Menachem Mautner was entitled "What Happened in Israel in the 1980s and 1990s? "

The International Forum hosted Tzanko Vassilev Yablansku, Ambassador of Bulgaria, who delivered a lecture entitled "Bulgaria and the Balkans." The event was chaired by Dr. Gad Barzilai.

The School of History and the Department of General History, Entin Faculty of Humanities, held the first conference in a series organized by Dr. Rachel Feig Vishnia, presenting new books published by academic staff members of the School and Department. The first conference was devoted to the book entitled "Intellectual Truth and Power - From the Dreyfus Affair to the Gulf War," by Prof. Shlomo Sand. Opening remarks were delivered by Prof. Joseph Kostiner, Head of the School.

Prof. Yin Jizuo, President of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, delivered a lecture at TAU entitled "A Well-to-Do Society: The New Phase of China's Construction of Modernism"; and Prof. Pan Guang, Director of the Shanghai Center of Jewish Studies, spoke on "The Jew in China." The two were guests of the Department of East Asia Studies and the Cymbalista Jewish Heritage Center. The event was chaired by Prof. Aron Shai, incumbent of TAU's Shoul N. Eisenberg Chair for East Asian Affairs.

The Cegla Institute for Comparative and Private Law, Buchmann Faculty of Law, held an international conference on "Economic Analysis of Constitutional Law," coordinated by Robert Cooter and Omri Yadlin.

The Eitan Berglas School of Economics held a conference in memory of Prof. Gideon Fishelson. Prof. Yair Mundlak of the Hebrew University's Department of Agricultural Economics and Management delivered a lecture entitled "Explaining Economic Growth."

The Entin Faculty of Humanities and the Rosenberg School of Jewish Studies held a conference on poet Nathan Alterman commemorating the 30th anniversary of his passing away. Remarks were delivered by President Itamar Rabinovich at the opening session, which was chaired by Prof. Eli Yassif, Chairman of the Department of Hebrew Literature. Prof. Uzi Shavit, Head of the Alterman Institute within the Katz Institute for Research in Hebrew Literature, discussed "Alterman's Poetry in 1940 - Thematics and Actuality."

"The Yesterday of Today - A Nation Writing Its History" was the title of a conference of the TAU Department of Jewish History. Opening remarks were delivered by Dean of the Entin Faculty of Humanities Prof. Dan Laor.

W.B. Johnson of Texas A &M University was the speaker at the Israeli Seminar GAFA of the School of Mathematical Sciences and School of Computer Science. He spoke on "Non Linear Quotients vs. Linear Quotients."

The Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences held a conference entitled "Israel and the Palestinians - Another Look at the Events," chaired by Prof. Shaul Mishal. Opening remarks were delivered by Dean Moshe Semyonov.

German Defense Minister Rudolf Scherping participated in a conference on regional security organized jointly by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and TAU's Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies.

Prof. Peter Sarnak of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University was guest lecturer of the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Distinguished Lectures in Pure Mathematics, coordinated by Prof. Dan Amir. The title of his lecture was "L-Functions Arithmetic and Semiclassics."

"The Discovery of Brazil - The Country and Its People in the Eyes of the 16th Century People" was the title of a conference of the Unit for Foreign Languages and the Institute for the History and Culture of Latin America, Entin Faculty of Humanities, and the Embassy of Portugal. Greetings were delivered by Jose Filipe Moraes Cabral, Ambassador of Portugal; Jose Nogueira Filho, Ambassador of Brazil; and Prof. Raanan Rein, Head of the Latin America Institute.

The Minerva Center for Human Rights and the TAU Buchmann Faculty of Law held a colloquium on "Multiple Citizenship" chaired by Prof. Asher Maoz, director of the Prof. Dr. Raphael Taubenschlag Institute of Criminal Law. Greetings were delivered by Prof. Haim Ganz of the Minerva Center.

The Sackler Faculty of Medicine held an international conference on "Advances in the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease," chaired by Prof. Jose Martin Rabey, Chairman of the Neurology and Neurosurgery Department.

The Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Rene G. Favaloro Chair of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery held a symposium in memory of Prof. Rene G. Favaloro. Opening remarks were delivered by Vice Rector Shimon Yankielowicz; Dean Menahem Fainaru; and the Favaloro Chair incumbent Prof. Bernardo Vidne. Prof. Roberto Favaloro, President of the Favaloro Foundation (Argentina), delivered a lecture entitled "Rene Favaloro's Contribution to the Development of Cardiothoracic Surgery in Argentina."

APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

Prof. Dina Porat, Chairperson of the Department of Jewish History and Head of the Stephen Roth Institute for the Study of Contemporary Anti-Semitism and Racism, was awarded the annual Buchmann Memorial Prize presented to authors, artists and researchers demonstrating outstanding achievements in the field of Holocaust commemoration, at Yad Vashem for her book Beyond the Reaches of Our Souls - The Life and Times of Abba Kovner.

The TAU Senate approved the appointment of Prof. Dov Lichtenberg of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine as the incumbent of the Lady Davis Chair of Biochemistry.

Prof. Phillip Ein-Dor, Acting Chairman of the Technologies and Information Systems Program the Faculty of Management - Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration, was appointed Fellow of the Association for Information Systems, the leading international organization of its kind.

Dr. Rafi Nachmias of the School of Education was appointed Acting Director of the Center for the Advancement of Scientific and Technological Education.

Doctoral students Ayelet Balsam and Ehud Minerev from the Eitan Berglas School of Economics won the Prof. Gideon Fishelson Scholarships for their work on "The Share of Untradeable Products in Producing Business Cycles in a Small Open Economy" and "Measuring Poverty in Israel," respectively.

Prof. Emeritus Zvi Laron, Director of the Endocrinology and Diabetes Research Unit at the TAU-affiliated Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel, was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of the Universita Degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale "Amadeo Avogardo," Torino, Italy.

Prof. Israel Gohberg was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the Vienna University of Technology.

ABROAD

TAU and New York University (NYU) sponsored the Howard Gilman International Colloquium entitled "Jewish Culture: America and Israel" at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center, NYU. Greetings at the opening session were delivered by Jay Oliva, President of NYU, and Itamar Rabinovich, President of TAU. Among sessions were: Memory and Identity: the Legacy of the Bible; Jewish Literary Imaginings; the Legacy of the Holocaust; and the Legacy of Immigration.

Advocate Alice Pezard of the Caisse des Depos et Consignations delivered a lecture on the topic of the stolen Jewish property of World War II at an evening hosted by members of the French Friends Association Francoise and Sylvian Reingewirtz in Paris.

TAU governors Mrs. Nelly and Dr. Henri Elmaleh hosted Prof. Jerome Bourdon of the Department of Communication who delivered a lecture entitled "Israeli Identity on Television," in Paris.

COMING EVENTS

The 10th European Regional Conference of the TAU Board of Governors will take place at the Carlton Hotel, St. Moritz, Switzerland, from 25-29 January 2001. The program will feature Thomas Friedman of the New York Times on "The New Administration's Foreign Policy and the Middle East"; TAU visiting Professor Eli Kapon, Director of the TAU Project of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, on "Nano Systems: A New Frontier of Science and Technology"; Prof. Yossi Shiloh of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine on "From the Patient's Bedside to the Human Genome - And Back"; Isaac T. Kohlberg, CEO, TAU Economic Corporation Ltd., on "New Horizons in Technology Transfer at TAU"; Dr. Astrith Baltsan, musicologist, on "Chopin and the Israeli Dream"; Michael Steinhardt, Chairman of the TAU Board of Governors; President Itamar Rabinovich on "TAU Science, High-Tech, Public Policy and Social Responsibility"; Rector Nili Cohen on "Equal Opportunity in Higher Education"; Vice President Yehiel Ben-Zvi; and Honorary Chairman of the Board Benno Gitter.

For registration contact:
Mrs. Viviane Bollag-Mannheimer, Swiss Friends of TAU,
Tel: 41-1-211-6092; Fax: 41-1-211-7832

Mrs. Barbara Kandell, Secretary of the Board of Governors, TAU,
Tel: 972-3-641-6464; Fax: 972-3-640-6257

The 2001 Annual Meeting of the BOG will take place from 11-18 May, 2001.

Happy New Year